Cambridge Audio 650BD universal Blu-ray player on sale now for £399.95
It was officially launched at the CEDIA Show in the US last year, and now Richer Sounds has confirmed that the Cambridge Audio 650BD Blu-ray player has just gone on sale in the UK for £399.95.
Our review sample arrived last week and we'll be publishing a full test in the April 2010 issue of the magazine, on sale March 10th.
Just to recap, the 650BD will handle Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD and HDCD discs. It supports all the latest high-definition audio formats, and uses 24/192kHz DACs.
There's onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio in stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 variants.
The player is Profile 2.0 as standard, upscales standard-definition sources to 1080p and has dual USB ports so users can enjoy music, photos and videos transferred from their computers.
A Set-Up Wizard is designed to make calibration easier, and the player has redesigned wraparound casework and a thicker front panel to match the new Azur 650R multichannel receiver. Energy consumption in standby is said to be less than 1W.
See our special blog for more pictures of both the 650BD and 650R.
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Comments
Right I've had a 650 for a couple of weeks now and my professional view is that this is the machine I've been waiting for. Mega fast loading, Multi-region DVD out of the box (a great shame its not on BD as well), noiseless operation, excellent graphic interface and really good cool looks. Great solid remote and the 'display' key gives you ALL the info you need, video, audio, ratio and connect in a row along the top and bottom of the screen. DVD audio DTS Audio and SACD sound sound terrific going through my Pioneer VSX LX52 Receiver.
One wonders why OPPO decided to drop out of the market as the graphic interface is the same, only the OPPO's 21:9 subtitle shift is missing.
This is a terrific machine and I give it 5 stars, brilliant !!
Fred K - the 650R is imminent; as we revealed in our CES coverage last month, the BD player comes first, then the receiver:
http://whathifi.com/News/CES-2010-Cambridge-Audio-unveils-Topaz-range-of-entry-level-hi-fi-separates/
Any news as to when the 650R might EVENTUALLY be for sale too? Have been holding off a multi-room install, on the basis that this might be just what I'm after (it is billed as incognito-ready), but am starting to wonder whether it's just a figment of CA's imagination still...
Only universal in your own country - as usual!
Can I just say here, as someone who used to work in marketing for major UK Hi-Fi company, that marketing spend does NOT influence reviews.
I dealt with all the main UK magazines during my stint and had a one of the larger budgets within the industry. It would have made my job a hell of a lot easier if I’d have been able to just rely on my marketing spend to rake in the good reviews.
The only way to try aid a review was to: a) build a good and consistent product, b) make sure you had good review stock that was not battered and worked as it should, c) let the reviewer know if your product has any quirks e.g. positioning tips with speakers, and d) understand the listening environment the reviewer uses – sending out a hulking great pair of speakers to be used in a small room is not a clever way to get a review done.
Honestly it is a myth to suggest otherwise. Frankly if I’d have felt that a competitor was getting favourable reviews for their marketing spend I’d have pulled my budget for that magazine in an instant and others would have followed suit. It is too small an industry to get away with that behaviour
Martin
Indeed - our full list of Cambridge Audio reviews starts at a two-star rating:
http://whathifi.com/Cambridge-Audio/Rating_Desc/
On the contrary, djh1697, any such connection is purely in your imagination.
No doubt this device will be given 5 stars by What HiFi? Interesting to see how much advertising Richer sounds do with What HiFi? I cannot imagine for a moment there is a connection?
Hoping this will be good with music. We plan to have the HiFi in the bedroom but we use the AV system in the living room for music occasionally when friends are over.
Any chance this will also be region free?
Now this looks very interesting. As the rumour is that the Cambridge is based on the Oppo and the Oppo has been very well received, (I have one and I have been very happy with it) this player, at this price, if comparable on performance but more readily available and servicable will be a very very strong proposition. Looking forward to the full review!
Thanks team for the initial report.
looks tasty to me
will try one asap.