Where does the money go in a Blu Ray player?

Mitch, I'm sorry if I offended you at all. Maybe inexpensive would have been a better choice. I didn't mean it as a cut, rather, a compliment on your current system. (I still check it out from time to time) You don't strike me as someone who buys an "inexpensive" player to go with that system.

I would agree, $4500 for a player with the same chip you used 4 years ago seems extreme. That price, I would expect, to have came down. I would really think there should be something better, and for less money than you spent 4 years ago. I bought a cheap bluray a while back for by bedroom. I brought it back the next day. The upconversion was REALLY bad, and I have so many DVD's, I need that feature to work well. The bluray was nothing to write home about either, and that's on a 42" plasma.

Bottom line, unless you get a deal on a "good" player, spending $300-$500 on something is probably going to be disappointing to you.

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Zydo, no offense taken...I knew you weren't taking a dig at me. Since I bought my player four years ago, it was all about the video performance and it was just a Blu Ray player and nothing more. It of course was built like a tank. Now all of the high end video players seem to be bundling SACD, hi-end cd, streaming and a host of other stuff that I really don't need. In other words, everything is a universal player. I just want a killer Blu Ray image. I really don't even need upconversion since I only watch new releases and they are all in Blu Ray.

As Tom6897 mentioned, I'm afraid I'm left not with an outdated paperweight, but a $2k doorstop.
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I really don't understand the hand wringing when you can buy an Oppo BDP-93 for $500 or a BDP-95 for $1000 if you need analog audio. I'd guess you'd be unable to realize any improvement in video regardless of what you pay.

db

Just don't get sucked into the "if it costs more, then it must be better" mentality. This is precisely why there is a high-end market to cater for such people.

Marketers know that just putting a higher pricetag on something will alone make it more desirable and "better" to some.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/lexicon-bd-30-blu-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

I would suggest whatever you end up with, then go to Best Buy or Target and pick up the $199 Sony Blue Ray player and compare pictures on your TV. You can easily return if not happy with it. My guess is that sound quality will go up more than video from that point.