Hi: Trying to decide whether to get in on blu-ray in tweaking my system,buying the Panasonic TH50-PX80 Tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest,and have 3 questions.

1)I at the moment have only DVD's in terms of audio will the new formats(DD+,DTS-MA,etc)be a huge improvement compared to the "old" formats compared to the majority of Blu-Rays audio portion?

2)Which is the best blu-ray player out there right now other than PS3(Up converting is critical to me!)

3)My current Pioneer is an older(No hdmi) Elite VSX-56TXi(they do not make them like this anymore, IMO) it weighs 45lbs and most new A/V say they can hold only 40lbs max (Tech-Craft here in Canada)does anyone have a glass stand that handles 45lbs on middle or lower shelfs? Thanks and as soon as all my new toys are installed will post here!

Looking forward to some pics, so far as which player, I can't help. Try a search but use the search from the water cooler forum, it works better. This topic has been mentioned many times.

To be or not to be... Bluray??

I currently have the Samsung 2550 and a PS3. The Samsung has all the latest Dolby HD add ons and does a pretty good job with 1080P and is able to output 7.1.
The PS3 is pretty darn close with PQ but wins with me because of the network functions. The bonus is being able to play a game or two as well.

Some good questions to ask?

Do you wanna play SACD or DVDA? Not many players out there do this. Even Sony has taken the SACD away from the PS3.

Bluray players do not play foreign DVD's ie: region 2,3,4 etc

Many players do not decode the new sound formats but pass them to the amp/processor. Do you have an amp that does this already?

I am planning on returning the Samsung. It is a very good player but I cannot justify a second bluray player right now with things changing so fast. Rather buy some more Axiom's

My .2cents CDN

I got hooked on HD content a little over a year ago with HD-DVD. That lead to me getting HD channels on our Dish, and a Blu-Ray player this year (Christmas present, so I haven't opened the box yet). Once you start, you won't be able to stop.

I've got a Pioneer VSX-54TX which is similar to your 56TXi. This thing is a tank, and I like that.

There are several "contenders" out there that are getting good reviews (besides the PS3) for Blu-Ray playback. Before I get to that, if you want something that will also play DVD-A and SACD, Denon announced a product, the DVD-A1UD, that will play these as well. Of course, it will sell for about $5800 (YIKES). Oppo has been talking about a player that may do all of that too, but for around $800. For me, I can do without, but I needed analog audio so that I could keep using my Pioneer 54TX, and the two that kept coming up as the ones to get were the Sony BDP-S550, and the Panasonic DMP-BD55. If you don't care about the HD-Audio (I can't wait to hear it since people say that it will be great.) then you can go with their non-analog siblings the S350 from Sony or the DB35 from Panasonic.

Good luck!

Got the neighbours kid to open it did you?

Nope. My wife, being the smart one of the two of us, took it to my in-laws 2 weekends ago since we will be there on Christmas day when I open it. I think that she was getting concerned since a couple of weeks ago, I just keep looking at the box as I held it on my lap.

Yea but, Nick the box was empty whenever she took it over to the in laws ... right?

Darn! So, when you open it, you won't be able to play with it! I can see it now five minutes after the unwrapping: "Honey, I'm tired. Let's go home."

“Which is the best blu-ray player out there right now other than PS3(Up converting is critical to me!)”

It case it helps, know that the PS3 actually does upconvert, and it does a very fine job at it. I hate Sony, but I must admit that as an adult, this "gaming" system is damned impressive. It upconverts my old DVDs to near-BR quality on a 720p TV. It wirelessly connects to my home network and lets me play all music, pictures and videos on my TV, without the wires or complex networking. And it is stellar at Picture Quality (PQ) and Sound Quality (SQ). The PQ and SQ issue was paramount for me, as my gaming days are mostly behind me. Playing concert BR's, like Dave Mathews (just for example) is an incredible experience on both fronts. Movies are as good as it gets, as I even the Megaplex near my home does not give the PQ or SQ I have at home. But don't trust me on that, read the reviews, the PS3 is one of the best out there. My Denon 3300 can't tap the super-high fidelity audio options, but from the many reviews I have read, those are well worth the investment.

