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Just Got My Oppo 205!

So - I wanted an Oppo 105 for about 3 years and when I heard they were closing it down, I popped for the 205 through Amazon. Got one of the last ones. I’ve owned some very good CD players - Naim CD5x with flatcap, Naim CDX2 with Supercap, Doge6, Lector and my current EAR Acute. So how does the Oppo compare you might ask. Well, it is new and I expect some improvement, but my first impression is - flat, sterile, uninvolving, compressed and basically lacking in musical texture. I’m just being honest and letting you know that this thing is no great shakes and certainly nothing to lust after, IMO. I happened to need a new DVD player anyway and, as I said, I have no doubt it will improve, but these are my honest first impressions that I’m sharing with you just in case you think you need to run out and buy one. Of course, I may (and I hope) I will be surprised at a vast degree of improvement with break in, but somehow I doubt it will ever improve to the level where I sell my EAR. All that said, I remember having an old Oppo 981 I think it was, that did a very credible job with SACD, so I’m thinking that the 205 will come around. I’ll let you know.
chayro
ptss
1,964 posts
 
Tell us how the 205 video compares to what you’re using now. 
chazzzy007
540 posts
 
I bought the 205 and thought it competent but a bit harsh in the treble with some SACD’s I have. I upgraded to the full Modwright 205 that included the Gen Pulse, and I now listen to it for hours. Absolutely rich and organic without a trace of digital hardness. I’m just now waiting on some 6DJ8 Telefunkens and a new GEC rectifier to see how much more it levels up. 🙌🙌🙌
sdake's avatar
sdake
4 posts
 
I  bought an Oppo 205 about 2 months ago.  I didn't buy it necessarily for sound quality, but for playing 4k HDR DVDs.  IMO it is/was the finest DVD player on the market.  A big bonus is the built in roon endpoint support.  The Oppo 205 roon + soundbar are no competition to my main 2ch system, however, it still sounds pretty good and its main purpose (for me) is to playback bluray.

The bluray is fantastic - its built like a tank - it has very fast loading - it does not have a bunch of half-baked crappy apps like my previous UDP 900 from Panasonic.

I know the world is going streaming for video, and even though I have a gige connection to the internet, compressed streaming doesn't compare to compressed bluray (bluray is like 4x more bits/sec iirc then Vudu 4k HDR).

Cheers
-steve
chayro OP
2,973 posts
 
@ptss - no, I didn't buy the 205 as an audio upgrade.  After my Oppo 981 broke, I was using a $30 DVD player someone gave me and I needed a decent player.  Plus, I wanted very much to play my SACDs and DADs, which I couldn't do on the Acute.  Tell the truth, the 981 did a very good job with hi-res, so I expected the 205 to do a better than very good job with it.  Maybe it will.  I also like the built-in headphone amp, so I can do some casual listening with no fuss.  Video?  It has video?
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Chayro, I have no experience with Oppo products, but assuming you are using the 205 with the Viva Solista integrated amp listed in your system description I’m wondering if the fact that you have to use the unbalanced outputs of the 205 may be a factor in your assessment. The 205’s description, similarly to the descriptions of some of Oppo’s other models, states as follows:
The balanced output features a true differential signal path all the way from the DAC to the 3-pin XLR connector.
... which could conceivably mean that its balanced outputs would provide better results than its unbalanced outputs, if used with an amp or preamp providing **high quality** balanced inputs. (I’m certainly not suggesting that you change your amp, though; I’m just suggesting a possible explanation of your findings).

Also, unbalanced interfaces generally tend to be more susceptible to ground loop effects than balanced interfaces. As an experiment, it may be worth temporarily putting a cheater plug on the Oppo’s power cord, to defeat its safety ground connection. If that makes a difference it would suggest that ground loop effects occurring between the Oppo and the amp are affecting sonics.

Regards,
-- Al

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