Oppo 103 Blu-ray Player Gets 3 Stars!

[bigboss]

So no I don't have Bose, but you're little set-up probably sounds like Bose compared to either of mine...toodles :wave:

Oh you're so modest, aren't you!

 

[jj123]

Far too many UK products getting reviewed on this site, just feeding the your market.

A UK magazine with a UK website reviewing UK products? It's a ******* outrage I tell you!!!

Seriously though, what point are you trying to make? Why would I, a UK resident, want to look at a magazine or website that reviewed a load of products I can't buy?

"The World's Most Trusted Tech Reviews"

 

[The_Lhc]

Far too many UK products getting reviewed on this site, just feeding the your market.

A UK magazine with a UK website reviewing UK products? It's a ******* outrage I tell you!!!

Seriously though, what point are you trying to make? Why would I, a UK resident, want to look at a magazine or website that reviewed a load of products I can't buy?

"The World's Most Trusted Tech Reviews"

A little bit of hyperbole never hurt anyone, it's still primarily a UK mag, which explains why some markets have their own edition of the mag (India does, I think).

 

[jj123]

So no I don't have Bose, but you're little set-up probably sounds like Bose compared to either of mine...toodles :wave:

Oh you're so modest, aren't you!

Lets revisit:

1) He made an adult decision to start a conversation with a stranger saying "you probably have Bose don't you" (in an attempt to demean)

2) I replied with the truth of what I really own

3) You're put off by my comment

---you guys are acting kinda silly over there nowadays

Listen, I don't care about Oppo and I don't care about Cambridge Audio. I don't even care about Blue Ray players because they're basically obsolete. I'm just saying objective is objective, and What-hi-fi is not being objective with this known battle between these two brands.

 

[WishTree]

Seriously though, what point are you trying to make? Why would I, a UK resident, want to look at a magazine or website that reviewed a load of products I can't buy?

Being a German Resident, I bought Italian, Canadian, American & British HiFi Products and I do not see any logic in categorizing the products based on the country of origin especially for the end customer.

However this might be a different reason for a Magazine whose survival might depend on the monetary equation and possibly mostly local products / manufacturers & residents who buy the magazine offer the needed revenues (I might be the minor contributor who still buys the magazine not being located in UK)

I respect the magazine for their in-depth knowledge and unbiased testing though some times I get a feeling that some times the magazine's myopic view ignoring non-british products might hurt the hobby from a bigger picture perspective.

Coming back to Oppo review.. c'mon really? 3 stars?? especially in comparision to the Sony BDP-S790 which I have is 5 stars. There is something that went wrong with this review. I hope WHF comes clean after this long thread and reconfirm or correct their position.

 

[The_Lhc]

Seriously though, what point are you trying to make? Why would I, a UK resident, want to look at a magazine or website that reviewed a load of products I can't buy?

Being a German Resident, I bought Italian, Canadian, American & British HiFi Products and I do not see any logic in categorizing the products based on the country of origin especially for the end customer.

However this might be a different reason for a Magazine whose survival might depend on the monetary equation and possibly mostly local products / manufacturers & residents who buy the magazine offer the needed revenues (I might be the minor contributor who still buys the magazine not being located in UK)

I don't know what the numbers are for overseas subscribers but the WHF team has stated (on more than one occasion) that they only review equipment that is readily available in the UK market, so that would exclude anything that would have to be ordered from outside the UK (ie doesn't have a UK distribution channel).

I respect the magazine for their in-depth knowledge and unbiased testing though some times I get a feeling that some times the magazine's myopic view ignoring non-british products might hurt the hobby from a bigger picture perspective.

It's a UK magazine, if they started to review a load of gear that can't be bought in this country can you imagine the complaints that would create? Anyway, they don't ignore "non-British" products, they ignore products that aren't available here, there are plenty of non-British companies represented because they sell in the UK.

Coming back to Oppo review.. c'mon really? 3 stars?? especially in comparision to the Sony BDP-S790 which I have is 5 stars. There is something that went wrong with this review. I hope WHF comes clean after this long thread and reconfirm or correct their position.

