Repair or Replace ???

Kijanki,
Your brother is very lucky. I get them to my store from customers with tough problems such as blown photo-diode which is basically a sensor to position tonearm. That part now is irreplaceable in vast majority of vertical TT. Once it happens the only cure is to replace the tonearm system and lay it horizontally.

Once again, is the CD sound from the OPPO 105 "as good as" say
a very good Mark Levinson or Esoteric from SAY 2006??

Ok, again. Does the new Oppo 105 Darbee sound as good as a hi-end levinson or Esoteric from say 2008? Please?

Your expectation might be skewed I feel...my sim i5.3 is on the fritz and they don't seem to be in any hurry to help me get fixed...Sorry I don't have any experience to your specific players,but I did replace it with the 105d...

I have had that (sim) player for 7 years and really got comfortable with the house sim sound...as you are w/what ever your player was...

I believe you shouldn't expect it to sound like anything other than an oppo 105d...saying that...it is not as over emphasized on any of the frequency extreems/...neutral fits this player.

There are so many pluses to this player over my sim (detail,strings,ect)...it cant be justified...It does sound decent in my system and that's all that matters...and is upgradable as you are surely aware...A lot of retailers offer 30-60 return?...I hope this helps.

Ptss-

the Oppo is only as good as its price-point (non-modded).
There is no way it could compete w/ a Levinson nor Esoteric
at x3-4 the cost. Ultimately, get one and try it in your system, no harm in that, and eval how it performs.

I will give props to the Oppo because it is a true "universal" machine. It is not expected to get all of those physical formats absolutely "right".

As a purist, I prefer several machines (CD/SACD, DVD/BR) to get my physical media "right". If you are on a budget or simply prefer 1-stop shopping, then the Oppo could be your next spinner. Keep me posted & Happy Listening!