Well, I suppose Oppo will allow anyone to update their 83 later on for the difference between the SE and std versions following the cut off date to save the $100, right?
My thinking here on all of this is so..... yeah, a Ben Franklin is a Ben Franklin... for sure.
also, to date oppo has a business ethic or plan, which says, 'extreme overachiever' from their very start.
Didn't nearly everyone who had any exp with the modestly priced value orieinted units initially produced just go cats & critters over the next upcoming launch, well before that ever happened?
it too turned out well indeed when the std 83 was shipped.
then too the Blue Ray oppo made and sent along to it's subscrived owner base, and that went along quite well too, and bugs were fixed and so forth prior to the public insertino of the BDP 83.
So to date, each step forward Oppo has done has been a well thought out, careful step onward and upward. Each occassion has shown itself as both a performer and value laden proposition.
Why then, should this next, upgrade be any different?
consider this... it's done, one of us says "heres what i am finding out ...." in likely a premature run in period, or even if run in (and God knows how that could happen in so short a time), then what?
We are then where we usually are... hearing a piece with someone else' ears, in a system dissimilar from our own.
pretty much just like always.
What's it sound like?
Then the prerequisite folow up Q's, and preponderances of system ambiguities.
I'd bet more heavily on past efforts of Oppo and simply spend the $300 for the upgrade.... if you find yourself chosing to use hundreds or thousands of bucks for analog cabling and can't or wont, use HDMI.
one might also think to take the $300 upgrade costs or the $400 later ones, and apply them to a better AV proc using HDMI 'IF' there is little or no faith presently for this stepped up analog enhancement from Oppo.
I'd not fear my money was not well spent given the OPPO history so far.
If the upgrade is bought.... MAKE NUMEROUS COPIES OF ALL THE PAPERWORK AND KEEP THEM IN THE ORIG BOXE!!
SOMEONE most likely will figure out a way to coin that sticker further on down the road, so for no mistakes, keeping on the up & up, SAVE THAT PAPER WORK!
The last thought is, if you already got a better CDP and/or DAC... why bother with this upgrade?
