New (to me) OPPO silver disc spinner

[PaulStewart]

I had a punt on fleabay as I wanted a new universal silver disc spinner as three in ghe rack for different formats was getting a bit silly. I found an OPPO BDP-83 and put in a best offer for what was advertised as a private sale of a modded unit. After a bit of dickering I got it at a good price, even if it had had no mods at all.

I was somewhat suprised when it was delivered from Russ Andrews Accessories. :scratch: Their branding and return address on the postage label, so no doubt it is from them. Plugged it in and was blown away by the sound quality, red book CDs, SACDs, Pure Audio Blu Rays and even DVD-As it plays them all superbly. I would go as far as to say it is the best digital disc spinner I have heard and I have heard many top flight units costing many thousands of squids.

I have emailed the seller to ask, "What's going on" but had no answer :scratch: looking at the prices of the mods on the RAA site, I'm going to open it up at the weekend and have a gander inside, it has had the level three mod for sure, which seems to be the last one they do. Just listening to White Light/White Heat from the Velvet Underground on Pure Audio Blu Ray and it sounds incredible, as did the Allman Bros live SACD earlier. I'm pleased to say I've had a real result. :)

[DarrenHW]

Nice one Paul, I have the 105 and whilst I don't have the experience you have with other spinners I'm very happy with it. Have you watch a BD on it yet? I had a Sony BDP-S380 then a BDP-S780 and the Oppo blew it into the dirt. Do you have the option to decode FBA through it? This IMHO is a significant improvement over CD and the performance with 24bit files is even better. Enjoy!

[PaulStewart]

Nice one Paul, I have the 105 and whilst I don't have the experience you have with other spinners I'm very happy with it. Have you watch a BD on it yet? I had a Sony BDP-S380 then a BDP-S780 and the Oppo blew it into the dirt. Do you have the option to decode FBA through it? This IMHO is a significant improvement over CD and the performance with 24bit files is even better. Enjoy!

I've yet to watch a Blu-Ray on it yet Darren. TBH I bought it for audio, but I will give video a go. I had to leave early to get to the paper today because of the tube strike, so I had to cut the listening short but before I left I had a go with Nina Simone's "I Put A Spell On You" Blu Ray and the SACD of Clapton's "Journeyman" don't get me wrong, I still prefer Vinyl as a prime source, but this is bloody good to my ears. Like the TT It has the ability to just disappear and leave the music hanging in the air between the speakers :)

[DarrenHW]

... Like the TT It has the ability to just disappear and leave the music hanging in the air between the speakers :)

That's how I feel about the 105. Prior to the 105 I had a lightly modded (Trichord clock, ECC82 output stage) CD63 and the TT was leagues ahead in terms of musical enjoyment. Since I bought the 105 the TT has come on in leaps and bounds (it is still however a work in progress and not in your league) but the 105 is still holding it's own. I've found a number of recent recordings actually sound better on CD than vinyl (e.g. Emile Sande - Our Version of Events, First Aid Kit - Stay Gold), I don't know whether this is due to pressing quality or due to digital recording but with the 105 I'm more than happy to buy CD's again. I've also tried a few HDCD's and I think they're a step up too. My most recent acquisition is Barb Jungr - Walking In The Sun and through the 105 it sounds better than I'd thought CD ever could, however the 24bit Studio Master is even better!

[Macca]

Bloody good for the money arn't they? I was on eBay for about a year trying to get one and they never seem to come up so I gave up in the end. Trying to get a pal to sell me his but no joy so far. They do all the air and space stuff plus everything seems to boune along in an enjoyable way that really catches your ear and engages. Great find.

[DarrenHW]

I think they're excellent VFM too, especially if running AV and Stereo.

[Spectral Morn]

Nice one Paul :cool: I have a 103 - which I bought from Mark Grant maybe two years ago and its a great machine, though I only use it for DVD and Blu ray use as I have dedicated SACD and DVD A machines in my two channel set up.


Regards Neil

[Clive197]

OPPO was an unknown co. quietly building great machines up until the 8x, 9x and current 10x series of players which all have blown the competition away. Now they produce other great kit to include headphones, headphone amps and also mobile phones.
I like the brand so much that I have just bought the HA2 Headphone Amp to use with my i-Phone 6. Combined cost still lower than a Astell&Kern.

[DarrenHW]

OPPO was an unknown co. quietly building great machines up until the 8x, 9x and current 10x series of players which all have blown the competition away. Now they produce other great kit to include headphones, headphone amps and also mobile phones.
I like the brand so much that I have just bought the HA2 Headphone Amp to use with my i-Phone 6. Combined cost still lower than a Astell&Kern.

I find the styling of the HS-2 a little bizarre, but it certainly feels like it has Oppo build quality. If they did a portable media player I'd be very interested.

[Gazjam]

Best audio I've heard from my 103D is playing DSD directly from a USB stick.
I use it as a digital transport into my Dac.

Great as a network streamer too.
Oppo's are a real "fit n forget" piece of kit.

[PaulStewart]

I tried the DSD from a USB stick for the first time yesterday. Really excellent quality result :) I like the 2 channel output direct from the player, but will experiment with the DAC when time permits.

[Floyddroid]

Which DVD-A machine do you use Neil
Nice one Paul :cool: I have a 103 - which I bought from Mark Grant maybe two years ago and its a great machine, though I only use it for DVD and Blu ray use as I have dedicated SACD and DVD A machines in my two channel set up.


Regards Neil

[Spectral Morn]

Which DVD-A machine do you use Neil

Hi Steve

I use a Toshiba SD 9500 that I bought from an AOS member last year. Nice thing is unlike its predecessor the SD 900E (9200 in the USA) - which I also own - its possible to navigate DVD A operation without a screen. I use it hooked up to an Esoteric D5 DAC which can decode DVD A, this DAC is also hooked up to the matching transport the P5 for SACD playback.

The Oppo 103 is used exclusively in the home cinema system. Long time ago I found that hooking AV gear up to two channel audio gear dragged the performance down a bit of the two channel gear. I am not sure why, mains interference or some other odd interaction but from then on I kept everything separate and while it means doubling up on some aspects it seems to work.

The system where the Toshiba is its hooked to a dedicated digital mains spur, the analogue has its own as does the computer, so all three are separate and can't interfere with each other. Living room is the same dedicated spurs to keep everything on its own feed. The home cinema works off the non dedicated mains.


Regards Neil

[clap]

Hifi News are using an Oppo as a source when they review amps / speakers.

[Audio Advent]

So... if you can play DSD off a USB stick, can you go through the file structures of hard drives easily enough too?

Seems like a good hassle free way of doing great sounding file based audio.

Are people using it as a transport?

[DarrenHW]

So... if you can play DSD off a USB stick, can you go through the file structures of hard drives easily enough too?

You can, but it's a little primitive and can be flaky at times.