Cambridge Audio BD751 vs BD650 personal review

There's an ethernet link (plus wifi dongle and USB extension cable - thoughtful), but just for BD-Live / firmware upgrades. It also has a USB socket for USB drives (WMA and MP3 files only) (and e-Sata).  

It's a shame that the group test won't include the current Marantz disc players. I recently bought a UD5005 that plays everything (except HDCD), and there is a region free DVD hack for it. I replaced a Cambridge Audio 650 which I had for a couple of months, but just could not learn to love. The Marantz I think is a improvement on the CA in all areas.

Yes there is a Marantz in that group test - in fact there is a new Marantz universal first tested in our next issue, which is posted out to subscribers on Thursday; in shops/available to download 2nd June

Hi,

Very interesting read.  i've just recently purchased an Onkyo TX-NR808 and it's very nice.  However it's potentially highlighting short comings of my current TV / Blu Ray set-up:

Sonyny KDL40V4000 40" TV

Dandy, this is the first BD751 review I've read, so thank you very much! The BD751 can actually play WAV-files through USB drive. I've tested that at a retailer here in Stockholm. According to Cambridge, it's also possible to play WAV through ethernet (I've not tested that myself).

@Claire and Dandy (and everyone else!): I'm very much interested in the 2 ch audio performance when playing uncompressed WAV in comparison to playing CD:s on BD751. Please, please include in your testing!

Best regards

Martin

A brief remark about video upscaling with the 751:

The 751 has two HDMI outputs; however, the two outputs each use different upscaling modules, HDMI 1 uses the higher level Qdeo one, but HDMI 2 uses the Mediatek one, which I think was in the 650.

So be careful which HDMI you plug into, when you connect. (Useful to read the manual  )

Hi, I also have an 650Bd and interested in 751. It's possible to select diferente output resolutions for hdmi1 and hdmi2?

Why would you want to do that? Just use HDMI 1.

Because hdmi1 goes to plasma and hdmi2 goes to projetor that doesn't support 1080/24. Its possible?

I spent an hour this afternoon comparing the PCM(751 doing the decoding) and bitstream (rest of gear decoding) for stereo music sources. I found that the 751 produced better results as PCM, than my Cyrus PreXpdQx or my Pioneer LX 53 a/v receiver. Using Cee Lo Green's track "Bright Lights Bigger City", the 751 produced the most natural sound; the kick drum especially sounded most "real". In comparison, the others sounded like drum machines.

For music, I had bought the 751 for its improvement as a transport, but it seems it is a better DAC than my Cyrus and the Pioneer.

Looking forward to the online review of the CA BD 751 in early June.

So now its between the CA, Arcam, Oppo and the Marantz UD 7006 as to who gets my money. 

The Cambridge Audio BD751 review should be online on Thursday - ahead of the Group Test featuring all of the above!

Brilliant Clare - that reminds me I must renew my subscription immediately!

Well what about that - our Cambridge Audio BD751 review is now online, a day earlier than promised!

Well done! A day early indeed. I nearly choked on my coronation chicken sandwich when I first noticed it online.

Can't wait for the supertest now. I think the Marantz UD 7006 got an even more impressive review overall than the BD 751 and I reckon it's in pole position for the supertest, unless the Oppo 95 can give it a good run. The Arcam lacks features and is glitchy and I don't know too much about the Denon machine.