>>I'm not advocating that anyone should give up their tubed preamp
+1, I have removed the CJ CT-5 altogether in my main 2 ch setup, after auditioning and then buying the AMR DP-777 which was subsequently replaced by a Lampizator with volume control. The CT-5 added a richer texture though but using the funds of the sale (preamp + IC + PC) I upgraded my other cables so overall the system lept forward. This trends is unstoppable. Good DACs or transports with great volume control feed directly to amps. Looking forward to the Sony HAPZ1ES V2 or mod with digital in/out (no vinyl for me anymore) and volume control. |
Response34,
I can honestly say, and it was very surprising to me, that I do not miss my beloved VTL tube preamp in my audio chain. Everything sounds just as sweet to me going without it.
To be fair, however, I made a lot of changes to my system at the same time. I replaced an older Sony DVP-7700 DVD/CD player with the clearly superior Oppo 105. I also began going directly from the Oppo into my main class D amp via xlr cables versus my former path of the Sony to the VTL and out to my amp via rca cables. At the same time, I also took advantage of the Oppo's hi-res capacity by integrating computer audio into my system. This consists of a laptop running JRiver Media Center software, a Synology NAS that now contains my entire CD collection along with a handful of 24 bit/96khz FLAC and WAV downloaded files and the Oppo 105 as the digital media renderer/player. The stored music files are now sent wirelessly to the Oppo for digital to analog conversion via its very good Saber dacs. The analog signal outputs directly to my amp via xlr cables, eliminating the preamp from the audio chain.
Because of the above, I find it difficult to isolate a system change that has resulted in my system currently sounding so good. I never thought I'd even consider taking the excellent VTL, with NOS Mullard tubes, out of my system. But I had to trust my ears and the extreme 'in the room' illusion I'm now enjoying with my music. In truth, there are probably multiple factors involved with giving me such good results; better recorded/engineered source material, elimination of a component from the audio path, better dacs, better input and output stages and a lower noise floor.
Ultimately, I really don't care if I never know the predominate cause since I'm thoroughly enjoying just listening to my existing and new music so much right now.
I'm not advocating that anyone should give up their tubed preamp, I'm just encouraging members to let the results and musical presentation guide their choices.
Enjoy,
Tim |
Saki...
I would be interested in your findings once you install the preamp back into your system. I know the 105 is a nice unit as well as very versatile but have yet to find anyone (at least not any of my customers or potential customers I have spoken with) that has removed their tube preamp in favor of going straight from the 105. Especially for 2-channel music. We have a lot of our customers using the Oppo 105.
not to say one way or the other.....again just curious. |
The 105 has no room correction in the sense of Audyssey, just speaker management such as distance, trim, size, and crossover frequency to a sub. Those functions seem to function flawlessly.
db |
Interesting thread. I just got a 105d and had the same question. How is the room correction performance compared to, say, the Audyssey processing that you would get by going through a receiver?
I currently run my oppo into a Denon. I've never been happy with the amps in the Denon. I'd be interested in going directly from the oppo into a nice multichannel amp. But I really like the Audyssey room correction. |
Saki,
I just bought an Oppo 105 and can tell you for certain you can use the unit as a processor and a limited input preamp.
Right now, I have the 105's 'Dedicated Stereo' xlr outputs connected directly to my main amp's xlr inputs. I also have the 105's 7.1 channel analog outputs connected directly to my 2 ht amps via rca cables in a 5.1 configuration.
If you set the 'Stereo Setting' to 'Front L + R' in the 'Audio Processing' section of the Startup menu, the Oppo has a unique ability to play back in either stereo or multi-ch automatically based on the inputted signal. This means when you play a CD it will playback in stereo and when you're watching tv or a movie, it will automatically playback in multi-ch surround mode.
I found I no longer need my tubed VTL preamp for music or my Parasound AV2500 for surround processing once the 105 was installed. I'm probably going to sell both to a friend for about the same cost as the 105 ($1,200).
The 105 sounds excellent for both 2-ch and multi-ch in my system. You may also find this simplified setup may work very well for you for both, too.
Before I sell my beloved VTL, I'm going to incorporate it back into my system just to make sure. I'm going to hook it back in between the 105 and my amp via the 105's 'Dedicated Stereo' rca outputs since the VTL has no xlr inputs. If it sounds even better, I'll leave it in. If not, I'll sell it as planned.
However, I seriously doubt I'll be able to improve on my current sound performance. I'm using the 105's excellent Saber dacs for decoding both ripped cds and hi-rez computer audio files and thoroughly enjoying the quality sound for both music and ht.
Let me know if you need more info,
Tim
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Dbphd - you need a preamp for the phono stage. What I meant, very poorly worded, was that I'm not using a preamp because I don't need a phono stage or more inputs (yet). Therefore I'm only using the inputs on the 105, which are obviously all digital. |
Seditious3, I didn't understand the second sentence of your first paragraph. The Oppo has only digital inputs. An HD-DVR goes to the rear HDMI input of the 105 in my setup, and a Mac Min to the asynchronous USB. The Parasound JC-2 analog preamp has no digital inputs, and it's used to permit three sources to access the stereo amp.
db |
I'm using the 105 analog outs to a 2-channel amp and a 3-channel amp. I'm only using the digital inputs, unlike Dbphd above.
My thinking is, why add another component if it's not necessary? |
A number of posters at the 105 owners' thread at AVS recommend eliminating a processor from the audio chain, and going directly from an Oppo 95 or 105 to amps. One claim is that the superior analog section of the 95 and 105 compared to the 93 and 103 also results in finer volume control. I take the analog stereo of a 95 directly to amps with good results. I take the analog stereo of a 105 through an analog stereo preamp set to unity gain and the surrounds and SW directly to amps. The preamp is needed because it is shared with a Sony 5400ES and phono stage.
db |
Ok , thank you .
Happy Tunes . |
Right. I was not recommending this use, merely saying that it was possible. Its major advantage is cost and that applies to 103 and 105 (and 103D and 105D). |
I tried using my 103. The sound was ok however, the added gain and better switching from a pre amp helped a lot. I still use the analogue outputs from the 103 and video through HDMI. The internal source switching on the Oppo is not as easy as with my Emotiva. Also, the volume on the Emotiva is much more responsive and seems to sound better than the digital volume from the Oppo.
Try it and see for yourself... |
Would the 103 also work for this? |
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Send your request to Oppo contact on there site, they have extremely good service. They send me some answered that I had, the same day and it was Christmas day
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I think you can. It has the 8 analog outlets that you would need. As long as you can adjust the volume for each channel individually, I don't see why not. Have you checked the owners manual? It should tell you. |
