Cambridge Audio Take On Blu-ray with the Azur 650BD

British audio company Cambridge Audio have announced their first Blu-ray player, attractively named the Azur 650BD, at the CEDIA show.  It may not be the prettiest design on the market, but Cambridge Audio are known for producing excellent audio products, so we have high hopes for overall audio and visual performance, especially as the 650BD supports CD, HDCD, DVD-Audio and SACD in addition to DVD and Blu-ray, plus TrueHD, DTS-HD Master and High Resolution Stereo audio formats are supported.

On the video side, the 650BD plays 1080p at 24fps, plus, according to this manual, the upscaling DVD player will be region-free out of the box!  The Blu-ray player is BD-Live enabled and has 1GB of internal memory, plus two USB sockets for viewing video files and around the rear of the player you'll find 7.1 channel analogue outputs.  Cambridge Audio are also pushing the quiet operation and the fast boot and disc playing time, although they don't quote any figures.

A November release date is being penciled in for the Azue 650BD in both Europe and the USA.  Cost is on the steep side, with a retail price tag of $750 in the USA and possibly 799 Euro in Europe.  No price has been stated for the UK as yet.  It's interesting to note that the specification of the Azur matches the Oppo BDP-83 exactly, a player with a great reputation and more importantly, a lower cost.

Comments

[Simon Hewitt]

No recommended retail price has been released for Europe yet. Thanks, Cambridge Audio.

[Andy Boxall]

Thanks for the clarification, Simon, I wasn't that sure of the source anyway. I have amended the post accordingly.

[Craig Ellison]

I am waiting for the UK launch of the Cambridge Audio Blu-Ray player and matching Amp, I heard that cambridge audio are releasing both in November 2009. Strange thing is since that report there has been no further anouncements.

If anyone has further I would be most appreciative to hear it.