Oppo 103 Blu-ray Player Gets 3 Stars!

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duaplex

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@ jj123

http://www.whathifi.com/users/jj123Relax. There was no attempt to demean you, that was simply a joke hence the wink. Being a stranger, is it not polite to lighten the conversation with a little humour. You can come over and listen to my system if you like, I would say its somewhat better than bose and having the CM9 setup I believe you would agree.

I would love to go and demo the products you mention If anywhere stocked them. I simply do not subscribe to the notion that the magazine has an ulterior motive, you will need conclusive proof leveling such an acusation, simply saying you do not see it, is like saying you dont see the love I have for Manchester United when you are blindinded supporting Arsenal.

By the way we dont say toodles you know, despite the obvious stereotype of Brits :rofl:

Edit* Just reading more of your comments, you make some valid points, the Magazine would of course be in support of British brands, as would any other nation of thier own product. I will give you that, but the magazine is still quite objective for me and gives all bits of technology a fair run.
 
gel said:
Interesting that Oppo advertises heavily on Home Cinema Choice and AVForums websites.
smiley-smile.gif

Why should that surprise you? If I'm the advertising division of Oppo, I would make sure I advertise in a site with a good review of my product. Also, I'll target my adverts where I know people love my product. Oppo has been popular with AV forum members even before they were officially sold in the UK or were reviewed by AV forums.
 
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bigboss said:
gel said:
Interesting that Oppo advertises heavily on Home Cinema Choice and AVForums websites.
smiley-smile.gif

Why should that surprise you? If I'm the advertising division of Oppo, I would make sure I advertise in a site with a good review of my product. Also, I'll target my adverts where I know people love my product. Oppo has been popular with AV forum members even before they were officially sold in the UK or were reviewed by AV forums.

Don't surprise me, I have always see it there.
smiley-smile.gif
 

ellisdj

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kmlav said:
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.

Some of the highest and higher end systems you can buy today require the decoding to be done within the player - Audiolab, Meridian etc

So please review blu ray performance this way too :)
 
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bigboss said:
WHF did drop a star on a Sony TV after numerous complaints on the forum. Don't think it'll work the other way though.

That is because there was something wrong with the Sony TVs though, nothing wrong with the Oppo just not that good.
 
gel said:
bigboss said:
gel said:
Interesting that Oppo advertises heavily on Home Cinema Choice and AVForums websites.
smiley-smile.gif

Why should that surprise you? If I'm the advertising division of Oppo, I would make sure I advertise in a site with a good review of my product. Also, I'll target my adverts where I know people love my product. Oppo has been popular with AV forum members even before they were officially sold in the UK or were reviewed by AV forums.

Don't surprise me, I have always see it there.
smiley-smile.gif

What's your point then?
 

WishTree

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duaplex said:
Will whathifi ever adjust the review in light fo such an outcry? A second opinion of such?

I doubt WHF will change the star rating based on outcry otherwise it will be all popular choice based stars! I am really keen to see the in depth of review and what was the real thought process behind the 3 stars only.

I am very sure that the price can not be the reason. As an example there are Amplifiers which just do amplification and get five stars even at exhorbitant prices (though they offer same / similar features) like the Krell FBI which was reviewed at a price point of £15250

http://www.whathifi.com/review/krell-fbi

and IMO I do not think it is 3 times better than Pathos Inpol2 which is also a five star product.

However in our topic, even with PQ I found Oppo 103 is better than my Sony BDP-S790 and 103 does a lot more than 790 (Analog Out, HDMI Inputs and plays mkv - which Sony BDP refuses to do after the firmware update :( ). Infact, just for the HDMI IN feature itself there should be an added star (which is so good to upscale my Set-top-box more effectively than my much more pricier AVR)

There is something that I am missing here, given that a consumer like me see the Oppo 103 better than the Sony 790 and hence my failure here to understand that 3 star rating!
 

duaplex

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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.
 

Andrew Everard

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duaplex said:
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.

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

But no, no ulterior motive, as ever.
 

WishTree

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

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)
 

duaplex

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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).
 

GSB

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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! :)
 

WishTree

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duaplex said:
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 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!
 

abacus

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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
 

WishTree

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GSB said:
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 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)
 

WishTree

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GSB said:
... 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 ;)
 

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