Oppo 103 Blu-ray Player Gets 3 Stars!

[bigboss]

Not necessarily, not all products are excellent out of the box and some calibration is needed to bring the best out them. I believe this the point David is making.

When you compare the Oppo 103 to say the Pioneer 450 on a 50 inch TV you wil struggle to see the difference, its there but you have to look hard. Now switch over to a projector and the difference is very clear. The 103 has the best picture quality around. right up there with the 715BD if not better. This was my experience when I had a recent demo and yes I adjusted the settings to get there.

The review is harsh, I would have gone with 4 stars and awarded the 105 the 5, purely because it's better on Music.

My personal opinion of the 751bd picture quality is poor, so if this Oppo is like the 751 bd the review is spot on! I do like the sound on the 751bd though, dont know about the Oppo sound but trust the review.

So you trust Oppo 103's review, but don't trust CA 751's review! :O

http://www.whathifi.com/review/cambridge-audio-azur-751bd

 

[ellisdj]

A player like that needs testing sound 3 ways

Bitsream, PCM and Analgue using its internal processing levels etc and then each should be reported on individually as its thats 3 key features of the player. The CD playback should be commented on under each section

I think to just generalise and say the sound is.... is not enough a review for a product like this - we need a bit more to help us. Apologies that its more work

I think all players should be reported on the same, it doesnt have to be loads of words just commented on in its various forms - hope that makes sense

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Not necessarily, not all products are excellent out of the box and some calibration is needed to bring the best out them. I believe this the point David is making.

When you compare the Oppo 103 to say the Pioneer 450 on a 50 inch TV you wil struggle to see the difference, its there but you have to look hard. Now switch over to a projector and the difference is very clear. The 103 has the best picture quality around. right up there with the 715BD if not better. This was my experience when I had a recent demo and yes I adjusted the settings to get there.

The review is harsh, I would have gone with 4 stars and awarded the 105 the 5, purely because it's better on Music.

My personal opinion of the 751bd picture quality is poor, so if this Oppo is like the 751 bd the review is spot on! I do like the sound on the 751bd though, dont know about the Oppo sound but trust the review.

So you trust Oppo 103's review, but don't trust CA 751's review! :O http://www.whathifi.com/review/cambridge-audio-azur-751bd

I trust it but just didn't like it, there is a difference. I personally like the picture on my Pioneer as I have stated. I don't like the picture on Denon's either but know that other people do. I can safely say I have never bought a 3 star product and never will. Yamaha amps get 5 stars but I like Pioneer amps and currently have a 4 star amp.

 

[manicm]

The only difference between Oppo 105 & Oppo 103 is enhanced audio quality. Picture quality is exactly the same (same as with CA 651 BD / 751BD).

Not what WHF's and TrustedReview's reviews have suggested on the CA 651 BD / 751BD. Although the video specs seem to be exact in both players on paper, both reviews suggested somehow they thought the more expensive player had better overall picture quality.

NEW:

In any event I would not be surprised if cheaper players like the new Pioneer surpass the 751BD in picture terms.

At $500 the Oppo 103 seems excellent value, and most rags are giving it rave reviews - like PCMag - their reviews carry no truck and are not shy to give low ratings to consumer electronics besides the obvious computer. They've rated it especially high on video performance.

I guess we have to wait for the other UK rags like HiFi News etc - then again IMO these rags review quality/emphasis is high on audio, mediocre/thin on video.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

For example because I trusted the Cambridge Audio review I went and had a demo but just didn't like it. Would I now go and demo this Oppo and drive an hour away to do so based on that review, no I don't think I would, because I trust there is something in the poor review. We all make decisions like this when buying equipment.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

So BB you don't agree with the Oppo review I guess, but I guess you still trust the reviews don't you?

 

[bigboss]

I trust my eyes & ears more than reviews.

 

[bigboss]

I can safely say I have never bought a 3 star product and never will. Yamaha amps get 5 stars but I like Pioneer amps and currently have a 4 star amp.

I seem to remember Andy Clough owning a 3-star rated TV.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I trust my eyes & ears more than reviews.

Fair enough.

 

[bigboss]

I trust it but just didn't like it, there is a difference. I personally like the picture on my Pioneer as I have stated. I don't like the picture on Denon's either but know that other people do. I can safely say I have never bought a 3 star product and never will. Yamaha amps get 5 stars but I like Pioneer amps and currently have a 4 star amp.

But then, you found the picture of the 751 to be grainy, whereas WHF review says it's sharp. On what basis are you debating the findings of members who have personally demoed the Oppo & you haven't?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I trust it but just didn't like it, there is a difference. I personally like the picture on my Pioneer as I have stated. I don't like the picture on Denon's either but know that other people do. I can safely say I have never bought a 3 star product and never will. Yamaha amps get 5 stars but I like Pioneer amps and currently have a 4 star amp.

But then, you found the picture of the 751 to be grainy, whereas WHF review says it's sharp. On what basis are you debating the findings of members who have personally demoed the Oppo & you haven't?

I trust the WHF review hence why I bought my Philips TV based on it and hence why I bought my Pioneer amp sc-lx81 amp for £1500 on it, I have never bought a product based on a members view and never will. I guess you haven't then?

 

[bigboss]

Well, nobody is asking you buy an Oppo.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Well, nobody is asking you buy an Oppo.

Thank god.

It would take a lot of research for me to buy that now. Testing both the picture and sound quality thoroughly and then some.

 

[bigboss]

So, are you planning to upgrade to a 3D blu ray player soon?

