Blu-ray Players

Pioneer BDP-09FD Elite Blu-ray Player - Benchmark

Conclusions

The Pioneer BDP-09FD is a player that aims to be reference quality, and performs exactly that way on the bench with solid standard DVD, and Blu-ray playback, and reference quality analog audio performance. The menu system that is included is excellent and movie playback was perfect for both audio and video. I would be quite fine to have it as my only CD transport as well. By adding support for BD Live and DTS-MA, the BDP-09FD is no longer missing any features that I feel I would need to enjoy Blu-ray movies. There are certain features that could be improved upon such as the remote control, load times, a fix for Pure Audio when watching movies, and FLAC streaming from DNLA; however none of these affect the experience once the movie has started. In addition, this player is impeccably built and looks fantastic. It might not be priced for everyone, but there are many people with reference quality audio systems that don’t have HDMI inputs and need the high end analog outputs, or need dual HDMI connections, or just want the best built player out there. The BDP-09FD delivers in spades and should probably be on the very top of your short list.