Oppo UDP - 205

I played Blu-reys of Legends of Jazz and the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th using the 105 then the 205.  The 205 provided more of a sense of transparency than the 105, the mids in particular seeming more open.  It's a sound I could live with easily.

I played Waltz for Debby SACD, a CD of Corelli concertos, and DVD-A of Pet Sounds using the Ayre C-5exMP and 205.  The 205 closes the gap with the Ayre substantially compared to the 105, but doesn't match its sense of transparency nor its depth of sound stage.  The 205 doesn't quite get to that intangible sense of listening to music that's just there, i.e., not being reproduced.  The big surprise was Pet Sounds.  Played with the Ayre it has an amazing sense of depth, but seemed flat with the 205.  I tried the video side of the disc with no improvement in sound but a display of lyrics for those who like to sing along.

The 205 is a very nice sounding disc player that lacks the magic of the Ayre.  It is a substantial improvement over the 105.  Of course I can't play Blu-rey discs on the Ayre, but the sound of Blue-reys using the 205 is so good I needn't look elsewhere.  Fortunately, that's the purpose of the Oppos in my setups.  

dbphd,
So the Oppo is not a giant killer after all. But looks like it can get get you so much closer to the mega priced dedicated CD players at a much smaller outlay. Would like to hear your opinion after a few hundred hours. May be the burn-in will get the player a notch up?

Just set up my OPPO 205, half way through a blue ray movie everything froze, the picture and all controls on oppo. Had to unplug it to restart. Not sure what this means, the disc was brand new. Replayed the disk without further such episodes. Played the disk without any initial setup, factory settings. Has anyone had this happen on prior versions 105/103? 

milpai, before I moved the Ayre C-5xeMP to the living room, it had been the stereo player along with an Esoteric SA-60 for surround in the HT/music room.  They both used a Parasound JC 2 BP preamp and JC 1 monoblocks driving a pair of KEF Reference 107/2s.  But when I play stereo using the SA-60 -- its now the only alternate to a silver 105D, it gets very close but doesn't quite reach that uncanny sense of music just being there the Ayre provides.  Nothing in my previous post should denigrate the 205.  It's an excellent CD/SACD and superb Blu-ray player.

db