"comes clean"? That implies that WHF have deliberately given the Oppo a poor review for nefarious purposes, do you have anything to back that position up with? Btw, your Sony is less than £200, the Oppo is £500, WHF reviews are price-sensitive, so it doesn't imply that the Sony is actually better than the Oppo, just better value for money (in their opinion).

 

[kmlav]

What I dont understand is why they make premium Blu Ray players with on board decoding. Does anybody ever use it? I can understand in the old days before we all had nice AV receivers and used HDMI but really its just a wast of money.

CD's are all be it for the short term the most widely available source of higher res digital music but once high quality downloads are available we will see the death of this source so does it really matter if it can play CD's.

The unit will stream which is a useful feature for some but again anybody with a quality set up, ie the customers for a unit like this, will either have a streamer or will be able to stream via their AV amp so again another useless feature.

I'm in the market for a new Blu Ray player and looked at these but could not quite get my head around paying for loads of features that I did not need. Overall I felt this was a £200 Blu Ray player with £300 of stuff that was surplus to requirement. I would like to see the brands launch a high quality Blu Ray transport with all the money spent on the bit that matters ...... playing Blu Rays

 

[The_Lhc]

What I dont understand is why they make premium Blu Ray players with on board decoding. Does anybody ever use it? I can understand in the old days before we all had nice AV receivers and used HDMI but really its just a wast of money.

Well that's quite an interesting comment, as just the other day there was a thread (I can't remember if it was on this thread or another one) asking why top end receivers bothered with on board decoding as surely anyone that bought one would have a similarly high-end blu-ray player with "superior" decoding built in (I think it was someone asking why the sound from the analogue outputs wasn't specifically referenced in the reviews). Always nice to have a choice I guess...

 

[WishTree]

What I dont understand is why they make premium Blu Ray players with on board decoding. Does anybody ever use it? I can understand in the old days before we all had nice AV receivers and used HDMI but really its just a wast of money.

I agree with you till last year. I have ordered the Oppo 105 which would be the hub for my new system. I add Power Amps of my choice and I am good to go (provided I have only two more HDMI sources which is so in my case). In addition 105 acts as a DAC too!

Same is with Oppo 103 and I think it is the ideal solution for any one who has two or less additional sources. Bluray playback is great. It doubles as Network player for Videos too (with all the goodies of nice video processing). I was never keen on 7 channels of amplification and 5 is my max. So adding a nice 5 or 7 channel amp, it is already in par with an AVR and might beat the similar priced AVR + Blur Ray Player combination. The only missing thing is Room Caliberation which IMO will be added in the next year version.

In my long term view, high end AVRs market is going to diminish as the price vs duration for which they can be held on to is not truly justified. Instead of the products like this are going to change the landscape slowly.

I find it very surprising that all high end CD players have great DACs in them but still refuse to make them work also as a stand - alone DACs till recently. Still there are many great CD spinner which do not accept inputs and I do not think it is lack of technology but the want / greed of the manufacturer to sell two seperate products when one can do both the jobs effectively.

 

[jj123]

Seriously though, what point are you trying to make? Why would I, a UK resident, want to look at a magazine or website that reviewed a load of products I can't buy?

Being a German Resident, I bought Italian, Canadian, American & British HiFi Products and I do not see any logic in categorizing the products based on the country of origin especially for the end customer.

However this might be a different reason for a Magazine whose survival might depend on the monetary equation and possibly mostly local products / manufacturers & residents who buy the magazine offer the needed revenues (I might be the minor contributor who still buys the magazine not being located in UK)

I don't know what the numbers are for overseas subscribers but the WHF team has stated (on more than one occasion) that they only review equipment that is readily available in the UK market, so that would exclude anything that would have to be ordered from outside the UK (ie doesn't have a UK distribution channel).

I respect the magazine for their in-depth knowledge and unbiased testing though some times I get a feeling that some times the magazine's myopic view ignoring non-british products might hurt the hobby from a bigger picture perspective.

It's a UK magazine, if they started to review a load of gear that can't be bought in this country can you imagine the complaints that would create? Anyway, they don't ignore "non-British" products, they ignore products that aren't available here, there are plenty of non-British companies represented because they sell in the UK.

