Who makes a quality Blu-ray player?

[Cujet]

I currently have a 2009 Samsung Blu-ray player with 7.1 discreet audio outputs. I've kept it because my Yamaha receiver won't accept HDMI. Anyway, it's acting up and I would like to purchase another quality unit. I have 2 others in my home. Interestingly, the picture quality differs markedly between them. And, the Samsung is not the best! I have a couple of Integra receivers that accept HDMI and may use one of them to decode the audio properly. If the player can play SACD, that would be great too! As I have a few of them. I'm sure the newest equipment can do a good job, but I'd love some suggestions!

 

[datech]

I have two Samsung TVs and I think they are the best TV, but the Samsung DVD player I have is not... and I have read reviews about them that correspond. I also have a Sony TV which is OK (*not as good as Samsung) but I have read the Sony Blu-ray is good, maybe the best.

 

[SF0059]

I have had a Sony Blu-ray player since 2010 and it has been amazing. Sony invented the Blu-ray format and in my mind still makes the best player available. Buy it without hesitation.

 

[ET16]

Oppo, Denon, Marantz, Pioneer Elite.

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: ET16

Oppo, Denon, Marantz, Pioneer Elite.

This. Sony makes a decent player to a price point. But I have one, and it really isn't that good unless you consider the price. Above are companies who don't have to deal with hitting a pricepoint for the mass market. Also, AVSFORUMS is the bobistheoilguy for questions like this. If you have 20 minutes and a few thousand dollars laying around I'm sure they can help (it happened to me, it can happen to you). I'd also point out, when you have a question like this it's kinda loaded. If you have someone with a 42" tv I doubt they can tell the difference between a 50 and 500 dollar player. At 120" it's a completely different story. So some of it depends on the rest of the situation which you don't always know.

 

[CHARLIEBRONSON21]

PS3/4 bluray and streaming netflix in hd... 3d capable netflix... Plus if you ever want to play a game... My ps3 is a launch console, still going strong. Mostly used for Netflix and movies since 2011. There are some great ones out there for less but I kinda put the compound factor that you get bluray and streaming instead of buying a roku box or something or a smart tv if you don't already have one.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Get a Sony with the features you need (if possible).

 

[renegade_987]

I can tell you NOT to invest in a Toshiba. I've got a 40" Toshiba LCD HD in my living room that has been flawless, but 2 years ago I got a Toshiba blu ray player and its been horrible. Very glitchy, slow, and constantly dying.

 

[dernp]

I've got a Sony Blu Ray player that I bought 3 yrs ago for $50 on sale. It does a decent job and couldn't beat the price.

 

[dparm]

If you look around on the AVSforums you can read about which players handle the chroma upsampling and conversion properly, and which ones don't. Other than that, the rest of the tests I read indicated there was no discernible difference in quality. The reviewers almost unanimously said you should just buy the one with the outputs you need and/or GUI that you like. In general, the expensive Oppos are the pack-leader for picture quality and features. I couldn't justify spending $800 on one just for 0.1% better color accuracy though, so I opted for a high-end Samsung BD-F7500.

 

[dparm]

Worth mentioning is that the high-end Sony Blu-ray players have Super-Bitmapping, which is a very good upscaling technique for DVDs. Worth considering if you watch a lot of DVDs. The Sony players' biggest downside is their horribly outdated and slow interface (borrowed from the PS3)...as soon as I tried one in Best Buy I instantly said no. Samsung's SMART interface is modern, responsive, and has a ton of content.

 

[Cujet]

Sorry, forgot to mention that my TV is a 65 inch Sharp LCD (not bottom of the line) Thanks for the suggestion on the OPPO. I'll look into it. That seems to be the best choice, as it does it all.

 

[dparm]

The earlier suggestion of a PS3/PS4 is a valid one. Truly the benchmark Blu-ray player; I had one for many years. Very fast disc load time, 100% compatibility, and it plays every format under the sun. I was laughing all the way to the bank when my friends and family would complain about their various players not liking certain discs, taking 60 seconds to load discs, and having no support for other video files. With the PS4 out now, you should be able to snag a slim PS3 quite cheap.

 

[Errtt]

I have/use a Sony and a Pioneer and both never a issue.... yet

 

[97tbird]

Oppo, Panasonic, SOME high end pioneers MIGHT be ok. Some very basic panasonics about 3-4 yrs ago beat Denon (which is not bad) players that cost about 10x more in some comparisons, when it came to pic quality. Also keep in mind that a lot of components and chips are commonly used by many major manufacturers....

 

[MCompact]

The six year old Samsung BDP-1600 in my primary 7.1 HTS was a bit glitchy when streaming Netflix so last month I followed the advice in this article and picked up a Sony BDP-5100 for $90(Amazon currently sells it for $80). No complaints with respect to picture or sound quality, although I probably will upgrade to an OPPO in a few years. I also have an Xbox One in my basement 5.1 HT/gaming system and it appears to be a decent BD player as well..

 

[NothingNew]

Originally Posted By: Cujet

I currently have a 2009 Samsung Blu-ray player with 7.1 discreet audio outputs. I've kept it because my Yamaha receiver won't accept HDMI. Anyway, it's acting up and I would like to purchase another quality unit.

I think Samsung Blu-ray players have a built-in expiration date. My Samsung BD-P1590 that I purchased in Dec. '09 just started acting up within the last week. I picked up a Sony BDPBX510 (same as BDPS5100) today at Costco for $80. So far so good. It has wi-fi and quite a few apps. Limited outputs - only HDMI and a digital coaxial for audio.

 

[dareo]

I've had a cheap standalone player and a PS3. I would love to blast the standalone player into little pieces. We would hit playback issues with a disc and change it over to the PS3 and problem solved. So another vote for a PS3/PS4. They are great media devices, and i suppose some people do use them for console based gaming too.

 

[FastGame]

I've used the PS3 and it was nice. The last two years been using the Sony BDP S590 (little over $100 when purchased)and it works well, does a nice job on DVD. Two weeks ago I got the OPPO 103D and IMHO the PS3 & Sony can't hold a candle to the OPPO. The OPPO 103D is worth every penny of the $600. An old saying- Only the truly oppressed never revolt. Had I not tried the OPPO I would of never known what I was missing. I'm sure the OPPO isn't the last word in BDP but I can't imagine how something else could improve picture quality over the OPPO....hmmm

 

[97tbird]

^ I Agree - However, the level of PQ Oppo offers is only 'needed' by a small group of people who are very picky / analytical about PQ. That said, If I were to get another BD player, which I use less and less these days, I would look towards OPPO also. I would never get Sony or Samsung, however, the Panasonics come pretty close to Oppo in PQ. (in my limited experience) Samsung makes good TVs (mostly), but their BD players have a horrendous rep.