Oppo 83 SE Sound in Absolute Terms ?

Mitch2...when Dan Modwright came out with his first iteration of mods for the Oppo BDP-83, I emailed him and asked him if he was going to have a tube-based mod for the output stage and he said he was still working on it and wanted to meet the then current demand for his first iteration mods. I am glad to hear that this is getting closer because I will definitely pull the trigger when he comes out with the tube mods for my BDP-83 SE. Thanks for the heads up.

Can anyone comment on the OP's question in direct terms. I think he and the curious are looking for is - Does an Oppo sound as good as a DCS stack or an Esoteric model of your choice or Reimyo or Emm Labs etc.?

I own the Oppo BDP-83 SE as well as an ARC Ref CD7, clearly at opposite ends of the pricing spectrum. The Oppo is a great unit for the price and I would say it holds its own against units in the $2K range as a general statement (I am sure you can find many in that range that better it and many that are materially worse) but in my system on CD playback (which is what the ARC CD 7 supports), there is no comparison. The ARC CD7 clearly betters it on any aspect of audio reproduction you wish to analyze.

I thought I did that with my comment above. Not even close. The Oppo BDP-83 SE is nice for the price but it is not a SOTA player in any shape or form.

A long time ago I posted a question asking whether the new OPPO 83 SE would best my “old” Theta Compli. I didn’t get much response.

I asked that question because if all the talk about digital improving “at a rapid pace” are true, there’s a possibility that a brand new $1,000 player with 2010 technology might best an “old” $5,000 player. Does anyone want to chime in with their thoughts on this?

"I thought I did that with my comment above. Not even close. The Oppo BDP-83 SE is nice for the price but it is not a SOTA player in any shape or form."

I thought you did too, Cmalak, and I appreciated your response - and those of others.