Thank you for this thread. It’s nice to see that I’m not alone in waiting to hear about the chance to purchase a 205. I was fortunate to be able to purchase a 203 from Oppo at the end of May. But I also put my name on the list for a 205 in late May, and I have yet to receive notification for purchase.
While I take coyotesx5’s point, I still think it’s worth trying to obtain a 205 directly from Oppo. (Yes, the prices for 205s elsewhere ARE ludicrous and more than I’d be willing to risk, for the reasons coyotesx5 raises.) The only other comparable option for me to do better than my 203 (or a 205) for playing SACDs and DSD downloads through my McIntosh MAC 6700 seems to be something like a McIntosh MVP901 (more than quadruple the price of an Oppo 205 and a risk, given the price AND the troubles that McIntosh seemed to have with the MVP901’s predecessor). Otherwise, I’d have to look at a dedicated SACD player with analog outputs (e.g., a Yamaha CD-S2100), which would offer a tech support phone number for potential problems down the road. As the Yamaha wouldn’t allow the use of an external hard drive (no USB A input) for playing my (mostly PCM) download files and I don’t wish to use a computer to play download files, I’d continue using the Oppo 203 to play PCM files through the coax input of my McIntosh MAC6700. But my experience with Yamaha’s tech support hasn’t left me feeling very encouraged about the thought of Yamaha for a dedicated SACD player. Others, though, cost even more.
I wish I’d foreseen all of this before I started buying SACDs and DSD downloads. For now, I’m likely to curtail purchasing these and opt for PCM downloads of hi-res recordings. I’m very much enjoying the 203, but I’ll also continue waiting to see if my name comes up on the list for an Oppo 205.
While I take coyotesx5’s point, I still think it’s worth trying to obtain a 205 directly from Oppo. (Yes, the prices for 205s elsewhere ARE ludicrous and more than I’d be willing to risk, for the reasons coyotesx5 raises.) The only other comparable option for me to do better than my 203 (or a 205) for playing SACDs and DSD downloads through my McIntosh MAC 6700 seems to be something like a McIntosh MVP901 (more than quadruple the price of an Oppo 205 and a risk, given the price AND the troubles that McIntosh seemed to have with the MVP901’s predecessor). Otherwise, I’d have to look at a dedicated SACD player with analog outputs (e.g., a Yamaha CD-S2100), which would offer a tech support phone number for potential problems down the road. As the Yamaha wouldn’t allow the use of an external hard drive (no USB A input) for playing my (mostly PCM) download files and I don’t wish to use a computer to play download files, I’d continue using the Oppo 203 to play PCM files through the coax input of my McIntosh MAC6700. But my experience with Yamaha’s tech support hasn’t left me feeling very encouraged about the thought of Yamaha for a dedicated SACD player. Others, though, cost even more.
I wish I’d foreseen all of this before I started buying SACDs and DSD downloads. For now, I’m likely to curtail purchasing these and opt for PCM downloads of hi-res recordings. I’m very much enjoying the 203, but I’ll also continue waiting to see if my name comes up on the list for an Oppo 205.