In my opinion, if you have the money to spare, go and buy the one you like. Price is dropping week after week for sure, but that's just awaiting and never enjoy the available technology till you get one. If you want to wait for the price drop of Sony and Pan players, you better off wait till the Oppo S83 which might be available first quarter of next year (hope so). Otherwise, go and buy the Sony S550 or the Pan BD-55 which has 7.1 analog outs (if your AV gears do not have HDMI input (like the Outlaw 990 which I have).
At present, I have Sony S550 at the basement theater and Sony S350 at the family room, the match with a 52 inches Mitsubisi LCD TV (1080p).
Both Sony bd players are great units, only the loading time is a bit slow. At this moment, I gave up the SACD and DVD-A listening for a while. I will buy the 3rd bd player.....The Oppo S83 which play BD disc, SACD and DVD-A discs.

Kwok