Oppo 83 SE Sound in Absolute Terms ?

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.

i own several cd players. the oppo 83 se is one of them. it seems to be very line cord sensitive.

i prefer my 1990 audionote cd2, a tube unit and my consonance sacd player to the oppo.

the point is that newer players may or may not be preferred to much older player.

i don't think one can make a general statement as to cd players based upon age.

there are very few current production cd players which i would want to own--but that is just my preference.