Connected Blu-ray
Yamaha’s BD-S667 Blu-ray player is a whizz at multimedia file playback, reports Steve May. It’s not a bad disc-spinner, either
It’s perhaps ironic that Yamaha, the original proponent of home cinema and multichannel sound, came to the Blu-ray party a little late in the day. But the brand has been playing catch-up fast.
No shrinking wallflower
A wall-mounted Blu-ray player under a TV? Martin Pipe says 'hang it all'
The BD-C7500 is one of the most distinctive Blu-ray players currently available. With its ultra-slim form-factor, vertical orientation, glossy black finish and wall bracket, it’s crying out to be mounted under your flatscreen TV. Choose the desk stand at your peril; press the ‘eject’ button (on the remote, or the player’s touch-sensitive control strip) and as it reveals the disc compartment, the entire frontispiece motors leftwards knocking over any lesser objects in its path. You have been warned...
Thrills without frills
What this costly deck lacks in features, it more than makes up for on picture and sound performance, especially for Pioneer fans, says Jim Hill
Pioneer’s pricey player offers none of the niceties that brands use to lure us to the next price point. Instead of 3D, wi-fi, universal playback or even a set of multichannel outputs, this step-up player trades purely on performance. It’s a high-risk strategy, given the impressive quality of this year’s budget offerings. Lucky then, that the picture quality is spanking.