Help, Manley Mahi, Oppo-BDP93

Mcondon has a good point...i re-read your original post. i would not recommend the volume control of the Oppo (at all)...use a preamp. The volume control on my Oppo 83 is terrible in comparison to the quality of the sound coming thru a proper preamp...and it gets better if you use the Oppo into a good DAC and then into a preamp.

My guess is that you would be much better off buying a decent preamp with an analog volume control than adding a separate DAC to your system. Digital volume controls are lousy in my experience and I have had little success going amp direct from a digital source (DAC or CD player) into a power amp.

Manley makes some great preamps that would probably sound great with your Manley monoblocs...if I were you, I would look for a Manley Shrimp before plunking down a lot of money on an outboard DAC.

What is your issue? You have not stated it.

Hi AE,

What is your budget? I own the Oppo 83 but only use it as a transport into my DAC. I think of a number of good DACs you may wish to consider, but it is budget-dependent. ARC DAC 8, Stahl-Tek Vekian, Wadia 7, 9, Zanden, [for some] older and newer DCS, Accuphase...all are truly wonderful SOTA world-class DACs...i have heard nearly all of the above, and they are amazing.

Audio elitist,

"My question is; what DAC will better the internal DAC within the Oppo, and/or is my source the issue?"

What is the issue? What don't you like about the sound? Could it be you missed a step along the way (preamp) and the sound, even though it is clean, seems to be lacking body and overall musicality?