Onkyo unveils THX-toting BD-SP807 Blu-ray player
Brings a bit of 'cinematic excellence' to the home
Onkyo has announced that the arrival of its latest high-end Blu-ray player – the BD-SP807.
Packing a massive audio punch, the Blu-ray setup has been THX-certified and brings, according to Onkyo, a bit of 'cinematic excellence' to the home.
This means that it allows bitstream output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential soundtracks and, for those using analogue audio, there's 7.1-channel analogue outputs on-board.
The BD-SP807 also sports realistic HD video quality, courtesy of a state-of-the-art 297Mhz/12-bit video DAC from Analog Devices, and offers 1080p upscaling via its ABT1030 Video Reference Series chip.
Considering Onkyo only announced its first Blu-ray player last November, the company is certainly looking at nailing the high end of the market with the BD-SP807.
To keep it up to date as possible the player is Profile 2.0, so BD-Live compatibility is a-go, and there's also an SD card slot for direct access to your camera's pictures and movies. There's no news of a USB port, however.
Power of 9
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
If you fancy completing your Blu-ray setup then the company has also announced the PA-MC5500 THX Ultra 2-certified 9-channel amplifier.
Weighing a back-breaking 26KG, the PA-MC5500 is festooned with gold-plated XLR and brass RCA connections, with each channel packing a mighty 200W.
If that's not enough to melt your ears, there's a whole host of tech on-board to make sure circuit noise and feedback is kept to an absolute minimum.
It may not be digital-ready, but as Onkyo reassures us: "We opted to eschew digital power amplification for an all-analogue configuration in the PA-MC5500, specifically because it wanted to achieve a full-bodied and audibly musical sound quality, something that's still far from a given in the home cinema world."
So there you go.
Onkyo is hoping that you partner the PA-MC5500 and BD-SP807 Blu-ray player with its networked pre-amp, the PR-SC5507, which was launched back in August.
Prices are still to be confirmed but the Blu-ray player BD-SP807 Blu-ray player and PA-MC5500 9-channel amp have a release date of February and March respectively.
Go to http://www.eu.onkyo.com/ for more details.
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.