Where does the money go in a Blu Ray player?

Many of the 'Uberexpensive' brands are rebadged models from Mfgr's like Pioneer, Oppo, Denon, Sony. There was a thread on here a few years ago where a $3500 Gamut player was really a $300 Pioneer Player. Everything was exactly the same except for the exterior, even the venting holes were made to match up with the existing pioneer model. Look it up.

I would not "over-pay" whatever that may be, based upon your ability to distinguish a quality picture from good enough. Look at construction, weight, reputation and warranty. This segment of the video world changes every six months. Don't get stuck with an outdated paper weight.

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Zydo, ouch! Zydo, I would never buy a cheap player. Inexpensive maybe, but never cheap. Anything I own would have to perform.

I bought my current player four years ago for $2k. It was worth every dime. It is on its last leg. However, in the digital age, four years is an eternity. Prices have plummeted for Blu Ray since then. I was just wondering if the cost of the technology has come down for a superior screen image. My player has the Realta processor from Silicon Optix. I would think after four years I could get a comparable image for a lot less. Marantz no longer makes a player with the Realta chip. Denon, its sister company makes a player with a Realta processor. That player is $4500. I don't think I should have to spend $4500 to get four year old digital technology. I don't mind spending good money for a quality product...I just don't want to spend gratuitously. I own a SqueezeBox and a Roku player. At $300 and $100 respectively, both of them would be considered 'cheap' compared to some of the items in my system. Price be damned, they hold their own performancewise.
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There must be a few review sites that give good in-depth comparisons of video performance between the likes of Sony, Oppo and more pricer ones.

Thinking about 'cheap', I would consider the Sony 595 cd/sacd player. This unit it the refurb market of $60 delivered. I had the opportunity to compare it to a $5K Esotric unit. The 595 blew it away. Who knows

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.