New Oppo DV-980H

I just purchased the 840, hooked it up to my B&K avr202 and parasound hca-1500a amp and vandersteen 3a speakers... the cd player sounded okay- it was better then my previous player (a temporary sony es piece) but not as good as my rega apollo. i was sorta happy, loved the detail, not so happy w/ the bass. i switched rca's to kimber hero's, got a bit better... and then noticed the volume control on the oppo remote.

i went direct from the oppo to the paraound amp, and i was floored. now i dont have the worst pre-amp in this system, b&k is an alright brand, but my god was that ever the weakest link. I am going to move the oppo and parasound and vandersteens to a spare bedroom today and have that be a contained system... it sounds too good to go back, cant go back. i am thrilled with this player and the fact that you can run it w/out another preamp and have this sound quality come through.

It really, really, really works well.

I love my 2ch room now... no preamp- makes me laugh sometimes.

I have not had any popping sound either to this point w/ the 980. It sounds amazing, and i would have to spend much more on a high level preamp to sound better than this. The goal in my mind is to have as few breaks in the signal chain as possible- I dont want to colorize the sound from the CD- I dont want to change the audio signal- how much money do you have to spend on a preamp that sounds as if it is not there? alot.

This is also the easiest and fastest way to compare RCA's... direct from the source to the amp. The Opps's volume control is great to say the least.

i also have the clicking sound... sounds like a needle to record sound. if you do report this to oppo, please do let me know what response they give you.

chris