Cambridge BR/universal player hits the street

[Mr Peabody]

The 650BD http://www.spearitsound.com/Cambridg...udio_650BD.asp

Any one still wanting to play old DVD-A is out of luck on this machine. It would be an interesting shoot out between the 650BD and the Oppo BD83se.

In contrast here's NAD's 577 at $999.00 which is Wyfi but no SACD playback, the step down version is $599.00. Can NAD's picture performance warrant these prices?

[blackraven]

In my book its a no brainer. The Oppo was given a Stereophile Class A rating and beat out players costing thousands of dollars. I plan on buying the BD-83se sometime later next year for SACD BR and DVD play.

[Mr Peabody]

Which version was in Stereophile? You have the basic 83, 83se & 83"Nuforce edition".

[blackraven]

Mr. P, I will try and find out which version. I was talking with one of my partners at work who is an audiophile and I was telling him I was thinking about getting a new BR player and he told me that it was a Stereophile recommended Class A component and it beat out much more expensive universal players costing thousands more. I will also find out which Stereophile edition or if it was online.

But here's a good personal review-


http://hpg.lithium.com/t5/TV-Movies-...75BEA4EE1DB5A4

[pixelthis]

So you're saying this is an OPPO rebadge?
Makes sense, and the first thing that occurred to me.
But why pay more for the Cambridge?

[Mr Peabody]

NO! No one said anything about a rebadge or anything about them even being similar. As they are both universal, except DVD-A on the CA, I thought it might be interesting to see how the two, Oppo & Cambridge, compared in performance.

The NAD really was just for informational purposes.

[pixelthis]

NO! No one said anything about a rebadge or anything about them even being similar. As they are both universal, except DVD-A on the CA, I thought it might be interesting to see how the two, Oppo & Cambridge, compared in performance.

The NAD really was just for informational purposes.

Five will get you ten its a rebadge.
BTW I have been looking into a 60" DLP, which I understand you have.
Seems that the Mitshubishi I am looking at has the "green light of death".
And when it comes on the set is toast.
Ever heard of that?

[Mr Peabody]

I haven't heard that but I have heard Mitsubishi has had issues and gone way down in the reliability department. I know you aren't a Toshiba fan but my DLP has been great. Certain LED show when the bulb goes out but that's it. Luckily that's only happened once so far. I think Tosh cheesed us on the original bulb I was shocked it went out so fast and started a thread but this second one has lasted really well.

[pixelthis]

Glad you have had good service, but this brand has failed me every time.
AND OF COURSE they put the cheapest bulb they could get away with in their set.
The Mitshu got 4 and 5 stars on the customer ratings at BEST BUY, but one guy was talking about the "green light" that came on after only one year, meant his set
was dead.
Also its only got a 30 day warranty.
BUT THAT 60" PIC LOOKS AWFULLY GOOD
Thanks for the response, anyway.

[Mr Peabody]

Are they crazy! I wouldn't spend that kind of money for something with a 30 day warranty. What happened to that company. Start making crap for a product and don't offer a warranty so you aren't out of money when it breaks. On top of that there's plenty of stupid people to keep buying it because of who they once were.

[pixelthis]

Are they crazy! I wouldn't spend that kind of money for something with a 30 day warranty. What happened to that company. Start making crap for a product and don't offer a warranty so you aren't out of money when it breaks. On top of that there's plenty of stupid people to keep buying it because of who they once were.

True nuff dat.
I still have fond memories of my Mitshu 60" RPTV,, what a set.
Consider tho that one reason for the short warrenty is that everybody who gets
jiggy with a DLP buys the extended warrenty so they can get a "free" bulb.
That and the blinking green light of death thing.

[Mr Peabody]

If they would have told me I could get a free bulb I probably would have bought an extended warranty. My last bulb was $199.00 plus shipping. Which turned ot to be cheaper than the price I was told they might be when I bought my TV. The only time you are glad to spend money is when it's less than what you thought you'd have to let go of.

