marantz ud 9004

I just bought one. It think it is better than the Pioneer BDP-09FD which I also own in a second system. I am using the multi-channel analog outputs for Blu-Ray and DVD playback. It is also very nice as a two channel player for CD and SACD. I do prefer my Lector CDP-7 mkIII for CDs but I could easily live with the Marantz player as my only player. It has the Marantz house sound. It is warm and full sounding but the details are there. It is heavy and well built. It shares some insides with the Marantz SA-7 CD/SACD player but I have never heard this player so I do not know how the two compare. Response times are pretty good. This is probably the best Blu-ray player available at this time but to me it is only worth the money if you are going to use the multi-channel analog outputs. If you are going to use an HDMI connection to a processor/preamp for both audio and video there are other less expensive players that would be good choices.