Coming back to Oppo review.. c'mon really? 3 stars?? especially in comparision to the Sony BDP-S790 which I have is 5 stars. There is something that went wrong with this review. I hope WHF comes clean after this long thread and reconfirm or correct their position.

"comes clean"? That implies that WHF have deliberately given the Oppo a poor review for nefarious purposes, do you have anything to back that position up with? Btw, your Sony is less than £200, the Oppo is £500, WHF reviews are price-sensitive, so it doesn't imply that the Sony is actually better than the Oppo, just better value for money (in their opinion).

Some comments:

As you know,you can essentially get any product from anywhere in the world nowadays (and that's a good thing). If What hi-fi were an objective source for reviews they would be excited to support that open market. But, if what you just said about them only reviewing products that can only be purchased from within the UK, then it supports the point that there's a UK slant. And they probably shouldn't attempt award shows at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Also on a side note, I was watching a review of the KEF's the the reviewer blurted out : "they're so good, you just have to buy them". He quickly recovered and said "or at least listen to it". But the point is, the site is splashed with adverstising, the reviews include links to sites where you can purchase the product, and the reviewers themselves sometimes get a bit too "fanatical" with the reviews (especially when it comes to certain campanies). None of this really supports words like "trusted", "objective", etc..

Did you read the Oppo 95 review? It's as much an advertisement for Cambridge Audio as it is a review of the Oppo-95. Then go read the Cambridge Audio 751 review. No mention of Oppo? This time around with the new models it looks like they're setting it up to take things a bit further (unless of course we can motive them to "tame" the bias a bit in the near future). I've spent a lot of time with both of those units. One hits the "wow factor" (the Oppo). The other comes in just below, and the units break easily (Cambridge Audio 751) And again, I don't think of Oppo as an American Company, it's pure Chinese. And I don't care about either of these companies.

Anyway, where are the reviews for companies like Canton, Siltech, Crystal Cable, Wilson Audio, Gryphon, McIntosh, Definitive Technology, etc... How can you leave out some of these major global players if your aim is to steer your readers to the best possible equipment?

 

[bigboss]

Some comments:

As you know,you can essentially get any product from anywhere in the world nowadays (and that's a good thing). If What hi-fi were an objective source for reviews they would be excited to support that open market. But, if what you just said about them only reviewing products that can only be purchased from within the UK, then it supports the point that there's a UK slant. And they probably shouldn't attempt award shows at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If the product isn't available in the UK, how can you demo it prior to purchase? (something WHF have always advocated). Besides, WHF reviews these products:

1) The manufacturer / dealer sends a product for review.

2) There is enough demand / excitement for a product, for WHF to buy the product for review.

In which category do international brands fall?

A lot of products announced in CES make their way to UK as well.

Did you read the Oppo 95 review? It's as much an advertisement for Cambridge Audio as it is a review of the Oppo-95. Then go read the Cambridge Audio 751 review. No mention of Oppo? This time around with the new models it looks like they're setting it up to take things a bit further (unless of course we can motive them to "tame" the bias a bit in the near future). I've spent a lot of time with both of those units. One hits the "wow factor" (the Oppo). The other comes in just below, and the units break easily (Cambridge Audio 751) And again, I don't think of Oppo as an American Company, it's pure Chinese. And I don't care about either of these companies.

Cambridge Audio players are made by Oppo. Not sure how their quality is inferior to the Oppo.

Anyway, where are the reviews for companies like Canton, Siltech, Crystal Cable, Wilson Audio, Gryphon, McIntosh, Definitive Technology, etc... How can you leave out some of these major global players if your aim is to steer your readers to the best possible equipment?

Please let me know how can I order these products from the UK.

And check this:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/duette

 

[bigboss]

So no I don't have Bose, but you're little set-up probably sounds like Bose compared to either of mine...toodles :wave:

Oh you're so modest, aren't you!

Lets revisit:

1) He made an adult decision to start a conversation with a stranger saying "you probably have Bose don't you" (in an attempt to demean)

2) I replied with the truth of what I really own

3) You're put off by my comment

---you guys are acting kinda silly over there nowadays

Just pointing out who was being silly with bragging when the response could've been more polite.

