Upgrading from NAD 521bee--need soundstage

Contrary to Mechan's views, I own a Rega Apollo and can tell you that it throws a huge, precise, and well-focused soundstage. Plus, it has very good extension at the frequency extremes and sounds quite dynamic. It's a fantastic bang-for-the-buck player; it wouldn't have gotten all the great reviews if it sounded as Mechans suggests.

Also, after many years in this hobby it is my view that the best performance can be achieved by keeping the electronics chain mostly solid-state. The one area where I've had great success using tubes is the line-stage preamp. And it is usually much more cost effective than trying to find a tube amp that performs to high standards and has enough power to drive your speakers.

Tomas,

I've owned lots of CD players priced between about $800 and $4000. I'm currently using a Level 2 modified Oppo 970 DVD player from EVS. The EVS level 2 Oppo 970 is the most resolving digital player I've ever owned. If it's on the recording, you are going to hear it from this player. It is very, very good and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to maximize detail and resolution at a reasonable price.

It also has the benefit of being a universal player, playing CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD and has an HDCD decoder. So, not only is it a great universal music player, but it is fantastic for watching concert DVDs. Oh, and it has a built-in remote volume control so you can connect it directly to a power amp if you choose.

The only potential downside is the fact that it has the build quality of a typical consumer level DVD player and it has no warranty from the manufacturer because it has benn modified. But Ric Shultz is a stand up kind of guy and I'm pretty confident he would work to resolve any warranty issues that may come up.

Lastly, this Oppo player has more dynamics, better bass drive and bass resolution than any other player I've ever had in my system. It's a really fantastic player and cost between $500 and $950 depending on the level of modification. Oh, and Ric Shultz will give you your money back if you send him a brand new player for modification and you don't like the results.

Enjoy,

TIC

I have a stock Oppo and I've got to say that the build quality is awful -- cheesey, flimsy drawer and the control buttons on my unit don't work half the time when I press them. The remote usually works though and it gets a very nice picture. I'm sure the Schultz modified version sounds much better than the stock version, but it also costs much more. I doubt that you'll recoup anywhere near the cost of your investment should you decide to sell it before its poor mechanical parts quality causes it to fail...

Plato,

Which Oppo model do you own?

I agree that the build quality is not up to the standard of most dedicated CD players, however I do not agree that it is "awful" or "cheesy". It is built to a pricepoint and even in it's stock form, it is very competent in that pricerange. BTW, the drawer is purposely built that way so it can bend/flex if pressure is applied to it. Also the buttons do require a firm press to enagage. A casual tap will not engage the switch.

I've not heard a stock Oppo in my system, but I can tell you that the EVS level 2 mod'd unit is an EXTREMELY competent CD player that also has great DVD, DVD-A, SACD playback. It is at least equal, if not better, sonically than all of the other players I've owned, including a couple of $3500-$4000 list price players.

So, a new level 2 mod'd Oppo 970 cost $939 ($790 for the mod, $149 for the stock player). Wosrt case, you could lose $939 in a couple of years if it dies and you choose not to repair it.

The last 2 dedicated CD players I bought were a $4000 list price player for $895 used ($3105 lost from new retail price) and a $3500 list price player for $2000 used ($1500 lost from retail price in one year). Considering the mod'd Oppo 970 sounds as good or better, which is the smarter deal financially? So, even if the Oppo dies a premature death relative to these expensive dedicated CD players, it was still ultimately cheaper to own. Oh, and it plays CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD, etc., which those other players couldn't do.

"I call that a bargain, the best I ever had......"

Enjoy,

TIC

Hi Reubent,

I have the Oppo 970HD. I gave it to my son to use in his system and he is mainly concerned with its video performance, which is quite good.

I don't doubt that you are getting excellent performance from your modded unit and the Oppo's ability to play just about any disc format is a nice plus. My main reservation is spending $800 to mod a $150 player. To some, like yourself, the resulting performance will make the expense worthwhile. I just think that one needs to take a step back and consider whether or not putting a Ferrari race motor into a VW Bug is the best way to go.

In many systems, I believe you'd be hard pressed to hear a significant difference between the modified Oppo and a stock Rega Apollo. However, I haven't made the comparison, so that's simply my best guess.

Obviously the Redbook CD format has limited resolution to begin with, so my feeling is that claiming any huge performance differences between competent players is merely hyperbole and probably a moot point. Personal preference and system synergy will determine which CD playback unit a particular individual will prefer. In my estimation the overall quality of the system that the player is hooked up to will matter much more than any perceived performance differences in the CD players themselves. And this is coming from someone who has tried a lot of different DACs and CD players in his system. Yes they all sound different, but more often than not picking one unit over another hinges on accepting certain trade-offs and one's listening priorities. I can distinctly recall preferring a particular player for it's stringed instrument reproduction and a different unit for reproduction of brass instruments. Additionally, the bass and high frequency performance of each unit was slightly different... and so it goes...