SACD/CD player update

Dan is certainly established - jayctoy
He has a preference for Sony ES players. Good to read that he reached out to Marantz. Not interested in an Oppo.
Happy Listening!

I owned 3 modded BDP 105s.  Loved them.  Still own one.  But I found the PS Audio DirectStream player and DAC to be light years beyond what an Oppo even modified could do.  If you’re patient you can find them here for about $3000 each.  The continued modifications through software upgrades every few months from PSA have been incredible.  Could never go back.  If you want a Wright modded Oppo 105, I’ve got one left.  But the PSA stuff is simply glorious.  And SACDs.  Oh my god.  I run hi def off my Mac Pro into the PSA DAC, through some serious mods between, and it sound incredible.  Cannot say enough about this stuff from PSA.

As a step up from the OPPO, the only SACD players worth considering are the Accuphase line. Esoteric is a bit thin sounding compared to the Accuphase. The Accuphase is not mellifluous, it just lets the music through. Accuphase is the reference of most of the high end German magazines. It transforms the listening experience into a conduit to the performance. It does not add or subtract. It can't be fooled by a bad recording into making it worse as Esoteric does.

Esoteric is not popular in Japan as it is built for the export market. 

Sounds like you are looking for musical fidelity the OPPO just isn't built from transport to power supply to DAC (as implemented) and output stage of providing. Sensible mods to my OPPO 105 did help but didn't quite do it. HUGE (all capitals intended) upgrade in musicality and functionality occurred when I added a bel canto DAC2.7 followed by the vastly better DAC3.7  with VBS3. Still use OPPO for DVDs and streaming with the audio out to the DAC3.7 which is doubling nicely as preamp for the OPPO, the cable box, a bel canto cd-2 (for superior cd playback fidelity over using the OPPO as CD transport) and phono preamp. Wishing you the best current and longer term results for your spend. 

I have a recent model Esoteric and love it - superb sound from both CDs and SACDs.  Some years ago Esoteric had a reputation for thin analytical sound, but not the case now.  These are high end players, and their prices reflect this.  CDs and SACDs are still big in Japan, and that's where much of the product action is with Accuphase, Esoteric, Luxman, et al.