price of Oppo players threw the roof

For anyone interested in modding their OPPO 203, Clones Audio is putting out it's last batch of their second version of their power supply kit. 

All the best,
Nonoise

8K TV is coming out. I wich Oppo could put Oppo 305 4K player on drawing board.

The $1100.00 Pioneer is claimed to be an excellent alternative. 

For heaven's sake: it's "Through the roof"! Proofread!

I was on the list for a 205 and never heard a word.

Anyone still waiting? Who was the last person shipped to? 

Congratulations, I am still waiting.  

Just a quick update...  I put my name on the list for an Oppo UDP-205 back in late May and just received my offer today.  I immediately made the purchase and just received the tracking information about an hour ago.  What a great way to begin this holiday weekend!  After all I've read and heard, I'm confident that it will have been worth the three months that I've waited.  If you've had your name on the list for a few months and are still waiting, then just remain patient.

Yes, definitly get your name on that list.  I signed-up in late April and received my offer to purchase at the end of June as promised.  It was a long two months, but well worth the wait.

This is my third Oppo, and the unboxing experience alone is unlike any other component I have owned.  They really know how to package and present.  I will miss that.  

For those of you still waiting, set some time aside when you receive yours and enjoy the experience.

@ jonasandezekiel
I would still try to get one from Oppo if I were you. Nobody knows how many they're making, or if somebody that signed up, doesn't take one.

I am still waiting and received a confirmation E-mail in early May. There are a few allotments still coming.

I gave up. I got screwed by best buy, having prepaid for one, waited for about three months, only to be informed last week that they can't get any more. I'm totally bummed, because they kept me on the hook thinking I would be purchasing one from them, and wasted valuable time instead of getting on the Oppo digital website where I would have had a better chance. Thanks Best Buy.

@uberwaltz When did you put your name on the list?

Happy to report, no ELATED to report, that after notification from Oppo on Wednesday, I was able fo pick up my new 205 on Friday.  Video picture is dramatically improved compared to my old Oppo 83SE, and it sounds great.  yay!

As with other players, the 203 can only play SACDs through HDMI or RCA analog outs.  My receiver doesn't have HDMI inputs, so I play SACD through RCA analog outs and CDs through the players coax out (to my receiver's DAC).

Are people using the 203’s analog out section for their sacd’s and cd’s or are you bitstreaming to a dac ?

Esoteric/Teac was part of the Gibson group but in that case, the holding company broke up in bankruptcy and Esoteric/Teac reclaimed independence despite being totally autonomous from the Gibson group in all aspects of its operations.  Cerwin-Vega, Stanton and Onkyo remained in a new, Gibson Pro Audio Group located less than a mile from my home.  

In the June 2018 issue of Sound & Vision they review the Cambridge Audio CXUHD Ultra HD Blu-ray Player which is based on the platform for Oppo UDP-203. The only differences seem to be no analog audio outputs and the remote is not backlit.  It retails for $700.00 and is made in the UK. It is available on Amazon with free shipping for $699.99. Here is the link...https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-CXUHD-Universal-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B0761TRVQB
Here is the Sound & Vision Review...
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/cambridge-audio-cxuhd-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player-review
Hope this helps.

Wasent esoteric( teac) part of the Gibson group that was mismanaged to death?

Personally I am quite happy to take a $1300 roll of the dice with OPPO for my previously stated reasons

Thank you for the reassurance, boucher.  Being patient will be a bit easier, given that I at least have a new 203 to enjoy in the meantime.  And it does a very nice job with SACDs and DSD files, as well as with feeding PCM files to my receiver's DAC.  Congrats on your 205 purchase invitation!  I hope you'll let us know how the 205 works out for you. 

It breaks my heart to read about people who bought a uber expensive amp or something from a 1 man operation, only to have the  person die or go out of business and leave the hobbyist with a very expensive piece of junk.

I had 3 different Audible Illusions Modulus preamps from 1992 to 2015, and my main reason for going with other equipment was because Art Ferris is semi retired and the factory (probably 3 people at most) is even slower than it was in their heydays.  The equipment is too expensive to take a big hit.

coyotesx5  I am unsure of purchasing expensive speakers $50K to $60K because if a driver fails, it maybe irreplaceable if the manufacturer goes out of business.  The three I'm considering are von Schweikert VR55K, Einstein and Lumenswhites.   Companies like Bryston and B&W or Harmon Group products have major company sales including professional so they will probably always be around.  Audio Research and McIntosh, also major names, were sold to conglomerates too.  I'm just worried about making big ticket purchases from small companies.  Oppo fits into the small company realm.  I'd rather purchase an Esoteric (Teac) SACD player DV60 for Blu ray and SACD and let my TV upscale to 4K.  

Received my Oppo 205. updated firmware 0115 and 0118. Streaming Tidal MQA from iMac. Showing MQA. Many MQA are 96k/24bit.  Sound is so airy and image so clear. Challenge my SACD collection. Can’t beat for its price $1299. If you can still get one, go for it. Even if is $2000 eBay price, still worth it.

