Oppo BDP-95 as a pure two channel audio source?

Dbphd, you're right, while I was not closed minded to the 95s ability, I was at least incredulous to the hype surrounding the Oppo 95. Oh believe me, I wanted it to be true, who wouldn't? A thousand dollar do-it-all source that could actually hold it's own and in fact, surpass the performance of high end players costing two, three times the money! I so wanted to hear convincing testimony that would ease my doubt a move me to give the new 105 a shot, but I didn't get that. I heard from a number of people who were making the most of the units features that would not come into play for me. I get the impression that those who buy the Oppo are approaching this hobby from a different perspective, one that is not necessarily solely focused or the reproduction of the live musical performance.

I can say I have done direct A/B comparisons between the oppo 95, Ayre C5xeMP, and Emotiva ERC-1. The ERC sounded much more natural on cd playback with a deeper soundstage, obviously could not play SACD's. The oppo won out on ERC-1 to oppo sacd playback with details being a little better on the SACD's but still did not match the depth the ERC had. The Ayre beat them all in every category, just a better player. When I took the Oppo 95 into the movie room it shined, creating great dynamics and wonderful picture. As long as you are not needing SACD, if I were you looking for a 2 channel player I would go with the ERC-2

Thanks Harri009. Based on your findings, sounds like with the Ayre being clearly the better player, the myth of a truly affordable giant killer is alive and well. All the hype surrounding the Oppo remainds me of a very similar buzz that was surrounding the Cambridge Audio 851 CD Player a couple of years ago when TAS proclaimed it to be the equal of five thousand dollar units. They took quite a bit of flack for that one and rightfully so, as it didn't take long for that notion to be dispelled. Thanks, J.

...As long as you are not needing SACD...
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Hum, standard CD format is pretty poor compared to SACD high-speed serial (which is roughly equivalent to 24bit/196K high-res files). The only source of digital that is even close to a LP record is SACD and hi-res 24 bit digital.

To me, using standard red book or 16-bit audio as some sort of digital hi-fi reference is pretty lame to my ears. If a unit can't play SACD, I'd skip right over it. There isn't enough in a 16 bit CD to be worth the effort to capture. CD digital is all about what is WRONG with "Hi-Fi" to day...source material is too limited in quality.

Until the music industry settles on a standard for h-res digital, were stuck with 16-bit garbage. I wish SONY didn't shoot itself in the foot AGAIN (beta verses VHS) and limit SACD to almost obsolescence.

Appreciate the input Rower30 and I couldn't agree more. However, I think you and I know that the chance of the music industry committing to a hi-res digital standard is slim to none. Just not enough money in it for them.