Just to throw my two cents in, I recently bought the Sony S550 and with the gracious help of gonk, got it hooked up through my 950 and the analog ins and the picture on my Toshiba 65HX81 is stunning (even though I am using component, no HDMI) and the sound is just amazing (Cars on blu-ray is a must). Would never have thought the sound would be so much for enveloping but it is. Sony was running a deal for $150.00 dollars off your first $300 purchase if you signed up for their SonyCard (visa). getting the player for $250 was a deal-maker for me but I had been researching both the 550 and the Panny 55. Sony may still be running a deal but I heard it may only be $100 off. go to Sonystyle.com to check. So far everything I've played has worked and have had no problems at all. It's quite the player. hope this helps.
ed