 

[The_Lhc]

None of this really supports words like "trusted", "objective", etc..

WHF reviews aren't objective, they're subjective, opinions, nothing more, always have been. I don't believe they've ever claimed anything else.

 

[WishTree]

Coming back to Oppo review.. c'mon really? 3 stars?? especially in comparision to the Sony BDP-S790 which I have is 5 stars. There is something that went wrong with this review. I hope WHF comes clean after this long thread and reconfirm or correct their position.

"comes clean"? That implies that WHF have deliberately given the Oppo a poor review for nefarious purposes, do you have anything to back that position up with? Btw, your Sony is less than £200, the Oppo is £500, WHF reviews are price-sensitive, so it doesn't imply that the Sony is actually better than the Oppo, just better value for money (in their opinion).

I did not know that 'come clean' can be read that way as well. As I said, I hope WHF reconfirms or correct their position on their review of Oppo 103, given the much debate that is going on this thread on WHF rating for this particular bluray player.

Also, IMO that this Oppo 103 review will not appear in the online browsable verion under the section

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/home-cinema/blu-ray-players?page=1

I would love to be wrong in this prediction!

 

[strapped for cash]

Whatever anyone thinks about What Hi-Fi's review of the Oppo 103, it seems bizarre to accuse the magazine of being parochial.

If all products manufactured in the UK received glowing five star reviews, and all products reviewed manufactured outside the UK were clearly marked down, such allegations might stand up to scrutiny. However, that's simply not the case.

What Hi-Fi reviews products engineered in a multiplicity of countries and countless "non-UK" products receive highly favourable reviews. It seems some are extrapolating on the Oppo 103 review because they're not happy with the verdict and applying skewed logic to discussion of the magazine in general.

I find the Oppo 103 review a little strange, since it's been so highly praised elsewhere. That said, I've not seen or heard the Oppo in action, so I'm not in a position to challenge claims made about this machine by any reviewer.

I'll continue to read the magazine each month, as it offers the most comprehensive coverage of new audio and video equipment available. I'll also continue to read reviews on sites like AV Forums and HDTV Test, as I value the kind of testing they perform. A more holistic view that draws on a range of resources is always sensible; and as much as I'm a fan of very technically-detailed reviews, the volume of products tested in such a way falls short of the volume of products tested by What Hi-Fi.

 

[jj123]

Some comments:

As you know,you can essentially get any product from anywhere in the world nowadays (and that's a good thing). If What hi-fi were an objective source for reviews they would be excited to support that open market. But, if what you just said about them only reviewing products that can only be purchased from within the UK, then it supports the point that there's a UK slant. And they probably shouldn't attempt award shows at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If the product isn't available in the UK, how can you demo it prior to purchase? (something WHF have always advocated). Besides, WHF reviews these products:

1) The manufacturer / dealer sends a product for review.

2) There is enough demand / excitement for a product, for WHF to buy the product for review.

In which category do international brands fall?

A lot of products announced in CES make their way to UK as well.

The criteria you listed sounds off on several levels. 1) WHF should be reaching out and requesting units to be sent to them to review. It should be "pull" as much as it is "push". That's how it's done here and I'm sure it is to some extent there as well. 2) I've never heard of a review site needing to out-right purchase all of the equipment they review. A lot of time it's demo'd and sent back. Sometimes kept and resold (so I guess I don't totally understand what you mean there). The point: take off World's Most Trusted Tech Reviews" if it's not true. It's as pathetic as when we American's call our Football and Baseball winners, "World Champions". Ugh guys, we didn't play anybody outside of the country...

Did you read the Oppo 95 review? It's as much an advertisement for Cambridge Audio as it is a review of the Oppo-95. Then go read the Cambridge Audio 751 review. No mention of Oppo? This time around with the new models it looks like they're setting it up to take things a bit further (unless of course we can motive them to "tame" the bias a bit in the near future). I've spent a lot of time with both of those units. One hits the "wow factor" (the Oppo). The other comes in just below, and the units break easily (Cambridge Audio 751) And again, I don't think of Oppo as an American Company, it's pure Chinese. And I don't care about either of these companies.

