? about oppo

oppo products once again demonstrate that the price/performance equation in audio/video is elusive. As we all should know, it is amply at work in the 'cable game', and the 'mod' movement.

I have two oppo players, one I use for audio, the other for video. Both units perform exceptionally well, even measured against my hi end sony and cal labs tube units. You would do well to just buy the new oppo unit that recently came out and stop looking for anything else. Buy it on Amazon, it gets you free shipping and a no hassle, no cost return policy. Let your ears tell the story, not marketing hype of the hi-end press. I was shocked that the hi-end gave oppo such good reviews, it could destroy their business model.

Once you have done so, it is important that you never listen to any other player, ever. To do so buy's into the very costly hi-end game.

Enjoy.

Yes, the Oppos really are that good. My $200 981 sounds every bit as good as my Denon 3910, originally a $1500 player. The new 983 has gotten rave reviews. I'll know this weekend, mine is being delivered this Friday - w00t!

-RW-

Dwhitt,

I waited for some other responders to reply first because I was the person who recommended the Oppo/powered speaker setup in response to your previous post.

As you already know, I use an Oppo player connected directly to a pair of powered speakers (Quad 12L Actives) and I use the remote controlled digital volume control on the Oppo to control system volume. My Oppo is highly modified by Ric Shultz at EVS (www.tweakaudio.com), so I can't comment on the sound of a stock Oppo.

For the money, I don't think you can beat the Oppo, especially if you consider all of the additional functionality built into them. They are truely Universal players and will play everything, except Blue-Ray/HD-DVD. They also have nice features, like the built-in volume control, not found on other players.

I like Oppo and stand firmly by the recommendation.

Concerning your question:

why would anybody buy a thousand dollar player

Oppo is not sold in retail stores or advertised widely, so the vast majority of consumers are totally unaware of the brand. They only see the mass market stuff, so they don't buy Oppo. If they want "the best", they are sold high dollar units from Denon, Sony, Pioneer, etc. Personally I think the inexpensive Oppos are as good, and often better, than the big dollar DVD/universal players from the big name manufacturers.

The one thing the Oppos lack is massively overbuilt build-quality. They look and feel more like inexpensive low-end units from the major manufactuers. Even some of their "features" make them feel cheaper. Oppo list the flexible plastic used on the drawer as a "feature" saying it's flexible nature prevents it from being accidently broken if some pressure is placed on it. I agree, it serves that purpose, however some people feel its just cheap manufacturing.

My suggestion is this: Go to www.Oppo.com and read their description of each of their 3 current models. Once you decide which one to try, buy it on Amazon.com to get the free shipping. Try it in your home (using just the TV connection for now) to see if you like the video, audio, funtionality, build quality, etc., of the Oppo. If you don't like it, send it back to Amazon. If you do like it, go ahead and buy a pair of quality powered speakers and you are set.

Later on, if you decide you want to upgrade the sound quality you are getting, send the Oppo off to Ric Shultz at EVS and have it mod'd. IMHO the sound quality will be at least as good as any sub $1000 dedicated CD player (mabe even a lot better) plus it will play DVD, SACD, DVD-A, HDCD.

Enjoy,

TIC

I think Reubent meant www.oppodigital.com for the link. I really like my Oppo 981 and have a modded 983 on order. The 981 replaced a Sony 9100ES and bested it in all regards. The 980 should have even better sound quality than the 981 and the 983 should best the 981 in sound and picture quality.

I have not tried the direct connect with the Oppo volume control. I was concerned that it only has 20 steps which may be too course for some applications. However, it seems to working great for Reubent.

Of course I meant coarse.