Reference disc player...UDP 205 or Marantz?

@tomcarr , I wish I could expound intelligently for you - but I can't. The 205 is my first Oppo. I'm comparing it to some older (albeit in that 'legendary' category) CD players with the Philips guts and DAC's, as well as a newer TASCAM, which sucked in comparison (but, I really didn't care nor give much credit to digital). I primarily listened to analog (LP and R2R) so digital took a back seat. Maybe the highest praise is that I'm listening more to my CD's, DVD-A and SACD's than ever - and every time it's like I've got a new album! I'm actually preferring most of the digitally recorded albums on shiny disc, more than a digital sourced LP. FWIW, I'm running balanced cables to my Jeff Rowland gear, feeding a pair of Tannoy's. Not exactly a "bright" system by any stretch. I find the sound very pleasant, engaging in the midrange, and completely non-fatiguing. Hope that helps. 

Boneman, thank you for your response and well-thought-out comments. Yes, I can get a feel for the sound based on what you've said. Glad to hear you are enjoying your silver discs so much. I'm pretty sure I'm going to love a 205.

Tom

@tomcarr - when you get it (I am sure I put this explanation farther up the thread...but I'll summarize again): back the output volume off in the settings to something else than 100%. I really thought it was harsh at 100. I have mine set at 90%. Break-In/Warm-up/whatever you want to call it 'was real' in this box. Definitely filled out the sound after a few hours. I supposed some fancy pink noise disc would probably be the best for that purpose. I used Beethoven's 9th symphony, on repeat, for a couple days (mostly because I wasn't there to listen to it).  I wish I could say the 5 or so digital filters (really, DAC processing algorithms) were drastically different...they seem extremely slight to me. I'm still 'playing' with the different ones. The 205 has been out long enough now (I got it in May?) that I bet there are plenty of opinions on the 'net on which one is best. I'll probably just pick one that "people like" and live with it for a while.
Enjoy!!

@tomcarr - when you get it (I am sure I put this explanation farther up the thread...but I'll summarize again): back the output volume off in the settings to something else than 100%. I really thought it was harsh at 100. I have mine set at 90%. Break-In/Warm-up/whatever you want to call it 'was real' in this box. Definitely filled out the sound after a few hours. I supposed some fancy pink noise disc would probably be the best for that purpose. I used Beethoven's 9th symphony, on repeat, for a couple days (mostly because I wasn't there to listen to it). I wish I could say the 5 or so digital filters (really, DAC processing algorithms) were drastically different...they seem extremely slight to me. I'm still 'playing' with the different ones. The 205 has been out long enough now (I got it in May?) that I bet there are plenty of opinions on the 'net on which one is best. I'll probably just pick one that "people like" and live with it for a while.
Enjoy!!

Just a heads up that when the UDP-205 was first released, each volume step off 100 equated to 1 db. A relatively recent firmware update modified that to .5 db per volume step.

As to the DAC filter setting, general consensus is that the default - mini phase fast - is "best". Of course this is merely a preference so YMMV.

Hi jonasandezekiel,

I haven’t heard any of the better Marantz players so I cannot give you any useful advice on how it compares to the Oppo 105 I have owned for the past 2 years. I won’t claim the Oppo is the best available since I’ve not auditioned many of the higher-end and expensive units either.
But I can tell you that the 105 is a very impressive and versatile player that I consider my personal reference player and, by all reports, the new 205 is at least as good audio wise and better video wise since it’s now 4K. I never thought I was buying ’the best’ but thought I was getting a very good performer that would do a lot of things very well. I reasoned that more expensive players would likely perform better in certain aspects but these improvements would probably would be marginal in nature and the large increase in price would need to be balanced against any perceived marginal increases in performance.
I agree with your view that someone’s personal reference component needs to be determined within the constraints of their budget.
I thought I was buying a very good Bluray player with an excellent audio section at a bargain price of $1,199. I’m very pleased to tell you that’s exactly what I got.
The Oppo’s most impressive qualities are its versatility and audio performance. I use the 105 as a preamp, 5.1 surround sound processor, stand alone dac for music streaming as well as a high quality video processor for Blurays and cable hdtv. The audio quality is so good in fact, that I sold my Parasound AV-2500 surround processor I used for 5.1 surround and my beloved VTL 2.5 preamp (with NOS Mullard tubes and ht bypass) that I used for 2-ch music playback. I never thought I’d remove the VTL from my system but, after extensive comparison of the sound with and without it in my system, I had to admit my music sounded just as sweet and dimensional using the 105 as a music preamp. This was especially hard to discover since I had just recently swapped in a new set of expensive NOS Mullard tubes in the VTL. The 105’s audio performance via its XLR and SE outputs is really that good; I had to be honest and trust my ears.
FYI- Oppo’s customer support is also very good and they helped me setup my computer audio system with my laptop running JRiver, a NAS and the Oppo as dac all communicating via my home wi-fi. The multiple Sabre 9018 dac chips in the Oppo are excellent, too, though I believe the 205 has the latest Sabre 9028 chips.

Hope this helped and best wishes,
Tim