Onkyo shows pride in its DV-BD507 Blu-ray player with lofty $449 price tag

Onkyo's never been one to dabble in the Blu-ray bargain basement, but with BD decks selling for well under the $200 mark, we're wondering what kind of secret sauce is boxed in with the DV-BD507. The outfit's latest Profile 2.0 player doesn't sound too special based on specs alone, as it supports HDMI 1.3a, 1080p output, BD-Live functionality and BonusView features just like every other respectable rival on the market already. Sure, we can't say we don't appreciate its innate ability to process AVCHD files stored on SD / SDHC cards or toasted DVDs, but even on a good day we can't justify the $449 MSRP. Maybe it's upgradable to 3D... or something. Fancy rear shot is waiting after the break.

[bob e Posted Jul 29th 2009 7:52AM]

AVCHD playback is a nice benefit for sure.

[Cash9007 Posted Jul 29th 2009 5:02PM]

Even though players priced at $198 at walmart can do the same thing?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 7:45AM]

Darren you the only one working today?

[seriousam7 Posted Jul 29th 2009 8:02AM]

Dayum...7 straight posts, and counting.

[JLH Posted Jul 29th 2009 8:02AM]

no 7.1 or 5.1 analog inputs. Geez the nerve to charge $449. Even the phased out onkyo hd-805 had 5.1 analog inputs.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 12:52PM]

Inputs? You do realize this is NOT a recorder right?

[cc82 Posted Jul 29th 2009 8:10AM]

If you're spending that much on a blu-ray player, it seems like Oppo would be the way to go.

[arkweld Posted Jul 29th 2009 8:36AM]

no onboard memory for $400?

Idiotic.

[zargon Posted Jul 29th 2009 8:40AM]

I am guessing the majority of people that are going to buy this are ones that just have to match their gears or custom installs. Because when you compare this to what is out there, priced lower or a little higher, you are not getting that much for your money.

[thedankone Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:02AM]

talk about a paragraph full of nothing. Let me help you here $400 for a bluray player that isn't the Oppo or PS3 is expensive. This thing doesn't do sacd or hdcd, maybe has better dac then run of the mill bluray player.

[Zhuzhu Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:02AM]

Yeah, on features at least, OPPO BDP-83 thoroughly blows this away in the same price range. I suppose Onkyo is hoping most folks won't have heard of OPPO.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:38AM]

I believe that the MSRP on the Oppo BDP-83 is actually $599, and that its regular selling price is $499...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:39AM]

Can't distinguish between Oppo and Onkyo...shouldn't post before my first cup of coffee....

[Duke Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:46AM]

Paying more just for the name Onkyo - thats all the justification they expect.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 10:36AM]

Custom Installers are going to make up the lion's share of this player's distribution channel... beyond that, you'll probably see refurbs pop up on AC4L in 3-6 months for $200ish and a few folks will pick them up for brand matching. That said, the European Onkyo website show this player with DivxHD listed, so if that's not a typo maybe there is a bit more hope for its feature set.

In all honestly, a decent video scaling chipset (i.e. Anchor Bay or HQV) along with the improved build quality would push me to consider one of these players (as a refurb like mentioned above). With Samsung moving away from HQV, there's not a down-market BD player with superb video scaling for DVD. Oppo is doing a great job filling the middle-market, but the Samsung P2500/2550 will be missed when it comes to superb image quality on the lower-end... it just happens to have great Netflix and Pandora support as well, but would be well worth the price (street or refurb) even without. Not every BD player has to be an all-in-one solution for BD, networked contend, and file playback... especially one like this that's really for a niche market segment anyway.

But I guess that's all moot since a decent video scaler isn't mentioned, so unless it's hiding in there unannounced (unlikely based on Onkyo's past trends) it is still overpriced and underspeced.

[boe Posted Jul 29th 2009 10:55AM]

I bought Sony and Onkyo many many years ago when I was in college and Onkyo was a step up from the Sony back then. I bought a Onkyo preamp about two years ago because it was a good price and had the features I wanted. Turns out it sounded like crap, had severe lip sync issues and they stopped making new firmware for it to help with the sound and other issues.

I paid a hell of a lot more for the denon prepro but it sounds extremely good and denon keeps rolling out new firmware to tweak it and add new features.

I still buy Sony products as the ES line is pretty good. But if I was paying $500 for a BR player I sure would get OPPO without thinking twice. Maybe in another 20 years if Onkyo is still around they'll make something worth buying but I don't think I'll buy anything from them again any time soon.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2009 2:03PM]

Um and why wouldn't people just buy a PS3 for less?

[Jeebus Posted Jul 29th 2009 12:53PM]

Fugly as sin. Is that display a joke? Looks like something from the 80s.