OPPO BDP-103 (NON Darby)

This one is in Canada, but I have had excellent results with the Krell KAV-280p:

Too bad about the remote. I see High Performance Stereo has two of these available with remote for $1450.00. Krell is generally great stuff from what I've always read but is the remote worth an extra $351.00? Probably not if able to program a generic. Were I to sell the Emotiva Pre I could swing more probably. But under $2,00.00 for sure. Is there anything from bel canto that isn't too old that might fit?

Yea lance, I've heard that from other people too. Makes sense, thanks.

I sold my oppo 103 as I was really not happy with the sound and replaced it with the oppo 105. Big difference in 2 channel sound. The difference with the dual Sabre DACs is huge and it's nice to be able to use the XLR outputs.

The turntable was Music Hall MMF 5.3 with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. As I said, I did send it back.

You have the higher end Marantz player. Excellent power supply and audio stages, in my opinion.  I actually think the Emotiva pre is your weak link at this point.  They definitely suffer in the "separation of instruments" quality.  I don't believe you are hearing the true resolution of the Marantz.  I don't know what your budget is. Maybe a Wyred4Sound mpre?  Or maybe look for a used Adcom GFP-750 on eBay.  A tube preamp may or may not be what you are looking for.  It depends on the model and type of tube.  They can be slow sounding and may not give you the resolution for "separation of instruments" that you are looking for.  I would look for a solid state fully discrete preamp (no op amps).  Fully balanced is better as well.

I wanted to say that the pre-amp I have is the Emotiva XSP-1 and Amp the newest Gen 3 (2 channel). So if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. I think that Erik makes a good point insofar as 3 sources not getting me to where I want to be and it seems logical that throwing money at an Oppo would probably end up right where I started. So, I can't change the room would replacing the pre-amp make such a big difference. Obviously speakers are a whole other issue with potential results.

Please tell us what your $800 turntable is.  85% of my dedicated listening time is spent with a turntable due to the ability to connect with the tunes and enjoy the music.  I play digital for background music and I have a very good digital playback system.

Thanks for the comments, everybody. They all make sense. I have two Marantz pieces; UD 7007 which I am returning now as I was not aware I could not play DSD via thumb drive and NA 8005 which does accept DSD via thumb drive. (the price of these two & I could afford the Mytek!)
When I bought the Emotiva(s) I wanted to pair the pre/amp same brand. I thought of doing a tube pre but as has been said, the Emotiva(s) are "cheap" compared to others.
My room has a lot of furniture in it and I know this affects sound. Also speakers are now B&W CM5 s2, small book shelves but put out a lot of sound for their size. Maybe this is the place to start although everybody is really impressed with how they sound.
My biggest desire now is achieving separation between the instruments I am listening to. Position is critical with these speakers but still just can’t get it right!

Regarding the Emotiva comments, I have had extensive experience with Emotiva equipment. I have not heard the new gen 3 amp, as it is a completely different beast using a switching power supply, but their previous generation amps have been excellent. However, I have found their dac/pre equipment to sound very closed-in and dull/subdued. This may be described as gutless or soul sucking, so I can generally agree with Eric’s comments. There are definitely better dac/pre equipment to select, though the Emotiva stuff is cheap.  

@wcc10 - which specific Marantz player do you have? I have heard the oppo 105 (which is a lot more money). Overall, the oppo is excellent for the money for everything it delivers (video, audio, processing, features, etc.). There are probably better options if you are shopping only for a dac. I highly suspect that the Marantz that you have is going to sound a lot warmer/richer than the oppo 103/105. The 105 is great, but may sound a little sterile compared to the Marantz stuff. The 103 is not going to sound as good as the 105, of course.

Sorry about the comments, but the point is, if you have 3 different sources and still aren't happy it may not be your sources at all.

The common demonstrators are between the preamp and the room. There are less expensive solutions than the Mytek Brooklyn, obviously, I threw that in there seeing it as the 1 solution to improve the sound of your existing 3 sources.  Compared to a single source, yes, it's pricey, but thinking of it solving 3 problems at once, not so much. ;)

In any event, if you aren't happy now, I don't think any Oppo player will make you happy. The issues are elsewhere.

In a year come back and tell me I was totally wrong and it was the Oppo you needed, or that you ended up trying a bunch of other things until you finally got a different preamp. I'll be quite curious to see which you end up feeling was most satisfying.

Best of luck (really!)

