Has the Oppo carried the AV industry?

Oppo's are way OVER-RATED! They are all hype. The BDP-103 is junk IMO. Flakey and nothing special

Avgoround,

Did you ever decide to do the right thing and buy an Oppo?

I'm thinking you probably did since you have not posted anything to this thread since 4/30/2013. I'm thinking you're too busy just enjoying the hell out of your new Oppo and loving your single box wonder box.

As I said earlier, I just bought an Oppo 105 and I'm just enjoying the hell out of it, myself. I find myself having the same thoughts and impressions on my 105 that Sonicbeauty has described. The only thing close to negative I would say about this unit is that they're made in China, not here in the U.S. They are sold and supported through an American registered company, Oppo Digital, but I think this is just a 'front' company for the Chinese registered Oppo.

Just in case you haven't come to your senses yet and bought an Oppo and for anyone else considering a purchase, I'll describe what it has brought to my system and why I'm so convinced of its many benefits to any music lover's system.

1. Versatility- The Oppo plays almost any optical disc format: bluray, cd, sacd, dvd-a and cd-rom. It also functions as a limited input preamp and a surround sound processor.
After setup in my system, the 105 allowed me to no longer require the services of my tubed VTL 2.5 preamp or my Parasound AV2500 surround processor. I'm currently planning on selling both units to a friend for about the 105's cost ($1,200). The 105, connected directly from its 'Dedicated Stereo' outputs to my main amp's inputs via xlr cables, has matched the sweetness and dimensionality of my former Sony DP-7700 universal cd/dvd player combined with my Mullard tubed VTL 2.5 preamp. I also sense the noise floor is lower which enhances detail retrieval and perceived dynamic range.

2. Functions as a high quality DAC, Digital Media Player (DMP) and Digital Media Renderer (DMR)- By using my laptop running JRiver Media Center software($50), a Synology single bay NAS with a 2 TB Seagate hard drive($250 total), Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB backup hard drive($95) and the Oppo supplied USB wi-fi dongle, I'm now able to stream my entire 'ripped' cd collection and high-resolution(24/96 and 24/192) music downloads wirelessly to the 105 and, through its excellent Saber dacs and output stage, play them back through my system. The hi-res files sound awesome and even my cds sound better played back this way (lower jitter?). I plan on testing the 105's DSD capabilities in the near future, also.

3. Sound Quality- Whether I'm watching a movie, watching Directv or listening to music, the sound quality is very high and exceded my expectations. The Oppo's setup and configuration settings require a monitor but are very easy to use even without reading the manual. The decoded surround sound is much better than my former, and admittedly much older, Parsound's ability. Once I position my Magnepans out about 4-5ft away from the front wall into the room, the sound quality is stunning. The soundstage presented is wide, deep and 3 dimensional with plenty of detail and a definite 'in the room' realism that I really enjoy. I was concerned some of these qualities would be missing with the VTL(and Mullard tubes)out of the system but it sounds just as sweet when the music calls for it.

4. Simplicity- With my music preamp and surround processor removed from my system, my rack just consists of the Oppo 105 on the top rack with my main amp and 2 surround amps on the shelf below. My NAS and backup drive are located out of sight by my router in my lower level family room. I'm sitting about 12ft away from my system with just my laptop running JRMC. I'm able to view my entire music collection on the laptop and control playback of anything I want to listen to. I almost feel guilty about how convenient my music playback has become.....almost. I'm also able to store and playback my video collection if I want to. We're all aware of how exhausting it can be to get up off our lazy asses and actually put a bluray into the player and trudge all 12ft back to your chair and then, on top of all that, have to press the 'play' button.

5. Picture Quality- the Oppos are also superior video players with built in QDEO video processing. You get a great picture whether watching regular cable/satellite or watching a bluray or DVD disk.

OK, I'll stop there even though I probably left out a few additional features like the headphone amp, internet radio streaming, excellent customer support and service, etc. Anyways, I think you've gathered by now that I'm kind of digging my Oppo 105.

So Avgoround, I hate to tell you this but the hype and praise are all accurate; the Oppos are awesome. Hopefully, you came to your senses and know this firsthand.

Just to be clear, I have no association with Oppo. I'm just I'm just a big fan of excellent a/v quality and value.

Tim

Noble100, I know you are a " long-timer" on Audiogon and one whose posts have always been intelligent and informative .

But , on a music only system, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around a 105 being a sub for a VTL pre.
But then , as I said, I always respect you posts.

Hi Schubert,

Very good question, I'm having a hard time realizing this, too. Up until inserting the Oppo, I thought I had stumbled upon an ideal music solution with the combination of a very neutral and revealing class D power amp paired with the VTL with nos Mullard tubes. I've described the excellent synergy of this pairing in some other posts. Since my system is now used about 60% for ht and 40% music, the VTL was a perfect fit with its ht/passthru and my separate ancient Parasound AV2500 preamp/processor. This setup, which took me awhile to figure out, allowed my system to be a very good performer for both music and ht.

I thought I had determined that I needed tubes in my system somewhere to achieve the sound I was wanting (very detailed but with 3 dimensional sound staging and a touch to the warm side of neutral). I thought I needed the tubes to attain this but I now think I was wrong. I've proven to myself that a good performing system can be had through a tube/solid state hybrid AND a completely solid state one. My current thought is that the important factors are having good equipment that is connected well in the most direct manner.

I think connecting the 105 directly to my main amp via Audioquest xlr cables is a factor in my excellent results. It is very apparent that the noise floor has dropped, which does all sorts of good things for the sound performance. Another benefit is utilizing the 105's very good audio circuits and saber dacs as a source component instead of my older Sony DP-s7700 cd/dvd player.

What drove it home for me was listening to one of my favorite cds,Jack Johnson's "In between Dreams", which is mainly vocals and acoustic music with touches of electric guitar that always sounded very harmonically correct and almost euphonic with my prior system. When this cd had the same qualities played back direct through the Oppo, it was a revelation. The VTL wasn't responsible for this, it was in the music and both systems were just very good at capturing these qualities.

Even after realizing the above, however, I'm still reluctant to sell my beloved VTL. As a result, I'm going to place the VTL back in my system (between the 105 and my amp) just to be certain I can get by without it. It's not exactly a fair comparison, though, since the VTL will be another link in the chain and will be connected via rca cables instead of xlrs. I'm just going to choose solely based on sound quality.

Anyway Schubert, I completely understand your skepticism since I felt likewise prior to trying it. I don't think I can overstate how much I'm enjoying the Oppo 105. The hype is true.

Later,
Tim

I've always loved tubes but I grew up back in the day when a new RCA cleartop was a $1.99 at the drugstore which also had tube tester in the corner.
I have a Eastern Electric Avant pre with 5 12au7 , 2 12ax7 and a 6x4 rectifier, Even with these most common of tubes you might spend more than the pre costs initally over its lifetime. And if you don't want to spend all day switching tubes around you need a good tester as well.
Get into 300B and amps with 4 or more power tubes you're talking a lot of money even if if you can talk yourself into believing Russian tubes sound good.

I might get a 105 for my birthday in July.