Pioneer offers nothing above the BDP-LX55, which delivers good performance in the price range around €499 and competes on par with the Denon 1713UD.
The Denon impresses with a slightly quieter drive noise, as the drive is separately encapsulated and further insulated. The Pioneer, on the other hand, scores with a second HDMI output.
Yamaha has a successor to the BDA-1010, the BDA-1020, waiting in the wings, but the player is not yet available.
Anyone who wanted to go further up in terms of processing and picture and sound quality could hardly get past the Cambridge Audio 651/751BD until now. Excellent analog outputs, fast, quiet, and a wide variety of connections ensured that the Cambridge was our clear recommendation for a long time. Now it has – in the form of the DBT-3313UD from Denon – received its first real serious competition.
The first impression of the Denon is superb, in all respects. The player is massively built and constructed for eternity in terms of its housing – just like the large Denon players before it (3800, 4010). What is striking is the player's excellent speed – when reading discs, reacting to the remote control, and with YouTube videos. In addition, the 3313UD also features the new Denon-Link HD, an optimized interface to perfect communication between the Denon AV receivers AVR-3313 and AVR-4520. Denon-Link synchronizes the clock of the digital signal, which leads to significantly minimized digital distortion (jitter).
Since the Denon is designed as a transporter, it only has an "emergency stereo RCA output". And this is where Cambridge scores: The 751BD is currently unbeaten in its price range regarding analog outputs; the 651 is not as good as its big brother but also comes with a full 7.1 analog output.
Our ranking has changed with the appearance of the Denon, because we can unreservedly recommend the 3313UD to all owners of a current large Denon AVR. Processing, sound, and picture via HDMI+Denon-Link are currently unbeatable in this price range.
The Cambridge 751BD is always the recommendation when an analog connection is used.
However, if you are playing via HDMI but are not using a current generation Denon AV receiver, you have two equally good devices in front of you with the choice of Cambridge 651BD or Denon 3313UD (both €999). The Cambridge is smaller and may fit better in the rack, while the Denon is much heavier and more massive. Both players are exemplarily quiet in operation and react very quickly.
All players mentioned in the brief report are in stock and can be ordered directly from our webshop.
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