Best Blu Ray video and for 2 channel transport?

Hmm interesting, well right there is part of the issue, you don't have 1080p that’s where all the machines OPPO, Sony, and Panny will excell so at this point I can see where your limitation is on that regard.. Beyond that yeah not sure where their would be such a variance in the Oppo transports HOWEVER there is in fact Audio settings in the oppo as well, including an EQ that is REALLY crappy, so if it is activated for instance on your friends unit and you did not know it will make it sound different and more compressed as well as can add some echo effect… In your new Oppo 983 from the factory it is off, there is also an audio button on the units that can change the bitrate I believe, so yeah to make the right comparisons you will need to really make sure all the oppo settings are correct on each unit.      

I had my friend's Oppo from brand new - he had never used it himself and I opened his factory sealed box. He has two very elaborate systems and this was a very minor purchase for him and he was going away on holiday so I had it from new to three weeks old using it in my system that entire time. He was curious to see what I thought of it. I did check the audio settings anyway to see what was there, and the EQ was off, as it is on mine. No curiosity at all to try it out so never tested either.

Panasonic DMPBD 55/35

UPDATE on S550 from sony… So I replaced the new winner S350 with the S550, Differences subtle to some, but big enough for the true bargain and sound hunter. And it crushes the Panasonic .. Close to the oppos, but still would go with this blu ray player over the Oppo.

- Problem being addressed with the Memory of a disc to resume play after removing the disc from unit is NOT solved via the S550. This is unfortunate as its such a simple function even some 40 dollar DVD players do I believe, and OPPO actually will memorize up to 10 discs for you.. OH well the performance on the S550 far outweighs this little niche at this point, just keep the movie in the tray and it will resume play.

- First difference of the S350 to the S550 is it comes with a much heaftier physical build, and the transport tray is a bit more solid and quiet.

- Second the S550 comes with its own USB card from Sony so no need to buy one that will fit the recessed USB port in the back like you need to do for the S350 if you wish to use the online features.

- Third the sound quality does seem to do as advertised as a transport or analog connection as it does sound "Studio Quality" losing that little bit of the House Sony sound found with the S350 in my opinion.

- 4th it is even FASTER than the S350!! IT loads everything Super fast… No real lag at all.

- 5th video is virtually the same on Blu ray and DVD, however its interesting as the S550 might be a tad bit brighter because I was now able to set the Gamma back down to Zero vs. +1 on the S350, and the contrast on the panel was reduced even a little more.

- 6th Motion artifacting seems basically obsolete with the S550, there might have been a small question here or there if the S350 was perfect, but the S550 seems definitely to have the processing capable of correcting any little annoyances.

- 7th has a cool backlight on the remote that the S350 does not.

In the end this does seem the best buy and very realistic Blu ray with hi end audio Transport sound onboard.. Minus the one little issue of disc memory when you remove it from the drawer. Oh well just gotta sit down and finish the movie like it should be for now on! Or shut of the player and leave the movie in and it will resume play just fine, and very fast by the way :-) For the little money more or not at all ordering online, the S550 is a decent step up in a few ways over the S350, although for those looking for just Core video standard consumer useage without all the extras in audio quality and nice perks than you can stick with the S350.