Oppo BDP-95 Weakest Link

Coincidentally I have a Technics 1200MKII (with a Grado Sonata) and an OPPO BDP-95 setup in a downstairs office system. The rest of the equipment is 'middle of the road' hi end stuff. Musical Fidelity M1DAC, Musical Fidelity M1Vinl, NAD C375BEE, Logitech Squeezebox Touch, Dynaudio Focus 140's, Dynaudio SUB300, Nordost Heimdall speaker cables and interconnects, Shunyata Venom power cables all around. Let me catch my breath........okay I'm back. Now my opinion is this system I've pieced together is a harmonious l'il setup that lately brings me more joy then my 50 gazillion dollar upstairs system. Mostly because it's further away from the little monsters that inhabit the rest of my house. Now I don't really think there is a weak link in it. But if I were to point a finger....it sure as hell wouldn't be the Oppo. I'd sooner make the Technics walk the plank. I honestly don't know why you would not just get the OPPO and decide for yourself how weak it is. It's the easiest of the ones mentioned to obtain. It's only gonna run ya somewhere in the neighborhood of $800 for a like new one. Listen to it for a month. If you still think it's a weak link sell it for like $800 and watch it disappear within 24 hours.

I already own the Oppo and while its fine, I auditioned the Ayre and it seemed in a different league. The problem is that I realize my speakers are just ok and dropping $15,000 plus for new ones (leaning toward Wilsons or B&W 802 diamonds) causes a bit of angst. That's why I've been focused on the SACD Player. Why are all of my hobbies so expensive? Ha! I know it's my personal taste that will define my purchase but I like alternative viewpoints.

Did you audition the Ayre at home with your equipment hooked to it? If not it really isn't an apples to apples comparison and some other part of the equation may be affecting your opinion. Speakers, amps, the room itself, etc. If you did audition at home and it did outclass the OPPO to that great a degree then what are ya waiting for? Unload the OPPO and get the Ayre. Ya know you're gonna do it anyway. Just get it over with!

I am in a similar situation. I have a BDP-95 as well.

I have managed to get better sound out of it with SACD, DVD-A, and Blu Ray with a Monoprice HDMI switcher / de-embedder. You'll find a lot of info about it on the net. Then I pass the signal into a W4S DAC-2.

That said, my Clearaudio Performance SE turntable is better. Maybe it's the format, not the product?

And yes, you'd be better off looking for different speakers. I upgraded to Vandersteen Quatros and while the W4s is a little tweak, that was night and day.

If you use BDP-95 for audio, the jitter will be higher than the best transports, or computer audio interfaces. You can fix this by using a reclocker, about $600.

The thing to do is get the BDP-93 and add the Vanity 93 module to it. Then you have a good transport.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio