$5000 universal player ... am I a fool ?

Small point, Timtim, but you said your Arcam FMJ 36 used the DCS Ring DAC. I believe the last Arcam CD player to use the Ring DAC was the FMJ-23. The immediate successor, the FMJ 33, and the next model, the FMJ 36, used chips made by Wolfson.

add the oppo blu ray BDP -83
they are shipping advanced orders 5-18-09

Dear Timtim,
You are no fool. Let me propose a test, since Redbook CD is of upmost importance to you. Choose one of the following:
1. 100 CD's of your most favorite Musicians on
Redbook CD.
2. 2 SACD or 2 DVD-Audio disks of none of your
most favorite Musicians.
3. Zero Blueray Audio only disks of none of your
most favorite Musicians.
What is the point of a better sounding Format if all of your most favorite Music gets thrown under a bus for the sake of a better sounding format. The problem isn't in our Stars (better sounding technology), but within ourselves (our Musical preferences that become severely limited or sacrificed by better sounding technology). We should be able to choose any Music we want on SACD or DVD-Audio, at least prior to both formats being canned. So who was it that told us for the last five years of SACD and DVD-Audio, that we would be limited to only a handful of Musical choices or disks on these Formats? Who was it that told us to spend thousands of dollars on SACD, DVD-Audio Players anyways, despite this? We end up buying a new technology without having anything to play on it, more or less the Musicians we like to listen to. Who controls what Musical preferences that Audiophiles are limited to anyways? Who further controls what Musical preferences that Audiophiles are limited to, through the use of new technology and new formats?
There is only one solution with an over abundance of Formats with next to nothing to play on them. I propose that NO NEW FORMAT even be seriously concidered unless there are at least 100 selections available of various Music from the past up to the present. Otherwise, we end up with sinking thousands of our hard earned money into a New Format that hasn't developed yet, and we end up going out on a limb to become the loser. If someone wants to sell you a New Format, then they had better invest the money to provide a variety of Musical preferences on the software for that new Format. Something that was never done with SACD or DVD-Audio. Why buy the player if there is next to nothing to play on it? They owe you the software if they expect you to buy into their new Hardware.
If you accept less, then you end up with another SACD or DVD-Audio debacle. Don't accept Blueray Audio unless there are 100 Blueray Audio Disks available, unless you would like to see Blueray Audio go the way of SACD, DVD-Audio, or the DODO Bird!

Just orderd my Oppo BDP 83.

don't go for an expensive all in one
do redbook right then get a reasonable priced blu ray
the oppo fits the bill as it does dvd-a and sacd too

I have about 10 dvd-a disc
they haven't been played since my toshiba dvd/dvd-a gave up the ghost

I love blu ray and the audio can be great!
I started with a ps3 - still have in bedroom
fast upload times - but the audio and controls are lacking

I have a pioneer elite BDP 05
great picture and sound but it's slow and sometimes freezes on the latest discs

I've ordered the oppo and will put it in my main HT system with the Kuro - can't wait