Has anyone heard the new OPPO BDP-83SE

"Finding yourself listening to the music instead of the sound of the player is a good sign"

Which was what just what happened this morning when an audio friend who just purchased a used OPPO BDP-83SE and was so excited he brought it down to my place for a quick listen. What was IMMEDIATELY apparent is that this unit just captures the harmonics of the music in such a stunning way that it took my breath away. I can't imagine, at least in that performance area, that it can get too much better in the here and now. Bass weight was a bit lacking but other than that I was quite impressed at what is possible in this price range, anyone know of anything?

hi tubegroover:

there are several players in the price range. how about audia flight ?a review of this player is on audiophilia.com.

i don't agree with your assessment of the oppo. i think it is a bit heavy in the treble. what about the sony 5400, for a few hundred dollars more ?

Thanks Mr. Tennis

I have really been out of the loop with cd playback and have a dinosaur of a digital front end with an other wise highly evolved system. My impression compared to my own jvc 1050 cd transport/Bel Canto DAC 1.1 set-up was that harmonic textures were more believable and it wasn't subtle I probably need to get out more it seems!

I have had 2 Sony products over the years a 620ES from the late 80's which was highly regarded but was in the digital abyss of the time. Numerous changes over the years with minimal success to the point I am at currently, about 8 years. I later tried the Sony DVP-S9000ES and found it too smooth, boring lacking the dynamic energy of the JVC/Bel-Canto and overall not musically involving on redbook. I am a bit apprehensive of Sony other than the superlative build quality. What about the Sony 5400? Is this the best alternative in this price range? I'm apprehensive in spending too much for digital as it it seems to be a too much of a moving target but I really want to improve my front end. Just thought the Oppo seemed a great value at its price.

Tubegroover
I purchased an oppo 83SE a mounth ago and just got a Sony 5400es two days ago. For the $ rember that the Oppo does it all DVD BR CD SACD and more so as a all in one player with state fo the art video and great audio it's really hard to beat. The transport is a little crude compared to the silks smooth Sony.
If all you want is CD and SACD play back then the Sony is worth the extra $. I have only listened to the Sony for about 10 hours and the Oppo for about 60 hours.From what I have read the Sony needs several hundred hours to come on full song.
Haveing said that out of the box I like the Sony a little better and build quality is superior to the Oppo.
Either way both are well worth their MSRP.

Thanks Mystang, the Sony keeps on coming up at this price point. I'll have to check it out.

Mr. Tennis I checked out the review of the Audia Flight CD 3. At 3.9K it is a bit too pricey for me to consider. Beautiful and elegant design though. It seems there might be considerably more options at that price point. I'm more interested in keeping this to less than 1.5K. Thanks for your input, it is appreciated!