Three of the best high-end 4K Blu-ray players battle it out for top spot in our Group Test

We’ve pitched three of the best high-end 4K Blu-ray spinners against each other in a play-off for top honours. Game on…

Video-streaming services might be all the rage right now, but in our experience a physical format still delivers the ultimate home cinema experience. The current pinnacle is 4K Blu-ray, which packages movies with Ultra HD resolution, HDR (High Dynamic Range) and high-quality audio formats, such as Dolby Truehd, Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio, onto a single disc.

Of course, you’ll need a 4K Blu-ray player to spin these discs. A £200 deck will deliver plenty of bang for your buck, but the performance can be bettered. If you’re planning on using the player in a premium home cinema set-up with a surround-sound speaker package and 4K television or projector, you should definitely consider upping your budget when it comes to the 4K player you choose.

Premium players can take picture and sound quality to another level, and the cost is reflected in build quality, design and the components used, which are all a step up from the standard offered by cheaper machines. At this kind of money, nothing is left to chance.

To that end, we’ve picked a trio of high-end 4K Blu-ray players to put to the test, ranging from £700 to £1000.

The contenders include two previous What Hi-fi? Award-winners in the shape of the Cambridge Audio CXUHD and the Panasonic DP-UB9000, while the new kid on the block is the Pioneer UDP-LX500, the company’s first 4K Blu-ray player at this sort of price.

We know the impact Pioneer’s disc players have had in the past, so we’re especially keen to see and hear how it performs against the five-star establishment.

It’s time to fire up these 4K players, settle in and find out which one is your route to home cinema heaven.