Yet another universal player thread

[Dusty Chalk]

Looking to get a second, decent, <US$1K universal player. Looking at:

Marantz

Oppo

Arcam

Denon

Pioneer

...which others should I be looking at, and why? Looking to buy new, as the ridiculous amount of technology turnover makes it worrisome that components (especially the transport) will too quickly become irreplaceable.

Oppo strikes me as the one to beat -- with an external DAC for redbook -- anyone have any serious contenders? I'd really like to think that the Marantz changer (VC6001) is pretty good, and is tempting if for no other reason than for its ability to play multiple disks.

[HiWire]

Are you talking stock performance or buying with an intent to mod?

[n_maher]

Peter,

I assume that you're not looking to have any high-res DVD capability, right?

I started my search for a new DVD player recently and I'm pretty torn between the Oppo 981HD which should make regular DVD's look great on my HD TV or Toshiba's HD-A3 which might not look as good with standard DVD's but carries the bonus of HD DVD playback. Given that I rent most of the DVD's that I watch it doesn't make any sense to go Blu-Ray and all of those players are more expensive to boot.

[Dusty Chalk]

Are you talking stock performance or buying with an intent to mod?

I don't think there are any mods that are <US$1K player + mods, are there? Actually, I think RAM mods the Oppo for <US$1K, so yeah, I'll include that. I'm looking for total outlay being <US$1K player + mods, in answer to your question. If that includes mods, that's fine.

Nate -- yeah, let's leave Blu-Ray and HD-DVD out of this for now, as that's mostly video. I'm looking for a high-res audio player.

[Augsburger]

I have the Oppo 981, the Farouda chip makes for a great picture but I feel the stock rca out sound is not very good in CD mode. If you intend for this unit to play music well I would recommend using the digital out to a dac.

[laxx]

I thought the modded Oppo was about $800. I just checked the site and it's:

DV970HD - $800

DV980H - $850

DV981HD - $875

Then there's a few additional mods that cost ~$200-295, but you can forgoe those.

[tkam]

It really depends on what you want to do. I think the Oppo makes sense if you plan on getting an external dac (though of course you can only do dvd-a and sacd output via HDMI). Otherwise I think the Denon's (3910 or 3930) are your best bet. The 3930 ought to sound better since it's running two dacs in parallel.

[HiWire]

You can also get the Oppo players modded at www.tweakaudio.com for less than $1,000, depending on your choice of options. I'm planning to pick up the new Oppo DV-983H player a few months after it's released next year.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I can do an external DAC for redbook, I have one or two lying around that I'm happy with. But it still needs to be a good enough transport for a DAC.

[Dusty Chalk]

I thought I'd bump this thread:

- if anyone had some new thoughts on the subject;

- that Oppo 983 has been getting some good press, it's tops on my list right now for the home HT speaker system (entry-level/mid-fi), should it not be? Talk me out of it.

- Am seriously considering a modded Denon 3930 for my home high-fi rig (both speakers and headphones) (the 3910 is my work high-fi rig). Should it not be? Talk me out of it. Ayre? Linn?

- I still wouldn't mind a changer: Marantz VC6001? Yamaha DVD-C750? -C950? Integra DPS-10.5? -8.5? Others?

- Is my Sony SCD-CE775 -- whose drawer doesn't go in and out very well -- worth repairing? Or is it one of those whose transport is of the proprietary variety that once it fails, won't be able to be fixed no mo'?

[aardvark baguette]

I've got something rather important to say about Oppo: even with Hybrid SACD discs, I cant seem to get anything SACD to play through the optical connection to my dac. The disc plays, but everything is silent. I have not actually read the manual yet, but this should be straightforward. I hope to look at the issue tomorrow in more detail. But so far, my new Oppo DV-980H only plays redbook-only discs through the optical. I thought that I would be able to play the redbook layer of hybrid SACDs through the optical, but so far, no dice

Nevertheless, I am loving the player. It loads CDs quickly, is quiet, so I have no other major complaints. It would have been nice if the bottom were flat, for using spikes and whatnot, but that is a minor complaint.

[Augsburger]

I thought I'd bump this thread:

- if anyone had some new thoughts on the subject;

- that Oppo 983 has been getting some good press, it's tops on my list right now for the home HT speaker system (entry-level/mid-fi), should it not be? Talk me out of it.

