Lexicon BD-30 universal player

Sidssp,

I read the review and that is really unbelievable. If this is true it is a big black eye for Lexicon and I think not good for the high end HT industry. I know Ayre and Theta are also building off of the Oppo BD-83. Ayre has done this with its CD players but they completely gut just about everything except the transport. I own Ayre equipment and their performance is stellar. I suspect we will not see the same from Ayre and Theta.

According to the Audioholics review "We fully disclosed our findings to Lexicon prior to publishing this article and they still maintain their player has audio and video enhancements over the stock BDP-83".

But there are no details as to what these might be. I suppose the Lexicon splash screen and menu item reordering could, as a big stretch, be called video enhancements, but what would be the audio enhancements?

Here is the Audioholics piece.Draw your own conclusions.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/lexicon-bd-30-blu-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

Spoke with friends in the hi-fi industry who confirmed that the story is true. Turns out several companies use the Oppo transport (Ayre, Theta and Primare are a few), but significantly modify the power supplies, chipsets, etc. But, unfortunately, many more are probably pulling similar stunts to Lexicon. Simple circuits, cheap parts and huge markups.

I am really glad I started this thread. I would hate to think that myself or others would have been duped by lexicon! The issue for me now is what would happen if reviewers started pulling the thread a little harder (more in-depth mechanically) what also would unravel? I would find it hard to believe that lexicon would just do this once. I would like to believe that everyone makes a mistake, but this is a supposed solid company with a solid reputation. Why would they do unless they thought they could get away with it and this says a lot about their opinion of us consumers. I wonder who else is doing this? Just my 2cents worth. Thanks for the info.

Joe in Mobile