Has anyone bought the OPPO 105 and has an opinion

"Does the Oppo 105 sound better than my Ayre CX-7eMP? Several people at THE Show suggested I get the Oppo 105. I cannot believe the 105 sounds better than the Ayre. Any comments?"

Hi Hgeifman

I wouldn't necessarily rely on what "people at the show" have to say. One thing I have discovered with digital is that the presentation and sound will vary system to system and most importantly there is no shortcut to a better designed more robust output stage and power supply.

Now that I have gotten THAT off my chest I have heard the OPPO 105 and actually compared it to a Modwright Truthmod 95 in an unfamiliar system. This goes back to the point above, things in this hobby are never black and white. Overall the 105 sounded very good in HIS system. What was more remarkable to me was that the Modwright didn't have near the impact in his system as in mine which was compared directly to an OPPO 95 and 4 different DACs. No one can answer your question definitely concerning the Ayre vs. the OPPO but my bet is that the Ayre would probably sound better in a more highly resolved system than the 105 and I say this as a big OPPO fanboy, great products and great value. So the short answer is you have to compare side by side in your system to know for sure, a surprise may be in store, who knows?

Tubegroover: Thanks for your comments. I agree that comparing side by side is the only way to decide but I am not going to do that. I am going to keep my Ayre CX-7eMP and listen to the music. The Ayre sounds very good to my ears.

I'm totally loving mine (Oppo 105). I bought it to do Blu-ray and it sure does that well. So much better to watch movies on. And it is also much better than my Redbook CD player, the Cambridge 840C. To me it is fast, neutral, revealing, and sounds like music. Really lifts the veil that some players exhibit. I have never heard the Sony, so I have nothing to add here. Of the hi-end players I've heard, and though I have not compared them side by side, the Oppo sure gives them a run for their money. You can always just order it up and give it a test run and if it doesn't fit the bill, you can send it back. That's how confident Oppo is. So live a little and give it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained (that coming from the choir!) Good luck in your journey.

I own both players. There really is no comparison. The Oppo sounds far better, plus it can play Blu Ray, DVD-A, and computer music. Sometimes the software in the Oppo causes glitches, and you won't have to worry about that with the Sony.

I have the 95 & the 105, I think the 105 sounds better in exactly the ways described in the brief TAS review. They have also been a lot of fun with a lot of options. I suspect to do better you would have to spend at least $7K.
I had tried it (balanced) direct to amp & preferred it with my preamp(This will depend on how good the preamp is).
Big surprise: I took it off fixed out to variable last nite in order to compare analog to SACD, and have now left it set at 80 because the sound with reduced attenuation by the preamp seems better than fixed out to a lower preamp volume setting. Curious to know if others have tried this.