Finally, I have to give Sony public praise for keeping the PS3 updated on a monthly (or more) basis. When I got mine, it could not upconvert. Then, like magic, I new update fixed that. Every problem you notice, just goes away if you wait a few weeks. (Now, they took away SACD playback on the new machines, but so be aware of that, but the old models still have it.) They have made it future proof (up to the point the PS4 comes out, anyway) by packing enough processing in to do anything and constantly updating the soft and firmware to meet all new features. It is, in my humble anit-Sony opinion, a watershed product that will change the way the AV industry works. For the money, it is the best product I have owned in the AV market, followed by my Denon AVR. (I hate to admit that, but on the other hand the new Sony portable DVD player I bought my kid died after about 3 months, so I still hate Sony!)

Oh, and the games are pretty freaking impressive too, even if you just rent one every now and then to show off the surround sound and HD of some of the games; it is a nice addition to a fine BR player.

Hope this helps in your decision. For the money, you can't go wrong.

********
My system:
Denon 3300 AVR
PSB Image LRC
B&W Sub
Axiom SQ8 surrounds
Transparent Wire
Samsung 50" DLP

My father-in-law has a 40" 1080p (I guess I'll have to sit about 2 feet away to see all of the 1080p detail over 720p), but he has a pretty mediocre surround sound setup. He has some of Paradigm's lowest and smallest bookshelves in a very large and open living/dining/kitchen area with 25' vaulted ceilings. I know that he wants to watch Dark Knight (which I'm also getting) but I almost want to let him watch it without me so that I can see it at home on 104" with my Axioms and HD-Audio!

Make sure he has a high-speed Internet connection as it is possible you will need a firmware upgrade to start.

OR, if that is the case, you can pro-actively download the latest firmware from the manufacturer's website and burn it on a CD or a USB stick to save time.

This could avoid you some frustration on xmas!

I would generally think that if you already think you want Blu-Ray, you'll probably be pretty happy with it. However, I don't have any impressions on "other" players as I use my PS3s to run BRD and upscaled DVD content. (and also DVD audio)

Assuming you've got a good sound system (which is probably redundant posting here), here's some good starter suggestions for your Blu-Ray library (imho).

- Disney is the king of Blu-Ray. The Pixar films especially have such great PQ and sound, I can't wait to rebuy all their stuff I already had on DVD. The Pirates movies, Nightmare Before Christmas, even short bursts within Enchanted.. all fantastic demo discs to properly answer to why you bought all this stuff.

- Live Free and Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4): Also has some really outstanding demo sections that go back and forth between low level conversations and roaring explosions and gun battles. (there's a gun fight near the beginning in the kid's apartment that made me turn a netflix rental into having to have the disc.)

- Kung Fu Panda. Another pair of demo quality PQ and audio. (really fun movie too) Some great LFE shockwaves to boot.

104????? Holy shitski's

What did that set you back, around $12k???

The new Audio Formats/Codecs are far superior to the old formats(dvd). It is like night and day. The audio quality of the new codecs sent via HDMI sound awesome.

As far as the best blu-ray player. I have PS3 and it works great. I have also heard many good things about the Sony BD350 and BD550. In order to get the new codecs sent for optimal sound, you should get a receiver that can transfer via HDMI.

I don't know why you'd rule out the PS3? You said "except the PS3 (upconverting is important to me!)" well for your information the PS3 is an excellent upconverting DVD player, I've been using it quite happily for the past year.

It's still considered one of the best bluray players, and it also has some decent games too

- D

Daphoid: Thanks but I've bought the Panasonic for 2 reasons 1) I only play games on my PC 2) I need to use the 7.1 analog inputs as my receiver does not have the new audio formats ,which is why I'm getting the Panasonic 55(I have to wait a until the 19th to get it ##@%#). But thanks to all of you in giving me your opinions here it helped a great deal.

Makes sense - lack of analog outs seems to be the #1 one reason to favor something other than the PS3. Not that there aren't others, but this one is pretty definitive.

Jason

No analog outs was the #1 reason for me not to get the PS3. I went with the Sony S550 for that reason, and I was able to get it for almost $100 less than the Panasonic BD55 with a new SonyStyle.com credit card "refund". Otherwise I would have bought the Panasonic just because deep down I hate Sony for killing off HD-DVD with their marketing lies (but that is a whole other story).

Enjoy the Panny 55! Just be glad that you aren't like me, and I know many have heard this dozens of times, and that is just so you can feel my pain, and have to wait until Christmas to get the Blu-Ray player that you not only ordered about 6 weeks ago, but have had in your possession for over 5 weeks!

You're almost there Nick!

Nick , we are pulling a littlle ring off my 4 year olds Christmas project every day, just for you, only 15 more to go.