Best Universal Disc Player - £500 max.

Normally I'd say the 651BD but Richers are satin 'last few' which might suggest a replacement is imminent - I know the 752 has been announced.

The Denon 2012 is supposed to be £500 now but I can't see it for less than £574.

I can't speak for the new Oppos (103?) which are supposed to be Cambridge-like.

Marantz UD5007 is going for around £430.

Thanks John. 

Just spotted the Marantz for £350. In terms of looks alone, I'm not drawn to the CA kit, but could be persuaded on price. 

I'll keep searching. I've got a buyer for my Arcam player, so I'm in a bit of a hurry to buy a new box. 

I'd spend the extra on the Denon 2012. The CA-651, while on paper has the same video specs as the 751, apparently doesn't have that last pixel in picture quality as the more expensive model, and will not sound as good either. This was WHF's findings, as well on TrustedReview's online, even though it's a good player in its own right.

Note the replacement for the Denon 2012 will cost nearly double that, which makes it a bargain. Get the wife/gf to cough up the 50 quid as an early birthday present!

It has got to be the Marantz http://www.whathifi.com/review/marantz-ud7006

Or the Denon http://www.whathifi.com/review/denon-dbp-2012ud

The Marantz was originally £1000, which could be had for £800 at the time. Now seriously discounted because of the new model UD7007.

Very very good player.

I would recommend Oppo 103 at your price point. It is a brilliant universal player with excellent after sales support.

Small point - I don't know if SACD can output via optical to a stereo DAC? I don't know how it works so it may be worth investigating.

This is of some pertinence to my needs, actually.  My DAC has various inputs, (HDMI, coax, optical, USB, AES), but I'm not exactly sure how it would extract the full SACD layer. Although in statistical terms my Blu-rays easily outnumber SACDs, but it would be nice to play the few I have in their intended higher format. 

Swaying towards the Marantz as mentioned and celebrated above.

It's hardly revolutionary I know, but it will feel odd relinquishing a standalone CD player, and knowing it will never in all likelihood be replaced. 

Older player but much cheaper now, the Denon DVD3930 offers you HDCD too. Sound quality is excellent and picture quality very good too.

It's model name suggests it's not a Blu-ray player though. 

Shame. Looks great. 

I'm at the early stages of lobbing my Arcam in favour of a Blu-ray Universal player, so it's interesting to see Oppo being mentioned.

Yes sorry mate, I probably missed that bit out. 11kgs worth mind, so build quality is pretty decent!

Since you're using the player for audio purposes as a transport only, I'd get one of those inexpensive Sonys. If you wnt to play SACD you'll have to bypass the DAC.

Oppo BDP103. Just before we closed today, I was playing around with a few DVD-A's and SACD's - very impressive.

It can be wired digitally into your DAC, and you can also connect the analogue outs directly to your amp to replay SACD's.

Thanks David,

I'm being swayed away from the twin attack of Denon & Marantz now. 

My interest is piqued by the SACD capability, certainly. Presumably other connections to my DAC are via HDMI? I'll scrutinise the tech spec of this latest contender. Right at the top of my budget too. 

Denon & Marantz are similar in performance & share almost all components, as they're built by the same manufacturer. If they're on your shortlist, pick whichever is cheaper.