64.12.116.16
I remember how excited I was when Oppo’s first foray into the Blu-Ray market, the BDP-83, hit my second system. The picture quality, especially on BR, was mind-blowing. It had me pulling out my video discs at a scary rate. It lived up to all the hype picture-wise, but its audio performance left me a little cold. Yes, it was very resolving for the price—a noticeable step up from previous Oppo designs in that regard—but didn’t have much warmth or texture, two components essential for a believable illusion. Strings sounded shrill, vocals thin and pinched.
Enter Tube Research Labs (TRL). I owned Paul and Brian Weitzel’s Marantz 8001 and loved its performance. I put it against some stiff competition, including the Meitner CDSA and Esoteric X-01 Limited, and it more than held its own in each case. It had a sense of fluidity and continuousness that reminded me of great analog, but without any of the drawbacks. But, alas, I wanted to simplify my second rig; having two sources was too expensive, as I needed two interconnects of equal quality. So the rusty wheel I call a brain started turning ever so slowly, and my attention turned to the Oppo.
Paul and Brian had never touched a BDP-83, so they were as curious as I as to what they could do. After some deliberation, I decided to send the Oppo to them and sell the Marantz.
I’ll leave the details of the mod to Paul and Brian, if they want to discuss it here, but suffice it to say, the Oppo came back changed . . . dramatically, and for the better. In fact, I hardly recognized it. My reference discs, which include Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold, Badfinger’s self-titled 1973 album, and Johnny Cash’s American recordings now sounded much less jagged. Several layers of noise and haze were removed, bass was now much more powerful, and overall musicality and resolution were ratcheted up several notches.
Before I sold the 8001, I had a chance to do a direct A-B. It was close—very close. The Marantz, with its superior transport, heavier casework, and more extensive filtering was a tad more refined and possibly a little more resolved, but the Oppo benefited from a livelier presentation, which added some kick and energy to the rock music I prefer. Overall, as I said, it was close—so close that I didn’t hesitate in selling the 8001. Plus, the Oppo can play almost anything, which cinched the deal for me.
I can’t speak to what other modders are doing with the BDP-83, but $750 for TRL’s mod seems like an eminently reasonable price, especially given how much the player is transformed. No, it’s not the ultimate solution, but it’s terrific for what it does, and it suits my priorities to a T. Wanna listen to a CD? Check? SACD? Double check. Wanna watch a Blu-Ray? It’ll do that too. And it’ll do everything dramatically better than the stock unit. Hell, even picture quality is improved, with visually cleaner edges and better color saturation. I would’ve liked a more robust transport, but what do you want in a $499 stock player, a VRDS?
Anyway, I’m pretty pleased, and for a $1,200 investment, I think I’ve got a helluva player. And, according to Brian Weitzel, it can be taken even further with a little more work. I highly recommend TRL’s mod to anyone interested in upgrading their BDP-83.
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ Go Green ]
[ Take5 ]