I own the Oppo switcher, it is excellent.
Other than my opinion, consider this experience, something that came as a complete surprise to both myself and my tech.
I paid for professional set up of my 65" Panasonic Plasma and after the initial calibration (direct into Panasonic HDMI) the tech suggested the tester be fed into the front end of the system where the (AT&T fiber optic) HDTV box provides my service.
From HDTV box to Panasonic on the wall, the HDMI run is 35 feet under the floor across the room and up the wall.
Previously I had done an HDMI shoot out between three cables and decided on Monoprice as best picture (the cheapest of the bunch).
Against the Monoprice was an expensive audiophile brand, the Blue Jeans "Belden bonded pair" and also the Gold Monster Cable.
The tech was equipped with a top quality Sencor to set up the color, resolution and gain of my TV and both he and I were surprised that after moving his instrument to the front of the system, the calibration needed almost zero re-adjustment.
It turns out the Oppo has an amp and color EQ correction that allows cable runs over a long distance. Based on that and what I saw, my opinion is to spend $100.00 on the Oppo switcher/amp instead of $500.00 (or more) on an expensive HDMI that cannot compensate for distance loss.
Other than my opinion, consider this experience, something that came as a complete surprise to both myself and my tech.
I paid for professional set up of my 65" Panasonic Plasma and after the initial calibration (direct into Panasonic HDMI) the tech suggested the tester be fed into the front end of the system where the (AT&T fiber optic) HDTV box provides my service.
From HDTV box to Panasonic on the wall, the HDMI run is 35 feet under the floor across the room and up the wall.
Previously I had done an HDMI shoot out between three cables and decided on Monoprice as best picture (the cheapest of the bunch).
Against the Monoprice was an expensive audiophile brand, the Blue Jeans "Belden bonded pair" and also the Gold Monster Cable.
The tech was equipped with a top quality Sencor to set up the color, resolution and gain of my TV and both he and I were surprised that after moving his instrument to the front of the system, the calibration needed almost zero re-adjustment.
It turns out the Oppo has an amp and color EQ correction that allows cable runs over a long distance. Based on that and what I saw, my opinion is to spend $100.00 on the Oppo switcher/amp instead of $500.00 (or more) on an expensive HDMI that cannot compensate for distance loss.