OPPO 83SE vs Anthem D1 DACS

The SE upgrade applies to the analog outputs from both the two channel DAC and the multichannel DAC, although somewhat differently. Thus, you can take advantage of it for stereo or multichannel, including Blu-Ray, if you choose to.

Kal

I'd suggest you wait a bit to get more feedback on the performance of the Oppo 83SE. I'm a 2 channel guy, and in general I would suspect that for 2 channel, most DACs in the $500-$1000 range would perform as well, or better than something like the Anthem.

I'm not a big fan of using HT processors for 2 channel. IMO, A separate preamp and DAC will give much better 2 channel performance at a lower cost.

As for me, I'm waiting to hear how the new Wyred 4 Sound DAC with the Sabre32 chipset turns out.

Well, the D1 has fairly decent DAC's in it to begin with, that's why you paid the extra money over the AVM40 for to begin with. I've tried about a half dozen or so DAC's with my D2, including the DacMagic, Bel Conto DAC3, MHTD Labs Havana, MHTD Labs Paradesia, Benchmarkd DAC1 and the Musical Fidelity XDAC. The only way that you're going to know for sure is to listen for yourself.

Prpixel, would you sat the Anthem DAC's held their own against the DAC's you mention? I'm not as concerned about Movie sound as I am with 2-channel. However, the Anthem offers some options for room correction which might be an added value for 2 channel, in which case I could get a standard Oppo and use the HDMI for sound to an Anthem. I still have my Audible Illusions L1 tube pre, and I am interested in how the Oppo SE edition would sound analog out to that.

The Havana and Bel Canto DAC's were better. Not a big jump but still audible. Anthems Room Correction can cure a lot of ill's. If your room is not setup correctly then it can be a big help. I had Rives Audio tune my room, so ARC in two channel wasn't a big jump. However, in surround it has made the dialog much better and has really help with the overall surround experience.

I've never heard the Oppo.