- Am seriously considering a modded Denon 3930 for my home high-fi rig (both speakers and headphones) (the 3910 is my work high-fi rig). Should it not be? Talk me out of it. Ayre? Linn?

- I still wouldn't mind a changer: Marantz VC6001? Yamaha DVD-C750? -C950? Integra DPS-10.5? -8.5? Others?

- Is my Sony SCD-CE775 -- whose drawer doesn't go in and out very well -- worth repairing? Or is it one of those whose transport is of the proprietary variety that once it fails, won't be able to be fixed no mo'?

I think there is a thread somewhere here that talks about repairing the Sony transport and someone even has a couple of replacement parts he is hoarding. Sorry I can't provide anymore details because I was site surfing at the time searching for something else. If you are still considering the RAM mods, I would recommend you think again. I fell into the Lite Dac Ah hype last year and sent one to RAM for modding. I am not happy with the results, it may be better than what it was but still not to my liking. In my opinion the $400 modding cost may have made the Dac Ah better but it is still not good enough. My limited experience here on HC leads me to believe you posess good critical listening skills and the Oppo mods may disappoint you. In my opinion a lot of the mods for CDPs and Dacs in the RAM price range make them better but not necessarily good. I am skeptical of what RAM can do based upon my DAC Ah experience.

[tkam]

I've got something rather important to say about Oppo: even with Hybrid SACD discs, I cant seem to get anything SACD to play through the optical connection to my dac. The disc plays, but everything is silent. I have not actually read the manual yet, but this should be straightforward. I hope to look at the issue tomorrow in more detail. But so far, my new Oppo DV-980H only plays redbook-only discs through the optical. I thought that I would be able to play the redbook layer of hybrid SACDs through the optical, but so far, no dice

Nevertheless, I am loving the player. It loads CDs quickly, is quiet, so I have no other major complaints. It would have been nice if the bottom were flat, for using spikes and whatnot, but that is a minor complaint.

Don't you have to switch between the sacd and cd layers on the Oppo? I'd be very surprised if it did it automatically.

[Dusty Chalk]

...I cant seem to get anything SACD to play through the optical connection to my dac...

I'm sure you know this already, but just in case -- you know that if you're playing the SACD layer, it'll shut off the digital out, right? You need to be playing the CD/redbook layer. I'm sure you're already doing this, but it's the only thing I can think of. Have you hooked it up to a display and gone through the configuration? I'm not that familiar with the Oppo's, yet -- is it fairly easy to toggle back and forth between the two (or three) layers, just via the remote?

...If you are still considering the RAM mods, I would recommend you think again...

Actually, I'm basing my opinion on my SACDMods.com-modded Denon player, with which I'm quite happy. But yeah, based on others' experiences, I wouldn't rule out Reference Audio Mods or ModWright or maybe APL (getting to be out of my price range with that one).

And thanks for the info on the transport, I'll search the archives.

[Augsburger]

Matt Ankers mods were excellent in the Denon 3910 I heard. Oh, perhaps try the Krell/Marantz thread for the transport issue I am not sure though. Sorry, I am currently suffering brain flatulence.

[bhjazz]

Rik at EVS (twekaudio.com) has recently changed his options for the Oppo in a major way. I am concerned because all the original options for these units look like they are no longer available. (I check the internet wayback machine to find the older versions) So whether these new mods with the 32 bit AKM 4397 DAC are truly a big step up, or whether Rik is just enjoying his job remains to be heard. I was considering the exact same thing you are doing: a second machine that plays everytghing that my big rig downstairs does. Then I considered doing the upgrade work myself, but found that much of what these guys do is undocumented, so that would mean I would get maybe 50 or 75% of the upgrade benefits. Hm. Anyway, ramblings aside (aside my morning coffee) I'm sure the Oppo has gained it's status for a good reason. But Denon has been making players for years, really, so I would add that in as a serious contender. Plus there are some tweak shops that upgrade the Denon. Between the two costs (player + mods), that would get your costs up to $1K pretty easily.

Also, I had not considered mods before I heard a Modwright unit. It changed my mind. Wow.