Has the Oppo carried the AV industry?


I looked through my last Widescreen Review magazine the other day (March issue), and I came accross the latest Oppo Bluray player review -didn't read it. In fact, I refuse to read yet another all-universe, all-everything, "the end-all-be-all", "greatest thing since sliced bread", "MUST HAVE", "there is none better", "will revolutionize your home theaters picture and sound quality, to world class levels" article, about the mythical Oppo player!!!..can't do it..WON'T DO IT! NO!!!
Over the last 13 years, I probably honestly read two (maybe three) entire Oppo Universal disc player reviews -start to finish -and other articles discussing Oppo mods and upgrades, articles/discussion that REFER to an Oppo player, as part of some reference system, and inevitably, I find that the Oppo reviews will JUST WON'T GO AWAY, APPARENTLY! They're like bunnies! They keep producing more of their kind, whether you want them to or not!
Lol -I'm just simply amazed by how much attention and press that a lowely disc player has obviously gotten over the years! Surely, owning an Oppo player must bee a system transforming experience! ..a "must have" item, no less. I must have missed out..cause I never owned one. In fact, never really cared to own one! I've been dazled by how good the quality of video processing has been in all the plain-Jane disc players, flat pannel display's, and even high end video projectors I've owned continue to supply me wiht! But, apparently, every one else bought the Oppo. Cause I surely, honesly, can't remember a year that's gone by in the past decade, where I don't rememer NOT reading somwhere about an Oppo player!
It's really felt, to me, like home entertainment AV products, and home theater in general, have been on a "demand" slide over the past decade! 7.1 and 1080p, Bluray, etc, have all been around long anough now, that it's kind of a "been there, had that" kind of feeling I get when I think about this hobby anymore. I guess life and priorities has weened me away from being a die-hard enthusiest now-a-days. And yet, I can't get the Oppo topic out of my thoughts, whenever I look at my gear!..and I don't think the hobby is going to let me forget much about it neither. lol!
Anyone else get the oppinion that this product surely has been single most important product in the AV industry, these past 10+ years?! Because it's certainly been the most talked about brand/topic I can remember reading about, if nothing else.
I really do think they'll be making Oppo's for the next 100 years, period! -even if they'll do 4k upscaling, 4k/8k future exact pixel mapping, wifi-HD streaming, toast your bread and make you breakfast, whatever! I'm thinking that these Oppo's just must have been so good, that no serious enthusiest, whatever-phile, or system owner should have ever considered "going without!"...otherwise, they missed out!?
Well anyway, anyone here who's used the Oppo think that the product has been a make-or-break, indespensible, product that really made all the differnence to the picture quality they achieved, or the sonic experience they got using these things? (I'm tickled pink by the digital AV processing advances I've gotten just upgrading processor and displays, year after year) I just want to somehow hear that I really missed out all these years, and the only important consideration I should have made was BUYING the Oppo! Cause at the very least, I'm not totaly convinced that Apple and Oppo aren't the same company, ..secretly.
100 more years of Oppo players?..servers?? -probably
avgoround

Showing 3 responses by finsup

Keep in mind the perspective here is based on the question "is an Oppo worth the extra few hundred bucks over an el cheapo player. Since this decision made is typically in the context of a "modest" system, I can see how in some cases the answer is no.

For a vast number of prospective Oppo buyers, the question is hte exact opposite, i.e. "can I get away with using an El Cheapo Oppo in my high end system, and forgo the megabucks player"? A very high number of "high-end" users appear to be concluding YES, which is testimony to the quality of the player.
Edorr

+2 on these comments

So, as opposed to paying $1000 for an ALL-IN-ONE, could I do even better results using $350 deal on a used trasport, $500 high performance dedicated DAC, and a $150 top Sony Bluplayer with SACD? How far better accross the board is my $1000 Oppo investment?
Avgoround

Maybe better, maybe not. One other thing that should be mentioned is that your setup introduces 3 boxes plus cabling which after adding the costs of the ICs is probably more expensive than the Oppo one-box solution. For some, the convenience there, in addition to the experiences as shared by many others above, makes it hard to ignore. And deserves the praise it gets.

And, Avgoround, would you mind putting in paragraph breaks in your posts? It makes it easier to read. Thanks.
Avgoround, seems Tim (especially) and others have pretty much answered all your objections. Go on. Just buy the Oppo. And, if you don't like/need it, maybe PM me as I might pick it up from.
Avgoround - just pull the trigger. :)

Seems like you'll get all the help you need.