Is Oppo the way to go?

[dapack69]

My Oppo 980 bit it after 14 months of light duty use, first the picture went, then the audio, got it on the cheap and I can see why...

Two posts and two equipment failures. Do you have any constructive stuff to add?

 

[supervij]

Defective units do exist for any company. Did you e-mail Oppo with the problems? They're amazing at dealing with a variety of problems that can happen. I'm sure that, at the very least, they would have been happy to fix it for a small charge or even for free.

cheers,
supervij

 

[j_garcia]

My Oppo 980 bit it after 14 months of light duty use, first the picture went, then the audio, got it on the cheap and I can see why...

My 970 had an issue a few months after I got it. I called them and they let me trade it in for the difference in price for a 980. It has already been said a number of times so this is a bit of beating a dead horse but, Oppo has some of the best customer service out there.

 

[mixer]

good and bad from all companies

I just haven't seen the great customer service end of Oppo yet, I have several friends that swear by them, so bad luck goes...good luck is around the next bend...sorry if I offended you mr Dapack69

 

[pzaur]

Mixer - you state that you "got it on the cheap." How did you acquire your unit? If it wasn't through approved sources, you did yourself no favors and shouldn't expect a company to stand behind their product.

-pat

 

[son-yah-tive]

Well, right when I'm about to order the Oppo 83, Crutchfield has a fantastic sale on the 700.00 Sony ES BDP 1000ES for 199.00, what's a person to do? If the Oppo still outperforms the Sony unit I still may go with Oppo, but man that is a great price! And I'm a sucker for anything Sony does in the Video area. Is this a great buy?

 

[son-yah-tive]

Thank you all for your input. Well, I just could not pass up the sale Crutchfield had on the Sony BDP 1000ES Blue Ray Player. The Oppo was on top of the list 'till I saw this 700.00 Sony for 199.00. After all this time of owning an Upconvert player I finally bought a Blue Ray. Thanks again.

 

[PENG]

Thank you all for your input. Well, I just could not pass up the sale Crutchfield had on the Sony BDP 1000ES Blue Ray Player. The Oppo was on top of the list 'till I saw this 700.00 Sony for 199.00. After all this time of owning an Upconvert player I finally bought a Blue Ray. Thanks again.

Now that you have pulled the trigger, I must say you made a wise choice. We all know the Oppo is top notch but the questions in my mind are:

1. Oppo is known for great customer service - not everyone needs service. I have 6 HD players, about the same number of DVD players and 1 universal player and have yet to need any service other than FW upgrades.

2. The Oppo 83 can play SACD and DVDA - again not everyone needs this feature. Those who needs it may already have an older one (like my 3910) that cannot play BD so there is minimal (saving rack space) to zero lost if they simply go and buy a straight BD player.

3. Oppo 83 is top notch in upscaling - Synthetic tests showed it earned top scores, but can most average person with untrained eyes tell a theorectically better upscaled PQ while watching, enjoying and focussing on real world materials?

So for $300 less, you gain features you may or may not benefit from including wireless, 4GB external memory and 5 years warranty but lose features you may or not may benefit from including SACD/DVDA, top upscaling and a little bit of speed. So based on your previous posts I thought you made the right choice mainly due to the $300 you saved. Congratulations!

 

[son-yah-tive]

Thank you PENG. Yeah, it was a difficult choice. But, as you stated, all those features on the Oppo was way more than I could use. And at that time the Sony was still 700.00 too. That's why I leaned toward the Oppo. But, just as I was going to order it, somehow I hit Crutchfield in my FAVORITES list and that Sony popped up! What a coincidence. As I've said, Sony always has been my favorite when it comes to video equipment. Also I just use my DVD player just for DVDs. I'm what some refer to as Old School. Thanks again.

 

[j_garcia]

I got my SE for the main system, but I run the Panasonic in the second system. I didn't need all of those capabilities in the second system either.

 

[son-yah-tive]

That's the reason it took me awhile to make up my mind. I wanted a Blu Ray, without being Blu after I paid..HA. Just wanted a high performance Blu Ray player, that was all. Couldn't pass up the Sony 1000ES for only 199.00.

 

[bmninada]

Call me foolish but....

Oppo's great as an universal player. Keeping that aside, I am seeing a second reason is it's great Anchor Bay video processor. Call me foolish, but why not pass the signal from Oppo to A/V and then to the HDTV and let HDTV do the processing? From what I see, these TVs have fantastic video processors! If someone primarily banking on Blu-rays and not SACD/DVD-A isn't Oppo an overkill??

 

[j_garcia]

You already hit on the important point - the ABT processor is excellent. That doesn't mean that you won't be happy with something else so it comes down to how picky you are about your upscaling. If you want top notch, you are looking at players with ABT or REON for the most part. If not, then probably your TV or receiver will have good enough upscaling. Note that this really mainly is only going to benefit you when it comes to upscaling of DVDs; it won't make a difference for BD so if you watch a lot of DVDs it may be worth it. Whether or not it is overkill besides that is sort of up to you. The music capabilities of this player are very good as well so no worries there, but if you aren't going to use analog, it won't make a difference.

 

[andres6]

Just to add my 2 Cents

I also had a Denon 3910 Universal (less BD) player, and I have to say I'm very happy I recently bought the new Oppo-83SE from Audioholics recently. The 83SE is clearly superior to the Denon 3910 musically, and it's faster at loading/turning on.

I feel I've gotten my monies worth!

 

[PENG]

I also had a Denon 3910 Universal (less BD) player, and I have to say I'm very happy I recently bought the new Oppo-83SE from Audioholics recently. The 83SE is clearly superior to the Denon 3910 musically, and it's faster at loading/turning on.

I feel I've gotten my monies worth!

First of all, good for you that you are happy with you purchase. As far as the 83SE being "clearly superior to the 3910", I would like to think that it is your opinion or impression and it may not be so clear to others. The 3910 is a relatively high quality player for SACD, DVDA and CD. Most people can hear differences in SQ between speakers but few can do the same with mid range players such as the 3910 and the 83SE. Those who claim to have the ability are entitled to say whatever they like based on their own experience, but I hope people would not mistaken such claims as proven facts.

 

[PENG]

While Oppo currently offers nothing that I need, I absolutely wish they would add an audio only "universal" player that offers even better audio components. That should appeal to AVphiles who already own an up to date BD player but wish to upgrade their audio or non HD universal player with superb audio qualities/specs, without paying the prices of the likes of the Denon 3930 and 5910. If and when they do I would be ready to take a risk on them out of respect for their professionalism/honesty.