New Oppo DV-980H

Hi Jack,

Yes! It is here, burnt in and performing wondefully! The overall performance is a massive improvement on the 970HD. There is more warmth across the frequency spectrum and the bass is much more solid and goes deeper than before. The thin sound of the 970HD is replaced with a sound much like that from the excellent Eastsound E5 Signature ($900ish).

What I would also add is that the package as a whole is much better thought out and finished too. I think there is a better synergy with my other equipment (Klipsch/modded Trends Audio) than I have had with any other CDP I have tried so far in this set-up... so if you use gear like mine then this is a safe bet!

Right, back to work for me. More thoughts soon.

I hooked one up for someone the other day, worked great, picture was very good....it even passed the SACD/DVD Audio through HDMI to the Onkyo receiver without a hitch.

Dave

I just purchased the 840, hooked it up to my B&K avr202 and parasound hca-1500a amp and vandersteen 3a speakers... the cd player sounded okay- it was better then my previous player (a temporary sony es piece) but not as good as my rega apollo. i was sorta happy, loved the detail, not so happy w/ the bass. i switched rca's to kimber hero's, got a bit better... and then noticed the volume control on the oppo remote.

i went direct from the oppo to the paraound amp, and i was floored. now i dont have the worst pre-amp in this system, b&k is an alright brand, but my god was that ever the weakest link. I am going to move the oppo and parasound and vandersteens to a spare bedroom today and have that be a contained system... it sounds too good to go back, cant go back. i am thrilled with this player and the fact that you can run it w/out another preamp and have this sound quality come through.

The oppos built in volume control is VERY good. I couldnt beleive it as well when we wanted to do a last minute demo with the DV970HD but we didnt have a preamp on hand and we used the Bel Canto REF1000 amps into some expensive bookshelfs. I was scared that it wasnt going to work right or have some popping noise or something when we turned the amps on, but it was straight silent. It was stunning that it sounded so good to say the least. Just make sure you keep the volume down all the way when you turn the amps on. No problems, no noise. The new DV980HD is got a ton of potential, Oppo outdid themselves on this latest model.

Does the new Oppo 980 have a built in volume control for direct connection to amps?
Thanks,
Bill