Oppo, great video reviews,, but good transport????

Comparing the Oppo 970 to my Cary 303/200 as a redbook cd player, the Oppo comes across as extremely enjoyable, but not in the same league as the Cary in terms of detail, liquidity, base control, etc. However the Oppo is so enjoyable that I've decided to build a really nice office music system around it.

That said, I can't directly answer your question in that I've not tried it as a transport. And, you already know that it does not FEEL extremely sturdy. My suspicion is that the electronics are quite sophisticated and so the transport plus power supply must be at least part of the reason that it falls short of the Cary. I cannot be sure.

Of course you cannot use high end power cords in that it uses the smaller appliance oriented plug connector (looks like an "8" in cross section, with one side flat).

Art

But following up on Plato's comments, then there are mods available that take the OPPO to a new level... check out Reference Audio Mods. After having a universal player modded by Electronic Visionary Systems (EVS), I am a convert.... don't think I'll ever go back to a transport-DAC system.

Chad:
I just purchased the 970HD and have had a little time to play with it. Most of the buzz has been video oriented. With so much worry over the chroma bug, jaggies, 3-2 pulldown and anything with the word Hi-def in it, this player address a lot of "wish list" items everyone uses as the benchmark to evaluate universal players. And it does a great job of playback as a "one box" solution. Sell it for 149 and a lot of people are experiencing Christmas early this year. I plugged it into my Lexicon MC12 and compared it to my Sony DVD7000, a first generaation dvd player that I use as a transport. I thought the Sony sounded a little better.
However, I needed a universal player that plays all the formats including the burned dvd's and cd's, which of course the sony cannot play. The oppo doesn't have the cladding and the antijitter that more substantial transports have. I think a used Denon3900 or a Meridian 596 would be a better choice. While realative bargains used, how can you compete with 149$. It's strengths are upconversion, good cadence correction, and the ability to play almost all the formats. And it's very good with DVD+R as well. No skips, it's fast in it's operation and has fair layer change speed. I have to agree with reviews like the Secrets of Home Theater site.
www.hometheaterhifi.com
Every year they have a "shoot out" comparing makes and head to head performance. It is a good transport, but not a great one. If audio is your primary concern, you might consider the predecessor. While still current, last years model specs out with better audio.

I would caution everyone looking at the Oppos to understand that there are two distictly different players currently in the Oppo lineup and more on the way.

The Oppo 971 is the one that got all of the buzz about its video playback. It cost $199 direct from Oppo.

The Oppo 970 is the newer universal player. It has somewhat diminished video quality but is a universal player and has been said to have better audio quality. It cost $149 direct from Oppo.

From what I've read over at AVS forum, there is a new Oppo (871?) on the way any day now. I think it is the successor to the 971, but I'm not sure if they will both remain on the price list.

Enjoy,

TIC

At what price point would you say the Oppo "audio" version competes with, would buying both be still a far better value then some costly all in ones?