 

[jacobmorrison]

Having now read the offending review it does seem to raise more questions than answers. A half-page review can only skim over the capabilities of a player such as this so perhaps part of this reaction is not the star rating alone but the impression that the player has not been given a fair examination. The "last thing on a friday" comment earlier in this thread could well be true. Given the five star review given to the Marantz UD7007 at £1000 then the WHF conclusion seems to be that the Marantz offers substantially better picture and sound quality than the new Oppo and is leagues apart from the budget competition that has apparently brought the Oppo rating down. This game-changing performance is a little surprising finding given that the consensus seems to be that differences in picture quality on blu-ray is subtle at most between high-end and budget decks, and upscaling can vary more but the differences between mid-range and hig-end might be expected to be equally as subtle. As with the earlier WHF review for the Oppo 93 it appears that the sound quality is letting it down badly. Shame the review didn't mention how the sound quality was examined, HDMI or Analogue, and whether it was given the same Pioneer SC-LX86 and KEF’s R100 5.1 system as the Marantz to show its capabilities. As I said, more questions than answers....

 

[Deleted member 2457]

So, are you planning to upgrade to a 3D blu ray player soon?

I don't know, I thought I was at one time, I still have a Sony TV sitting on an Alphason stand with no Blu-ray player. If I was in the market for a cheap one I would go for the Pioneer, or for an expensive one the Marantz 7007 would now be top of my list. I did like the look of that Panasonic ZT60 TV though.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Having now read the offending review it does seem to raise more questions than answers. A half-page review can only skim over the capabilities of a player such as this so perhaps part of this reaction is not the star rating alone but the impression that the player has not been given a fair examination. The "last thing on a friday" comment earlier in this thread could well be true. Given the five star review given to the Marantz UD7007 at £1000 then the WHF conclusion seems to be that the Marantz offers substantially better picture and sound quality than the new Oppo and is leagues apart from the budget competition that has apparently brought the Oppo rating down. This game-changing performance is a little surprising finding given that the consensus seems to be that differences in picture quality on blu-ray is subtle at most between high-end and budget decks, and upscaling can vary more but the differences between mid-range and hig-end might be expected to be equally as subtle. As with the earlier WHF review for the Oppo 93 it appears that the sound quality is letting it down badly. Shame the review didn't mention how the sound quality was examined, HDMI or Analogue, and whether it was given the same Pioneer SC-LX86 and KEF’s R100 5.1 system as the Marantz to show its capabilities. As I said, more questions than answers....

When I read the reviews and it talks about sound quality I presume that it means both for HDMI and analogue because I presume they do test both. Yes I would come to that conclusion about the Marantz too.

 

[Frank Harvey]

When I read the reviews and it talks about sound quality I presume that it means both for HDMI and analogue because I presume they do test both.

This is it - we don't know.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

When I read the reviews and it talks about sound quality I presume that it means both for HDMI and analogue because I presume they do test both.

This is it - we don't know.

I am not sure WHF has to justify this though. If it was bad through HDMI or analogue I presume it would say so. But most people still think there is no difference over HDMI, personally I have definitely heard a difference. So can WHF win if they do say one or the other? Pretty sure on AV Forums they have taking the stance there is no difference over HDMI is that correct? They way I read the reviews is that WHF does think there is a difference. That is what I presume. If the sound was bad I am sure it would say like it does on the Oppo. Perhaps someone can confirm then?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

But if it is bad through analogue then I presume it is safe to presume it is going to be bad through HDMI? And vice versa. So surely talking about the sound in general is enough.

 

[hammill]

But if it is bad through analogue then I presume it is safe to presume it is going to be bad through HDMI? And vice versa. So surely talking about the sound in general is enough.

Absolutely not. If the signal is sent via HDMI it is not passing through the DACs. A machine with terrible DACs could still sound fine using HDMI (as virtually all players do of course). I think this explains why you are happy with this remarkably uninformative review.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

But if it is bad through analogue then I presume it is safe to presume it is going to be bad through HDMI? And vice versa. So surely talking about the sound in general is enough.

Absolutely not. If the signal is sent via HDMI it is not passing through the DACs. A machine with terrible DACs could still sound fine using HDMI (as virtually all players do of course). I think this explains why you are happy with this remarkably uninformative review.

I guess it does.

If WHF came out and said Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI I would know this not to be the case, and so would a lot of others. I guess you think they do though?

 

[bigboss]

If WHF came out and said Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI I would know this not to be the case, and so would a lot of others.

You would still trust the WHF review, won't you?

 

[hammill]

But if it is bad through analogue then I presume it is safe to presume it is going to be bad through HDMI? And vice versa. So surely talking about the sound in general is enough.

Absolutely not. If the signal is sent via HDMI it is not passing through the DACs. A machine with terrible DACs could still sound fine using HDMI (as virtually all players do of course). I think this explains why you are happy with this remarkably uninformative review.

I guess it does.

If WHF came out and said Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI I would know this not to be the case, and so would a lot of others. I guess you think they do though?

So you think saying that virtually all players sound fine using HDMI = Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI? Really?

 

[MajorFubar]

See it's no wonder Oppo fans feel a bit cheated by what they feel is an unjust review. when people like Gel won't even consider the product now, based on just one magazine's subjective opinions (which as it happens appears to be contrary to just about everyone else's).

I think there's such a thing as being a little too much of a disciple. You could miss-out on the absolute bargain of the century based on the opinions of people you don't know. By all means use reviews as a guide, but there's no substitute for your own eyes and ears.