I’m having issues with my Sony X800 series 1 and looking at a new player .
I like the idea of analogue out for CD playing .
The Panasonic UB9000 at £999 sounds excellent but is it worth it over the lower spec Panasonic.
Thanks
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I used in an old setup for a year before selling with the house 16 months ago. I then spent 16 months using a different BD player until 2 weeks ago buying the UB9000 again. It makes a huge difference in quality that I noticed these past 2 weeks. The UB9000 output is cleaner for both picture and sound. Well worth it IMHO.
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When I looked into it several years back I went for the UB820 at the £300 ish mark. The picture quality from what I remember from my research was that it was the same as in the UB9000. The extra price you are paying for is the build and the extra capabilities in the sound department which I didn’t need.
I would search for UB820 vs UB9000 to see if the differences are worth it for you. Loads of videos reviews.
Thanks , I get that the picture quality “may” not be that much different.
But I plan to direct the audio left right into an 82,250 that is alongside my AV . So the analogue out aspect is important too( I know it’s not in dedicated cd player territory,and don’t expect it to be ).
I’ve previously used Pioneer LX51 when bluray was the way.
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I am the very happy onwer of a Panasonic UB9000! The build quality is fantastic.
It produces better picture and sound quality than my former Sony X700.
On account of the build quality, you cannot hear it spinning the disk while playing. It is worth every penny.
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Ive owned a 9000 for about 5/6 years since they first came out and it has been perfect all that time.
The video is best in class based on numerous professional reviews.
The analogue audio output is also very good for CDs and Music DVDs and Bluray discs that have stereo tracks, especially LPCM tracks which are as good as CD sound quality.
I initially used fhe RCA outputs into my Supernait 3 + HCDR for about 4 years and the sound was really good, not as good with CDs as my dedicated Roksan Caspian M2 CD player but still very good.
When I upgraded my streamer/dac/pre-amp/power amp to a Lumin P1 + Lumin Power Amp I now use the XLR outputs from the 9000 and with the amps upgrades this sounds much better than the RCA outputs before, so I can fully recommend either of the analogue sound outputs from the 9000., if you need that option, I use them all the time, especially for the Hi-Res output from my Pure Audio BluRay discs.
As others have said the 9000 build quality is excellent and reliability has been first class.
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I have had my ub9000 for 4 years, brilliant bit of kit!
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I have one too, really like it for 4K blu ray - really a remarkable difference over streaming the same material.
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Slightly off track is the fact that LG are stopping making 4K Blu Ray players, so well done Technics/ Panasonic for continuing to make a high end player
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There seems to be a wide gap between the budget priced Blu Ray and this model
When I moved fro a basic Marantz to a high end Pioneer the difference was there to see, both in audio terms and visual terms.
In the battle at Hogwarts in the final Harry Potter film, the Marantz was not quite precise , the Pioneer was spot on. Likewise the sound track of LOTR was so much better on the Pioneer, my point is that you get what you pay for
So whilst I cannot say exactly whether the Panasonic is worth it, the value of a higher end machine is I think apparent, especially if you feeding back via a Naim system- no matter how humble
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Yes Ive done all the investigation .I just wish I could actually handle feel and see the 9000 in the flesh . I’m ok buying a pair of jeans off the internet un seen , but when it comes to items like this ,call me old fashioned ( well I unashamedly am) I like to see what I’m parting with £1k for .
I tried to dissemble the X800 to grease tracks ,clean Laser ,but the combo of plastic parts and metal cheapo construction thwarted me .
I also fastwarded rewinded a full 4 k movie a few times incase the transport grease was hardening clogging on the rails .
Have you considered the Pioneer udp-lx500, similar price. It gets great reviews and is multidisc, so can do sacd if you were interested.
I’ve had the UB9000 for 5 years now and it’s superb. I would go for this rather than the lower Panasonic model. It has a heavy chassis to counter vibrations and it’s silent too. Don’t read into too many comparisons online, most of them haven’t got a clue. There’s a list of advantages of the UB9000 such as two better isolated power supplies, high quality dac, high quality termination ports, analogue output, …
I use the hdmi out into a LG G4 via Sennheiser Ambeo Max using Audioquest Thunderbird earc cable and the sound is great. Don’t skip on the cables, they make a big difference.
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They don’t make it anymore.
Yup I would need to find new old stock .
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Oh bugger, was windering on that myself🥺
It sounded good though .
It’s only until you get the UB9000 that you find out what it’s capable of when changing menu options. The tone mapping is so clever. It brings details back that you didn’t know were lost. i.e. highlights in blown-out sky, etc. It’s this part and 4:4:4 chroma the stretches video to the limit. I initially bought an expensive (£150 Wireworld 1m) hdmi that was certified 4k and found that it wouldn’t even pass through 4:4:4 chroma, because there was too much information. Absolutely trash cable and so are many other so called certified ones. I went to a Audioquest Chocolate and it worked great. Then just for a laugh switched over to a Audioquest Carbon hdmi to see if any difference. Good news that the sound was better, bad news was the prices are now getting silly. Got carried away and ordered a Audioquest Thunderbird earc hdmi and the difference was amazing. Now we’re into really stupid money (£600 for 3m), but there you go.
And we haven’t got to Synergistic fuses yet.
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The Magnetar udp 800 sounds interesting, £1400. Their pics of the internals of the udp900 looks excellent. Though pricey at £2700.
Professional reviews of the Magnetars and Reavons dont rate the video as good as the Panasonics and ASR review did not rate the analogue sound output too good either, and they are both very expensive players, but if you also want SACD and DVD-Audio playback they are your only choices now, unfortunately with Oppo and Pioneer players now gone.
I was excited when the Magnetars and Reavons were announced as I was hoping to improve on both the analogue and coaxial and optical digital sound outputs of the Panasonic to maximise the sound of my Hi-Res Blu-ray discs which I have about 120 of, however, they were both tested to be not as good as the Panasonic 9000, so kept with the 9000.
Maybe a better player will come out at some point, but for now the 9000 is the best on the current market sound quality wise and also the video with the video HDR optimiser capability.
PS Just to qualify that the professional reviews sound quality comparisions with the Panasonic 9000 were against the original Magnetar 800 and Reavon 200 comparing them all against the benchmark of the Oppo 205 which ASR rated as the best. The new Magnetar 900 is a much higher spec than the 800 so should be much better sound quality wise, but at a very hefty price premium.
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