Oppo, great video reviews,, but good transport????

I would caution everyone looking at the Oppos to understand that there are two distictly different players currently in the Oppo lineup and more on the way.

The Oppo 971 is the one that got all of the buzz about its video playback. It cost $199 direct from Oppo.

The Oppo 970 is the newer universal player. It has somewhat diminished video quality but is a universal player and has been said to have better audio quality. It cost $149 direct from Oppo.

From what I've read over at AVS forum, there is a new Oppo (871?) on the way any day now. I think it is the successor to the 971, but I'm not sure if they will both remain on the price list.

Enjoy,

TIC

At what price point would you say the Oppo "audio" version competes with, would buying both be still a far better value then some costly all in ones?

The audio section of the Oppo probably would fare well against stand alone players of $500 or less. I think more than that would be pushing it, but still, at $150, it's got to be a great value. But just for the sake of argument a used Rega Planet will outperform it on audio both as a transport and a stand alone player.

Thanks everyone for your time!

When I bought my Oppo I asked them what's coming next? they said upsampling on audio. So I guess if they replace the 970 it would be with a comparable unit including upsampling on audio. In any case, this is a fun piece that costs less than the depreciation we typically incur in buying a fine piece even used and owning it for a few months.....
Art