Surprise: someone’s actually making a new 4K Blu-ray player! But it’s not exactly a mainstream option — this reference player is for audiophiles as much as cinephiles

(Image credit: Magnetar / Future) The Magnetar Ultima is a new 4K Blu-ray player for reference-quality playbackBlu-Ray, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, CD and digital support — but no DAC: all-digital output to your systemCosts a cool $12,000 (about £8,895 / AU$16,687)We've written many times about the benefits of Blu-ray over streaming, but many hardware firms have stopped making players as the format's popularity has declined. So it's nice to see the announcement of a new player for those who are still invested in the future of 4K Blu-ray… and it's one that's also an impressive audiophile music player.The new player comes from Magnetar, and it's called the Ultima. And because it's being unveiled in the US at CEDIA 2026, the show where sound systems with supercar price tags are exhibited, it's clear that this reference system is aimed at the more affluent end of the market. (You might also get a hint from its price tag of $12,000.) (Image credit: Magnetar)Magnetar Ultima: key features and pricingThe Ultima is built on Magnetar's MKII player platform, supporting 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, SACD, DVD, CD, DVD-A (remember that?), DSD/DoP, USB and network playback. That means a huge range of premium formats are covered, including external digital files, in a single system.The Ultima adapts the existing MKII platform by moving to an external DC power supply instead of a more traditional internal AC setup, which why it has two distinct units. It features dedicated lithium-based power stages designed to isolate the transport, clock and signal paths from any noise, fluctuating voltage and other potential issues that might interfere with pristine digital data transmission.Interestingly, the power stages are made by Chinese firm BYD, whose electric cars are currently selling like hot cakes in Europe. BYD is at the forefront of battery, charging and electrical tech so seeing a car firm here is less surprising than it might appear at first glance.The Ultima runs a synchronized master clock system based around a unified 10MHz reference clock for precise timing across the device, but there's no audio DAC: this is a reference device whose job is to deliver the most precise audio data to the rest of your system, so it's expected that you'll connect it to a setup that can handle its audio.As you'd expect, there are extensive connectivity options including two HDMIs, one of which is audio-only, and there's also gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, AES/EBU and coax S/PDIF connections too.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.It's a hugely impressive specification, which is why it comes with that impressive price tag. It's available now through Magnetar's dealer network, but if that price is a bit steep you might want to check out our guide to the best Blu-ray players for something slightly cheaper.Still, we're just happy to see something new arrive onto the market — Blu-ray might be growing in popularity again, but the hardware hasn't had all that much love. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Contributor Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.