Oppo 83 SE Sound in Absolute Terms ?

I’m curious what the response would be if Jfz had asked "Does anyone have any thoughts on how an Oppo 83 SE that’s been modified by among others RAM, ASI, or Modwright would compare to a truly *stellar* CD (or universal) player?"

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.

In my experience, yes. My $1,500 Sony XA5400ES beats the previous $5,000 players and DAC I used to own including Bel Canto, Linn, etc. I don't have any experience with Oppo though.

I have a Perpetual Technologies P-3A that has been heavily modded by Empirical Audio. My Oppo BDP-83SE comes in a notch lower in performance for a third of the cost of the P-3A (as modded).

I have one and with the JPS Labs Digital AC Cord it beat everything I heard under $5K. It' got a very accurate, clean, organic & relaxed sound (reminiscent of listening to analog master tapes) with a huge soundstage. The closest thing under $5K that sounded better (slightly) was the Sony XA-5400ES at $1.5K. I imagine that modding either one by spending an additional $1-$2K would allow them to compete with the lower end EMM Labs and Meridian units.

Ranakabir,
is your BDP-83SE a modified version (since you are using a a non-stock AC cord wiht it)?