Tommy_tvs
Member
More than 200 lab tests and not one new feature: that is what the THX badge on the Magnetar UDP800 MKII and UDP900 MKII actually adds. Both players went through the program covering colour, contrast and gamma accuracy, upscaling from lower resolution discs, audio output, and whether signals reach your other kit intact. Even the coverage is upfront that it does not change the underlying performance and does not promise either one beats a rival.
I am not sneering at it. At $1,899.99 and $3,399.99 you are buying these almost entirely on trust, because the number of people who can audition one in a shop is tiny. Independent confirmation that a player does not mangle the signal has some value, particularly with the Panasonic and Pioneer style options drying up and buyers having very few alternatives to compare against.
But a pass mark tells you a player cleared a bar. It does not tell you by how much, and nothing I read says the actual measurements are being published. A decent disc player is supposed to deliver the bits on the disc to the HDMI output untouched, and at that point the badge mostly certifies that the thing is not broken. The analogue outputs and the SACD side are where these could really separate from each other, and a shared logo says little about that gap of $1,500 between the models.
The Ultima is still waiting in the wings, with THX status unconfirmed. If they publish the lab numbers, I will take this far more seriously than any logo on the fascia.
I am not sneering at it. At $1,899.99 and $3,399.99 you are buying these almost entirely on trust, because the number of people who can audition one in a shop is tiny. Independent confirmation that a player does not mangle the signal has some value, particularly with the Panasonic and Pioneer style options drying up and buyers having very few alternatives to compare against.
But a pass mark tells you a player cleared a bar. It does not tell you by how much, and nothing I read says the actual measurements are being published. A decent disc player is supposed to deliver the bits on the disc to the HDMI output untouched, and at that point the badge mostly certifies that the thing is not broken. The analogue outputs and the SACD side are where these could really separate from each other, and a shared logo says little about that gap of $1,500 between the models.
The Ultima is still waiting in the wings, with THX status unconfirmed. If they publish the lab numbers, I will take this far more seriously than any logo on the fascia.