I also just received an invitation from Oppo, in my name only, to purchase a 205. The offer is not transferable. It appears they are doing their final production run in batches, beginning now and probably ending by August. So if you put your name on the waiting list this spring, be patient and watch for an email from Oppo.

The 205 will be replacing my 7-year old 95. I’m hopeful the “improved” transport and the use of the latest  ESS 9038 DAC chip will result in a better audio experience with CDs and SACDs.

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.

1950 is cheap, there is one at 2500 now, 100% markup,not bad line of work.....

Oppo is no longer making players. The price is high because of that.

If I remember correctly I am sure OPPO stated they were going to continue with a 5 year support period of their disc players, tech support and parts.
Don’t forget OPPO are NOT going out of business, far from it, they are just concentrating on the side that makes the most profit which is cellular. You may not see many oppo phones in the USA but elsewhere they are huge.

Still would not surprise me if somebody did not buy the rights to the disc spinner side and resurface at a later date.
All this panic and gouging for a 205 could be for naught!

I owned an UDP-205 and it proved to be defective out of the box. I returned it for a refund. Then subsequently, I heard that OPPO was ending its production of this line of goods, but honoring their warranties. Frankly, most people don’t give enough weight to a company’s behavior before making such a significant dollar purchase. I view the abandonment of the sale of a complete line of goods as a sign of what may come.

Even with digital products, that usually work right out of the box and long thereafter, it’s nice to have a company maintain their level of tech support even when they discontinue a line of product. While I certainly wish the best for a long-lived experience for any of you who purchased and are enjoying their products, I view the elimination of their tech support phone number as a real negative. Email-only support is for the birds. If your player begins to act squirrelly despite a factory reset or firmware refresh, as mine did, email-only support could require a time-consuming written analysis by YOU to describe, in detail, the what, where, and how of the malfunction, and the reiteration of the numerous steps in the process of elimination OPPO has you go through before they settle on the fact that the unit needs service.

I have seen this with other "high-end" audio products. I’ll never forget back in the early 1980s, a company in Reseda, California called Quatre manufactured the Quatre Gain Cell, a great-sounding amp I used to run my Maggies MG-2As. The amp cooked itself and was replaced "thankfully," but the new one only lasted two weeks. Tech support had regular phone hours, then hours just a few days/week, then no hours at all. Quatre went under and I had a 45-pound paperweight. Not comparing them to OPPO, but I’m just pointing out that tech support is very important and that the elimination of OPPO phone support is likely NOT a coincidence. Caveat emptor.

@steveandbets.................

i sent a message to the guy who boasted he had just gotten the 205 from Oppo and told him he had no shame. As expected, he didn’t answer.

Lots of scalping going on. Right here on the Audiogon site there is a brand new, boxed 203 selling for 1000.00 and a 205 for 1995.00 I hate that hobbyists feel the need to rip others off.

@stereo5 

I have read a couple mention confirmation email at a later date. Pretty sure I got my confirmation email just days after I registered so in April sometime I would say. Maybe that is what they are working off for prioritizing shipments?
Hope you do get one!

I spoke with customer service and was told they couldn't tell me how far up or down the list I am.  I  received my confirmation email on May 9 as well.  They told me they are all sold out of this batch but 3or 4 more shipments are due in between now and August.

Whoo Hooo! I just received my 6 I ordered. Well, when you have 6 different households, you know... Only "1 per household". After this last allotment is gone, I will sell these for a substantial profit to purchase my 7th house.
Just kidding. My BDP95 flamed out 2 weeks after they announced "Farewell". I will be grateful to get one 205. My confirmation E-mail came May 9, so maybe in another week or so. 

@uberwaltz...……………………………..

I registered in April and re-confirmed in May.  I hope its soon.

Fast. I am going to receive one this afternoon. Will download lastest driver for MQA stream. Super excited.

Just got mine about half an hour ago via FedEx standard delivery.

I received my oppo on 6/27.   Me happy.

I received my oppo on 6/27.   Me happy.

I also have a mint 203 that I’ll flip if someone’s name comes up on the 205 and they don’t want it 

I’m curious to when I put my name down . Is there any way to find out ?

I think it was about March or April. 

Paid for the 205 today.  Unfortunately can only get one per household.

@stereo5 

When did you register?
Looks like they are working through April registrations

I'm still waiting for my email from Oppo.

Echolane, I am sure you paid more in sales tax than I paid shipping...lol.
But you do get yours early!
Enjoy!

Good news for me too!  Notified by OPPO yesterday that I can claim a 205 if I want,  I  immediately confirmed my interest and plunked down my credit card.  This morning I was notified I can pick up my OPPO from their facility today.  So off I go to collect my much desired 205.  

(Living local to OPPO saved me shipping fees but it sure cost me a lot in sales tax fees!)

There you go audiostick!
Enjoy when you get it!

Finally got my email last night, so I'm better now.  It's been a long two months.

Personally, Looking at it as both a Disc Player and a DAC, the unit justifies itself at that price.  Plus, I just like OPPO.