Oppo options

I read elsewhere that Exemplar is out of business...is this just a rumor?

Larry

If you get the Oppo 95 and want to put $500 to good use, get the solid state mods from Modwright. Don't forget that the Oppo already has a very good, state of the art DAC chip.

For the DAC, $500. Does that include digital cable? Maybe a better power cable? NO SACD or Blue Ray playback through the DAC. I bet that you will need a very good DAC to outperform the 95, most of which cost significantly more than $500.

In the 500$ region you'll find plent of interesting DACs both new and used.

The NEW kid on the block is just a tick OVER your 500$ limit but is, to me, the most interesting of the lot.

The CA DACMagic PLUS has a number of interesting features including headphone output. The volume control can also be assigned to the audio outs...either balanced or unbalanced. This means for a dorm / desktop system of the HIGHEST calibre, you'd need a source, the DAC and some powered speakers. You could bring the whole thing home for 1600$, with a good pair of Grado SR60i 'cans'.

In the higher cost brackets of DAC, the choices are wacky. Rega? Bryston? NAD Masters? Bunches of others to suit.

I'm also interested in this thread. What about part B of the question, regarding the DAC?

As of all things in this area, not getting the 95 will put a 'doubt' in your mind that will always convince you that something is missing. Go with the 95, its just 'pennies' more per day.

I was in the same boat, I got the Oppo 95 and couldn't be happier!

There's a Oppo 83SE with Modwright upgrades on Audiogon right now that I bet would be even better than the stock 95 by a comfortable margin.