By the way, I totally forgot to post and report back here re the SSP 800’s DAC vs the Oppo 105’s DAC for listening to 2ch PCM music sources such as CD/HDCD or DVD-Audio downmixed in stereo.
I now have the Oppo 205 and the Lyngdorf MP-50 pre pro in my dedicated home theater room. But when I still had the Oppo 105 and the Classe SSP 800 I finally did get to compare between the two DACs just for kicks eventhough this is my dedicated home theater room and strictly used for home theater (surround movies) and normally the Oppo is connected to my AV pre pro only via HDMI. But I was curious how the two DACs would compare in stereo for music playbacks. So for the sake of comparison I had to add a pair of XLR balanced interconnects to patch between the Oppo 105 & the SSP 800 as well as a spdif cable to patch between the two.
I found that the DAC in the Classe SSP 800 is indeed superior sounding : more refined, smoother, better dynamic inner details rythm and drive and better image focus and overall less digital sounding than the Oppo 105. In comparison to the SSP 800 the Oppo 105 sounded flatter less dynamic not as refined and smooth especially with vocals more digital sounding but a bit more airy and transparent.
For comparison purposes I was using a Nordost Valhalla 2 HDMI cable for DVD-Audio playbacks downmixed in stereo, Shunyata Research Sigma spdif cable for CD/HDCD playbacks and a pair of Transparent Reference XLR analog interconnects for CD/HDCD & DVD-Audio playbacks downmixed in stereo.
Using the same Shunyata Sigma power cables for both the Oppo & the SSP 800.
The differences between the two DACs or how much better the SSP 800 compared to the Oppo 105 depends on your associated gears (power amps, speakers, cables, etc). In a highly resolving and revealing setup and system the differences were readily discernible and wasn’t subtle at all. In less resolving and revealing setup and system the differences can be perhaps somewhat subtle but still discernible.
But I must say that the Oppo 105 wasn't bad considering the asking price and it is a universal bluray disc player after all, not a dedicated audio only player.
I did the comparison in my own home theater room. My front L/R speakers are B&W 800 D3 driven by a pair of Classe Delta CAM 600 class AB monoblock amps. This is a highly resolving and revealing setup and system. My AC power line products are 2 Audioquest Niagara 7000 for this home theater room since I have several power amps in this room : 3 monoblocks for front LCR, a five-channel amp for surrounds, and recently added 2 stereo amps for my overhead height ceiling speakers for Atmos setup.
Everything are plugged to these two Audioquest Niagara 7000 except for the 2 subwoofers. The subs are plugged directly to the wall.