Cambridge Audio players are made by Oppo. Not sure how their quality is inferior to the Oppo.

They use different DAC's and the engineering of the housing construction is different. And I'm sure there are other differences that I don't know or care about inside the unit. There's no shortage of "supplier sharing". It doesn't mean quality is the same for all of the end-products. That's kind of a silly assumption, don't you think?

Anyway, where are the reviews for companies like Canton, Siltech, Crystal Cable, Wilson Audio, Gryphon, McIntosh, Definitive Technology, etc... How can you leave out some of these major global players if your aim is to steer your readers to the best possible equipment?

Please let me know how can I order these products from the UK.

And check this:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/duette

Out of that list, you showed me one pair of Wilson Bookshelves? If you're serious about any of one these companies, I'd be happy to find you sellers (and equipment that matches your power supply, when applicable), but I'm not going start listing out places in this thread. I mean my day isn't going to be very busy today, but I'm not going to fill it doing that I'm sure you can handle getting beyond the UK websites and UK vendors. Make an international phone call or something? Find some good things, hit some dead ends...

 

[Andrew Everard]

Please let me know how can I order these products from the UK.

Wilson Audio www.absolutesounds.com

Siltech www.sugdenaudio.com/

Crystal Cable www.absolutesounds.com/

Gryphon www.music-room.com

McIntosh www.jordanacoustics.co.uk

Definitive Technology www.pulsemarketing.com

And – before Clare comes back and looks threatening – ,

Canton www.unlimited.com

 

[Andrew Everard]

Also, IMO that this Oppo 103 review will not appear in the online browsable verion under the section

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/home-cinema/blu-ray-players?page=1

I would love to be wrong in this prediction!

It will appear, but not until the print magazine has been on sale for a while, as is usual.

And possibly, I'm told, in an extended form.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Coming back to Oppo review.. c'mon really? 3 stars?? especially in comparision to the Sony BDP-S790 which I have is 5 stars. There is something that went wrong with this review. I hope WHF comes clean after this long thread and reconfirm or correct their position.

"comes clean"? That implies that WHF have deliberately given the Oppo a poor review for nefarious purposes, do you have anything to back that position up with? Btw, your Sony is less than £200, the Oppo is £500, WHF reviews are price-sensitive, so it doesn't imply that the Sony is actually better than the Oppo, just better value for money (in their opinion).

I did not know that 'come clean' can be read that way as well. As I said, I hope WHF reconfirms or correct their position on their review of Oppo 103, given the much debate that is going on this thread on WHF rating for this particular bluray player.

Also, IMO that this Oppo 103 review will not appear in the online browsable verion under the section

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/home-cinema/blu-ray-players?page=1

I would love to be wrong in this prediction!

Why does it matter if it does or does not appear?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Interesting that Oppo advertises heavily on Home Cinema Choice and AVForums websites.

 

[The_Lhc]

Please let me know how can I order these products from the UK.

Wilson Audio www.absolutesounds.com

Siltech www.sugdenaudio.com/

Crystal Cable www.absolutesounds.com/

Gryphon www.music-room.com

McIntosh www.jordanacoustics.co.uk

Definitive Technology www.pulsemarketing.com

And – before Clare comes back and looks threatening – ,

Canton www.unlimited.com

Right! I want reviews of everything those brands make on my desk, by tomorrow!

 

[The_Lhc]

Also, IMO that this Oppo 103 review will not appear in the online browsable verion under the section

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/home-cinema/blu-ray-players?page=1

I would love to be wrong in this prediction!

Why would you think that? Every review goes on the website, afaik.

 

[duaplex]

Andrew perhaps you would like to give your piece on this.

People talking about the Oppo getting a bad review etc because of some type of ulterior motive, need I remind you the 95 received 5 star. The accusation is simply not justified, these are nothing more that consipracy theories.

 

[duaplex]

+1

Again, people think there is something they are hiding :wall:

 

[WishTree]

It will appear, but not until the print magazine has been on sale for a while, as is usual.

And possibly, I'm told, in an extended form.

Thanks Andrew.