Has the Oppo carried the AV industry?


I looked through my last Widescreen Review magazine the other day (March issue), and I came accross the latest Oppo Bluray player review -didn't read it. In fact, I refuse to read yet another all-universe, all-everything, "the end-all-be-all", "greatest thing since sliced bread", "MUST HAVE", "there is none better", "will revolutionize your home theaters picture and sound quality, to world class levels" article, about the mythical Oppo player!!!..can't do it..WON'T DO IT! NO!!!
Over the last 13 years, I probably honestly read two (maybe three) entire Oppo Universal disc player reviews -start to finish -and other articles discussing Oppo mods and upgrades, articles/discussion that REFER to an Oppo player, as part of some reference system, and inevitably, I find that the Oppo reviews will JUST WON'T GO AWAY, APPARENTLY! They're like bunnies! They keep producing more of their kind, whether you want them to or not!
Lol -I'm just simply amazed by how much attention and press that a lowely disc player has obviously gotten over the years! Surely, owning an Oppo player must bee a system transforming experience! ..a "must have" item, no less. I must have missed out..cause I never owned one. In fact, never really cared to own one! I've been dazled by how good the quality of video processing has been in all the plain-Jane disc players, flat pannel display's, and even high end video projectors I've owned continue to supply me wiht! But, apparently, every one else bought the Oppo. Cause I surely, honesly, can't remember a year that's gone by in the past decade, where I don't rememer NOT reading somwhere about an Oppo player!
It's really felt, to me, like home entertainment AV products, and home theater in general, have been on a "demand" slide over the past decade! 7.1 and 1080p, Bluray, etc, have all been around long anough now, that it's kind of a "been there, had that" kind of feeling I get when I think about this hobby anymore. I guess life and priorities has weened me away from being a die-hard enthusiest now-a-days. And yet, I can't get the Oppo topic out of my thoughts, whenever I look at my gear!..and I don't think the hobby is going to let me forget much about it neither. lol!
Anyone else get the oppinion that this product surely has been single most important product in the AV industry, these past 10+ years?! Because it's certainly been the most talked about brand/topic I can remember reading about, if nothing else.
I really do think they'll be making Oppo's for the next 100 years, period! -even if they'll do 4k upscaling, 4k/8k future exact pixel mapping, wifi-HD streaming, toast your bread and make you breakfast, whatever! I'm thinking that these Oppo's just must have been so good, that no serious enthusiest, whatever-phile, or system owner should have ever considered "going without!"...otherwise, they missed out!?
Well anyway, anyone here who's used the Oppo think that the product has been a make-or-break, indespensible, product that really made all the differnence to the picture quality they achieved, or the sonic experience they got using these things? (I'm tickled pink by the digital AV processing advances I've gotten just upgrading processor and displays, year after year) I just want to somehow hear that I really missed out all these years, and the only important consideration I should have made was BUYING the Oppo! Cause at the very least, I'm not totaly convinced that Apple and Oppo aren't the same company, ..secretly.
100 more years of Oppo players?..servers?? -probably
avgoround
Not sure if they carried the industry ( or perhaps in some way they did)but they sure gave it what it needed and that was a reality check!They shook up the stagnant waters with the 95 and they response is great gear from those it left in the dust!Why the 95? it was the first "true universal player" that left no stone unturned in the various source material it touched at reference level and set the bar for a few, this threatened more than one category across the board, and the 105 has capitalized on that bar and raised it further and remains the standard bearer regardless of price!
"Disclaimer: I may be, or may not be, affiliated with OPPO's Marketing dept. assigned to making sure that Avgoround purchases one of our products." (Nobel 100)

YYEEEEES! I DID IT!! I got an Oppo affiliate to post in here, and simultaneously brought foreward the hoard of Oppo faithful for a waterhole gathering! WINNING!!
Noble 100? Ok, I will say that I really used to be into this hobby (hi-end audio and HT both), and if you and all the faithful here seriously want to convert me back, and make me stubornly yeild by re-conforming to my old audio/videophile ways -and people here REALLY want me to repent, and get an OPPO (btw-recent CEPro or Custom Integrator magazine artical states that "the disc is almost going bye-bye..so I'm not completely enthused, truthfully), THEN I WILL! There..I spoke into the universe -lol
Yes, I am saying that I am willing to "take one for the team", and buy one -Just BECAUSE! -let's say "in the spirit of the whole thing!"
Wow! I Can't honestly say I've ever listed a posting, where people were genuinly encouraging me to bite down and buy a piece! It's a first. So, sure. I'll play.
HOWEVER, I will only conceed on one condition...I WANT AN INDUSTRY ACCOMODATION DISCOUNT DEAL ON THE LATEST MODEL! What's retal MSRP? Do you gots B-Stock of these? Give me some terms. Hehe..and i'll be your huckleberry!!..
Nobel 100? If you really have affiliation, then do me a deal, and I'll buy! Then I promiss to go on the Oppo bandwagon, and recommend to the masses. Lol! Seriously, make me an offer.. I'm waiting, and got cashy.
I agree with the OP on some thing. Blu Ray HD Audio & 1080p is just so good, even a slim PS3 is fantastic. If you have the money to burn, go oppo, but I'm not sure your gaing much. Oppo isnt the bargain it was with their DVD players. IMO they are getting too expensive because they know they can with the hype.

If a Oppo blu Ray could be had for $200, I would look into them like I use to. I agree a $150 Sony blu ray is already awesome as a transport. Not much more desired unless you are into sacd, or dvd audio(which is a slim few). The PS3 offers more then the oppo IMO. Depends on features wanted. I'm typing this on my PS3,lol
The reason Oppo appeals to a lot of us is that it is one of the few universal players left. Denon and Marantz are also the last remaining stalwarts but I've found they tend to have slower boot up times and/or more compatibility problems reading some discs which play fine on my Oppos.
I think Blu Ray is what really brought Oppo into the limelight. They were very good at DVD, but there were a lot of excellent DVD players out there. But Blu Ray was a game changer for them. When players were booting in minutes, the 83 did it in seconds. When players were being updated regularly as new releases appeared, Oppo did it quickly and easily. People trusted them. With confusion over video formats (4:4:4, deep color, RGB vs. YCbCr, etc.) Oppo did them all. Then they did the new high def audio formats decoding in the player or bit-streamed it. They did everything. They were not the first but they had everything. And, their openness about their beta upgrades keep the anticipation alive. In my opinion, they have always been a great company, but with Blu Ray there were in the right place at the right time and hit a home run. That has made them the industry standard for anyone who wants a player above the entry level.