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In Reply to: RE: Oppo 205 - Any one purchased this player? posted by hawkmoon on May 03, 2017 at 07:39:56
On Saturday, I installed a 205 that replaced a 105. My aim was primarily UHD, because I use an Ayre C-5xeMP for audio discs. I compared the 105, 205, and Ayre using my favorite CD of Corelli concertos, the Waltz for Debby SACD, and the DVD-A of Pet Sounds. I compared the 105 and 205 using Blu-rays of Legends of Jazz and the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th. The 205 is excellent with CDs and SACDs, but doesn't quite match the Ayre for a sense of transparency and imaging. Both Oppos severely failed to match the depth of sound stage and imaging of the Ayre with the DVD-A. Blu-ray audio with the 205, OTOH, takes excellent to superb. Last night I watched the UHD of Rocky Mountain Express that was filmed for IMAX. Both audio and video are spectacular. I highly recommend the 205 and the film.The setup I used is an Ayre K-5xeMP preamp and VX-5 Twenty amp, KEF LS50s with a pair of Velodyne HGS-10 subs below 100 Hz. The monitor is a Sony 65 XBR 850.
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Edits: 05/03/17Follow Ups:
The Oppo 205 is expensive and could be troublesome like the 203 as reported on several forums. I believe that if only using HDMI the well specified Sony UBP-X800 is a better buy especially for 4K, I shall receive one in a weeks time, expect it to be excellent with my Sony ES receiver and Sony 4K XD9305 TV.
Edits: 05/14/17
Disbeliever tends to make absolute statements, but whether a $1200 universal player that provides a high-quality DAC is expensive is a judgement call. OTOH, I've owned four Oppos, 105, 105D, 205, and whatever came before the 105 (85 or 95), each in daily use, and none has been troublesome. That's an absolute statement I can justify based on experience.
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My absolute statement is that I have owned OPPOs 85 95 103 , I would not touch another Oppo with a barge pole. Overpriced, Overrated IMO.
That's a rather odd statement for someone who's owned three Oppo players. You must be a little slow at the uptake! ;-)
I've owned only one -- a BDP-105D and I like mine a lot. It's basically the heart of audio/video entertainment system.
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I was misled by the reviews, tried the 103 for myself, found it was very poor value, with inferior performance to Sony, so I got refund ,all I wasted was valuable time. I did ask OPPO if the 105 was any better, they said using HDMI both were same.
Edits: 05/16/17
I have never seen anyone who likes to discount the quality of a product out of hand without even seeing that product like you.
you are correct in that I have not tried the 205 , my previous experience with Oppo means that I will never buy another one. However you are wrong because I have tried Oppos and I listen to the 203 most Sunday afternoons not in my system & not impressed.
Edits: 05/27/17 05/27/17 05/27/17 05/27/17 07/24/17
Odd - I don't know them at all ... but everyone I talk who has used them raves about them. Who you going to believe, or disbelieve, as the case may be?
It seems to be disbeliever contra mundum.
Oppo 85 & 95 many updates required were troublesome, I found the 103 to be inferior to Sony for both video & SQ also very poor value especially in UK., I returned it for a refund.
Great commentary. Clearly, for you the Ayre for analog output surpassed the 105 and the 205. But could you compare the 205 directly to the 105 for their analog outputs? Thanks.
The Ayre K-5xeMP has only two balanced inputs, so the Oppos used unbalanced inputs with a cable length of about 18 inches. My impression was that the 205 has a greater sense of transparency with less edginess. For example, the snare drum in "Take Five" is well rendered by the 205 but without the etch I hear with the 105. The Blu-ray "Legends of Jazz" really revealed the audio superiority of the 205 over the 105. The sound moved from disappointing with the 105 to excellent with the 205. But that disappointing 105 sound is compared to a 105D via HDMI to a Bryston SP3 passed through a Parasound JC 2 BP to JC 1 monoblocks driving KEF Reference 107/2s. I suspect the SP3 DAC is superior to that of the 105, but at an MSRP of $10K it damn well ought to be!
A gross generalization might be that the 205 sounds more musical and less HiFi than the 105.
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I sure hope that the Ayre beats (no pun) the Oppo.
Your hope is realized.
db
What brand(s) of cabling are you using in your system?
fanta, if your post was addressed to me, the interconnects are Blue Jeans best; the speaker leads are Cardas Light Day. The connection from the Ayre C-5xeMP to the K-5xeMP preamp is balanced as is the connection from the preamp to the VX-5 Twenty amp. A Sony HAP-Z1ES uses the other balanced input to the preamp, so the connection from the Oppo 205 is single-ended. I hope to find a used KX-5 Twenty preamp that has more balanced inputs. For some reason, the 205 sound with Blu-rays is better than with SACDs.
db
dbphd : suprised that 205 BD sound you say is better than with SACD. However is the 205 mch SACD sound better than Sony XA5400ES or are you a Stereo only fan.
Sounds about right, but likely no current (and possibly future) universal multichannel player will match the Ayre for stereo and do UHD. I'm still in the early planning stages, but I think using a Bryston bda-3 over HDMI for stereo sources might be the best alternative for me.
I'm seriously looking at this player as a replacement for my Yamaha 2000. The hdmi audio out is also very interesting.
With HDMI audio output the DAC process will be external to the 205, so the audio quality will depend on whatever receives the HDMI output. HDMI from the 105 in our HT goes to a Bryston SP3 so the audio quality is excellent.
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I have had the Oppo 205 now for a few days. I have watched a few 4K movies and they look awesome! The audio in these movies is way better than my Oppo 95 produced. I haven't tried it much as a 2 channel player but it does seem to have a lower volume output.
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