Oppo 103 Blu-ray Player Gets 3 Stars!

I am in agreement, I believe the 4 star would have been justified in this case.

I know what you mean about price, but if this was a budget player you can bet it would have got a higher rating. 

It is baffling to say the least and although some fair points were raised you have to question the testin methods used.

Just out of curiousity, How many people here have actually gone and tested the Oppo 103, I for one have.

Sorry, haven't seen the player, and wasn't involved in the review.

But no, no ulterior motive, as ever.

I did. I was very impressed however I have already bought the Sony BDP-S790 and already had the Marantz SR-6006. It did not make sense to upgrade to Oppo 103 from price perspective as Living Room Bluray player and amp are meant to be a bit budget driven. I am quite confident that when the BDP-S790 dies in few years, it would an Oppo in its place.

However, I have already ordered the Oppo 105 to my HiFi set up (as I mentioned in my other thread - it fits the DAC requirements with bass management and does occasional Video duties as needed)

Thanks Andrew, good enough for me 

WishTree - I am in total envy of your 105 to be. I am in a similar position at the moment, trying to decide whether to go for the Oppo 105 or perhaps the BDT500.  I know, totally different machines with vast differences and price.  My issue is that I have my PC connected to the AV, feeding FLAC files to it. I dont know how beneficial the Oppo 105 would be for me as I primarily want the player for movies. 

I was impressed with the 103 too and  the quality comes through especially on a projector especially, but if you are going for a high end player, you might aswell go all the way (105).  

Mate i have your current dilema,i'm just about to pull the trigger on the 105,from what i have been told(and as wishtree can testify) the dac's are referance,and as we both stream flac...this would be the way to go,a comparable streamer like the sneaky is about the same money!

I was weigting between the Sony BDP 790 and the panasonic BDT-500, howeve the price difference and no requirement for analog outs made me choose the 790

However Oppo 105 choice comes from a different set of questions. Infact I got to know about the Oppo brand when some one I trust mentioned that the DACs in Oppo 95s are better than my then AV processor (Classe SSP-800) though I never got to test this but some people you just trust!

I am never a big fan of Room Calibration (especially when a generic mass produced mic, 'whose specific individual response curves are not fed into the software of the specific AVR' measures the room and judges things - as is case with most of the current crop of AVRs. It is at best a hit or miss, IMO. My Classe SSP-800 had no Room Calibration and still it was the best sound I ever heard for HT)

Given that the Oppo 105 double as AV Hub with the Input capabilities and not just does it but comes close to many of the high end AVRs.

So, Oppo 105 needs a different mind set and fits the HiFi enthusiast's DAC / pre-amp duty and HT users Pre pro duty with a great VFM! However it does not have the Power amps (which is a blessing as you can make your choice and the Oppo lacks EQ which might be make or break for some). If you trust your AVR to do the decoding and analogue conversion then Oppo 105 does not fit the bill.

Other readers of this thread, Sorry to digress but felt like sharing my thought process!

Wishtree what analogue leads are you useing if you don't mind me asking?

Don't forget the Cambridge Audio 752BD is out which has pretty much all the features of the Oppo, will probably be at a cheaper price, and will be more readily available  for users to try. (If it lives up to the usual Cambridge Audio standards it should sound better with music as well)

Bill

No problem. I am not too much into cables. If i remember the name right it is Chord Qunex XLR cables.They are white in color.

I would not know much about the reference status of the DACs but ESS Sabre DACs in Oppo and their Stereo implementation along with the Output stage Op-amps is quite a VFM from high end audio perspective. For some one with even deeper / adventurous pockets or some where down the time line want some further improvements there is a nice modding community from Class A mods to tube mods for the Output stages of the Oppo 105!

All this makes sense only when one uses the analogue outs from Oppo-105 (just to be clear)

GSB wrote:

... as we both stream flac...this would be the way to go,a comparable streamer like the sneaky is about the same money!

I too stream FLAC from Synology NAS 213+ (Cracking NAS and thanks to WHF ratings here!) and I am hoping to match / beat the Linn Streaming with Oppo!

I hope Cno does not see this post about as Linn Streaming has quite a following

It's all in the name!  

If I am looking for an HD decoder and DAC for playing music to feed into my Yamaha Z9 AV amp, would it be better to opt for a dedicated sound processor such as Audiolab 8200AP or combine the Blu ray and processing within the Oppo 105?