Has anyone bought the OPPO 105 and has an opinion

I'm totally loving mine (Oppo 105). I bought it to do Blu-ray and it sure does that well. So much better to watch movies on. And it is also much better than my Redbook CD player, the Cambridge 840C. To me it is fast, neutral, revealing, and sounds like music. Really lifts the veil that some players exhibit. I have never heard the Sony, so I have nothing to add here. Of the hi-end players I've heard, and though I have not compared them side by side, the Oppo sure gives them a run for their money. You can always just order it up and give it a test run and if it doesn't fit the bill, you can send it back. That's how confident Oppo is. So live a little and give it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained (that coming from the choir!) Good luck in your journey.

I own both players. There really is no comparison. The Oppo sounds far better, plus it can play Blu Ray, DVD-A, and computer music. Sometimes the software in the Oppo causes glitches, and you won't have to worry about that with the Sony.

I have the 95 & the 105, I think the 105 sounds better in exactly the ways described in the brief TAS review. They have also been a lot of fun with a lot of options. I suspect to do better you would have to spend at least $7K.
I had tried it (balanced) direct to amp & preferred it with my preamp(This will depend on how good the preamp is).
Big surprise: I took it off fixed out to variable last nite in order to compare analog to SACD, and have now left it set at 80 because the sound with reduced attenuation by the preamp seems better than fixed out to a lower preamp volume setting. Curious to know if others have tried this.

Some people have found that full output can overload the input on the preamp.

Kal

Since I replaced the Cary Cinema 11a with a Parasound JC-2 analog stereo preamp, I recant much of what I wrote in my 3/24/13 post. The pairing of the XA5400ES with the JC-2 is as though a veil has been lifted, revealing a detailed wide and deep soundstage. I've concluded either the Oppo and Sony can sound superb with either SE or XLR connections. The Oppo may be less system dependent.

The JC-2 connects to Proceed HPA amps that drive KEF Reference 107.2s.

db