My mom has a big old school Mits RPTV which has served her well. It's a 55" and huge cabinet. The sound quality of the TV is pretty good. She lives in an apartment and would love to get a new flat screen but she isn't going to get anything for that big dog she has so she might as well get her use out of it.

[jvc]

You're saying it doesn't play dvd-audio discs, but a quote from the page linked to:

Featuring almost universal disc compatibility, the 650BD is equipped to handle CD, HDCD, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, SACD and of course Blu-Ray discs.

So, according to them, it does play dvd-audio. I'm not getting rid of my BDP-83 though.

[Mr Peabody]

So it does...... I wonder if a correction was made. I may have missed it but it shows now in two places and I wonder why it says "almost compatible" with all discs. Seems bases are pretty well covered.

[02audionoob]

"Almost universal" seems consistent with this comment in the manual:

As well as normal CD’s, SACD’s, DVD’s and BD’s the 650BD can play some music, movies and photo files either from optical datadiscs (such as CD-R, DVD-R etc.) or external memory such as USB flash-drives/thumbdrives and hard-drives.

[pixelthis]

If they would have told me I could get a free bulb I probably would have bought an extended warranty. My last bulb was $199.00 plus shipping. Which turned ot to be cheaper than the price I was told they might be when I bought my TV. The only time you are glad to spend money is when it's less than what you thought you'd have to let go of.

My mom has a big old school Mits RPTV which has served her well. It's a 55" and huge cabinet. The sound quality of the TV is pretty good. She lives in an apartment and would love to get a new flat screen but she isn't going to get anything for that big dog she has so she might as well get her use out of it.

GREAT thing about those old RPTVS, they had pretty good sound because you could fit a
lot of speakers in there, didnt sound half bad.
Mine had two woofers, mid/tweeters, etc.
It was made in Mexico and we used to joke about how many illegal aliens came over in it.

[nightflier]

Just a thought. My aging Sony SACD/DVD player also plays DVD-A disks, but only in stereo - this was never advertised, but I read it in a few reviews and I thought that was pretty neat. Perhaps the CA also does this. Anyhow, is it really technically that different from a DVD-V?

[pixelthis]

Just a thought. My aging Sony SACD/DVD player also plays DVD-A disks, but only in stereo - this was never advertised, but I read it in a few reviews and I thought that was pretty neat. Perhaps the CA also does this. Anyhow, is it really technically that different from a DVD-V?

Yes.

[musicman1999]

Mr P

I can confirm that the 650bd will play DVD-audio, as i have said player in my rack as we speak. It will play multichannel sacd and dvd-a, i believe it will output sacd as pcm over analog and as dsd over hdmi, but i have been really busy and have not been able to spend alot of time with it yet. Initial impressions are very good, video over hdmi is clear and highly detailed, analog audio is clear and dynamic with a wide and deep soundstage, high rez audio is very good(based on limited listening so far). As for the Oppo question, the platform comes from the same company that supplies Oppo with theirs, so there are basic operating similarities, such as menu format, that are shared by all companies that buy that platform, but it is clearly not a "rebadge", particularly on the analog audio side as the analog output stage is all Cambridge. Also the back panel is different, so the internal layout is different. One thing I don't like is no 2 channel output, almost a deal breaker.
I will report further as i use it more.

bill

[Mr Peabody]

Bill, are you starting a Blu-ray Player collection? Surely the CD playback pales to the Calypso.

[nightflier]

Yes.

If musicman is correct, I can't be that sure about this.

Anyhow, it's interesting to read that it does indeed sound good. I would definietly like to read more about a comparison with the Oppo, especially on MC sound (since the CA doesn't do stereo).

[musicman1999]

Bill, are you starting a Blu-ray Player collection? Surely the CD playback pales to the Calypso.

Hey man

no collection, the pioneer has gone to a new home and you are right, it is not in the same league as the Calypso but i did not expect it to be.

bill