Erik

No problem bcgator. I understood where you were coming from with the quip about the check & all. And the soul sucking went right off my back! ;-)

I wasn't actually being tough on you wcc10 - I was trying to make light of the fact that you were given a recommendation for a piece of gear 4x the price of the one you were asking about without asking about your budget, and I think it's nonsense to use terms like "soul sucking" in regards to musical gear.  I could have been more serious and criticized those recommendations blatantly, but I opted to use humor and sarcasm instead.   If that means I'm not a grown-up, I'm ok with that.  As someone who's done the stand-up comedy circuit here in Phoenix the last few years, I will often resort to humor as that's just my personality, but I understand that not everyone likes that.

Perhaps I should wait until evening to post when the grown ups are on line.

Ha, ha, ha. Tough crowd.

Wcc10, please post your mailing address, and Erik will put a check in the mail for $1500.  That's the difference in cost between the $500 Oppo and the $2000 Brooklyn, and as cavalier as he was about the recommendation of a piece of gear priced 4x higher than the one you were looking at, I'm sure he'd be glad to send you the $1500.   And the best part is, after listening to your new Mytek Brooklyn, Diana Krall will actually sound like a human being who hasn't been attacked by vampires and had her soul sucked out, because you can totally tell when the equipment makes the artist sound like someone who has been accosted by creatures of the night.   Or, you can do nothing, and only use your system one day a week, to scare the local kids on Halloween?  Just a thought...

The Emotiva amp I have is the newest Gen 3. "Gutless?" "Soul Sucking?" I guess I can see how you might say that on some level, but what are you comparing it to? Granted, it's not an Esoteric or the like! The Mayback looks interesting and I was not familiar with it before your suggestion. But, as you should be able to tell, I'm on somewhat of a budget. And the best I've heard out of my system is probably a re-mastered FLAC of Diana Krall. Some DSD (Kenny Burrell, Dave Brubeck) sound quite good also. But, with these B&W speakers I'm at a disadvantage to start.
As for "High End Outputs" I assume you are referring to the XLR connections. Do you really think they would make all that much difference? Balanced connections between my amp & pre did help so perhas a used BDP 95 would suffice and a cheaper alternative to a 105?
"Statman;" I believe I read that about better video to audio from a owners review. So of course that should be taken as it is worth. Not sure where I read it but I do not believe it was only a single review.

Remember please the 105 has separate "high end" outputs for stereo the 103 lacks. :)

Is it "fine?"  Yeah, it's fine.  If however you just spent $800 on a turntable and didn't like it, SACD playback probably won't sound good either. You have other issues going on.

I am in agreement with Erik, take the money and upgrade your turntable. Just putting your turntable on a stable solid surface will help you with playback.

Looking again at your list, I put the Emotiva and Oppo sounds as aout equivalent. The Emotiva pre/pro I listened to were quieter, but kind of gutless, or soul-sucking quality. Seemed to have all the notes, but lacked the energy.

Personally I would replace your Emotiva with a Mytek Brooklyn which has a very good built-in phono stage and can act like a preamp, and keep your turntable. There’s a dealer on Agon who will give you a short trial.

For now, I would put DSD on the back burner for you. ;) Get your turntable and digital sources to sound great first, as opposed to spinning your wheels looking for a better source.

Best,

Erik

I own an Oppo BDP-105 used as an SACD/CD player using the XLR output. I also play my Blu-ray movies and multichannel music discs through it. I only have one SACD disc (Vanessa Fernandez) so far but can clearly hear the difference. I believe you will be fine with the player. Now regarding your part about, " I’ve read that the OPPOs tend to do better with Video playback than audio. Is this true"? Of course it isn’t true! ;) Was that from actual owners that somehow were able to compare the video to the audio? How is that even accomplished? Please point me to those threads were actual owners stated that the video outperformed the audio? For that "price range" you’ll be just fine.

Well, I'm not sure about better.  I will say the DAC's aren't all that, and SACD analog playback isn't much better.  It's not terrible, until you listen side by side with a good DAC.  Currently I'm listening to a Mytek Brooklyn, which is leagues better on the top end, imagine and decay of music and presentation of space.

I have a single SACD disk from Blue Coast but it's in a box.  Before I moved I listened to it via the Oppo and was not particularly moved. If there is magic in SACD playback I did not experience it via the Oppo.

I believe it may be possible to output DSD to the Mytek, but I am several boxes away from finding out.