Oppo 83 Blu ray , who owns one?

Dan, I picked one up a couple of months ago. There's a thread here somewhere with a bunch of impressions. I'm not a videophile or an audiophile, per se, but quite simply it's the best PQ source I've ever seen for upconverted SDs, fast, excellent and tweakable BD...AQ, the best I've owned, but I've never explored higher end 2 channel transports. SACD/DVD A via analog and utilizing the players DACs are very good.

danger boy wrote: »

What makes it the best? best in price range, best in pic quality , best in audio quality.. calling it the best may be pretty big shoes to fill.

Well if you wade through about 18K posts on the AVS thread and a few professional reviews. The video side seems to be pretty darned good if you're interested in the color depth of the sweat beads hanging from a gnat's balls...pretty damned exceptional if you ask me ...vs other players that can't quite show the viscosity factor at 1080P. The fact that it does a pretty nice job on the audio side and includes the lossless formats at a price point that most of us can afford, is also worth a mention. "Best" in a class of 1...how's that?:p

I've had one for a couple of weeks---ordered it from Oppo website and it was delivered in 3 days.

I have so little experience that my opinion is probably not worth much, but, fwiw: blu-ray picture quality better than dvd but not astonishingly so (bear in mind I have only vizio 720p). Ordinary DVDs look better too (Day the Earth Stood Still, 1952 version, video seemed like B&W blu ray).

Sound quality much better than DVD. I won't try to describe; it's just better.

As CDP it's much better than my yamaha cdp 697, both for redbook and of course hybrid SACD.

Build quality seems good; nice remote, set up effortless if you choose the routine for dummies as I did. Lots of manual options for those who like to fuss.

All in all a terrific purchase, well worth the dough.

Grimster74 wrote: »

Well Dan, if my thoughts carry even a grain of salt on this forum this is the BD player I really wanted before purchasing the BDP-51FD. For me, I have no reason what so ever to listen to SACD in my H/T room, it's very rare for me to listen to music in there. The reason I went for the Pioneer was the price, to hard to pass up for a temporary solution until I could snag a Oppo. With everything going on with my dad the last couple of months, just haven't had the funds to drop $500 on a BD player right now knowing I'll be taking care of him for the next couple of months, not only that, just had that itch to pull the trigger on something new. As soon as things settle down with him in the next couple of months I'll be saving my pennies and probably be pulling the trigger on the Oppo as well. As of right now, couldn't be happier with the Pioneer I snagged for a 1/3 of the cost of the Oppo.

Hate to say I knew you would still want one, but yeah I knew it. HA!

Add me to the list of happy/satisfied BD-83 owners.

The menus are easy to use, the unit is easy to set up, has v.g. upscaling for SD DVDs, BDs look great, it plays SACDs, BD discs load fast, and does a good job with redbook CDs - although...I do prefer my CA 640c v2 as a dedicated CDP via its slightly better analog outputs over the 83.

Solid unit.

I am THIS close to pull the trigger on this one. $499 with free shipping at Amazon, and since I'm decomissioning the Polk XM tuner, I can put it there and still keep my HD-DVD......this close...

Ron Temple wrote: »

Did you ever try the MC outs for 2 channel? A friend of mine and I (he also has the Oppo), sat down over here and switched them back and forth. The dedicated stereo outs are definitely more laid back and a tad bass heavy. The MC outs/DAC are much better balanced (neutral) with much more detailed in the midrange. I'm not saying it would change your opinion, but of the two output methods the MC/DAC is more pleasing to me for 2 channel playback.

What did you guys do for the .1/bass connection with the MC setup?

Did you just do 2-channel L/R MC outs?

Ron Temple wrote: »

I was using a Luxman pre with no sub for both. However, with the MC/outs and speakers set to small, sub on, you can get the bass directed to the sub. I just don't use a sub for 2 channel.

I'll have to give that a try....

Congrats Ricardo. I'll be interested in your thoughts as an audio player. I know you'll love it as a BD/DVD device.

mantis wrote: »

Well if Sherardp has one and Grimster is getting one or even just wants one, I just have to have one.:D

Dan

Oh yeah, do it Mantis. Pull that trigger buddy. You won't regret it.

A few questions for the owners, if you would be so kind:

1) Anyone using a phantom center, any issues?

2) Anyone using this with a CRT?

3) Anyone compare the dvd quality v. a higher end non upconverting DVD player, ala Pio DV-47ai or Dennon 2900?

4) Anyone planning on getting theirs modded by Modwright/RAM/EVS?

I want to keep my pre as it is solid and worth very little $ these days, and with this I could get lossless audio. I am just worried about the phantom center and dvd quality mainly, with my CRT. I tried a OPPO DV-981HD w/ my XBR and was not that impressed.

Thanks to Ricardo for mentioning Amazon, didn't realize they carried OPPO. 5% back helps w/ MTVu.

Ron Temple wrote: »

1) Don't know, haven't tried it. I think it would depend greatly on your mains. You do have speaker selection flexibility through analog, size, distance, trims and on/off...fixed crossover @ 80hz.

2) While the Oppo does have component out, it's limited to 1080i and doesn't engage the Anchor Bay chipset. For the best results you need an HDMI compatible display. I'm thinking you might be disappointed.

3) Again via HDMI and the Anchor Bay chipset, upscaling is superior, the best I've seen. Don't know about the Pio, but my friend sold his 2900 as soon as he received his Oppo.

4) Maybe someday.

Thanks for the info. I would be using HDMI for video, like I am now with my PS3. I just don't have space for another player, and therefore would be dumping my Pioneer Elite 47ai for this. Problem is I have a CRT and watch lots of dvds and it doesn't respond as well to upconversion as fixed pixel displays.

The phantom center questions was in regards to audio being cut out. I think it was a JVC i used to have that if you said NO center channel it would just drop the audio, instead of mixing it in to the L/R.

Anyone want to do me a solid and just quickly set it to no center and see if vocals get dropped?

5) Anyone using the analog outs and want to chime in on sound quality? The reviews seem to contradict on sound quality via multi-channel out.

Upscaled DVDs look better the larger the screen. My son has a 46" Sharp Aquos and it's hard to tell the difference between 480P to 1080P. However, on my 57" DLP a good transfer will be as good as a below average BD. One nice thing is color depth. Some upscalers handle detail, but the image looks a tad washed out...not with the BDP83. I think the reports on analog sound quality largly depend on what you're used. As I've stated before, it's quite a bit better than what I was previously using, an Oppo 980 and a Sony BD S300 both as a SACD/DVD A player and a CD player. For hi-rez codecs, it's miles better than the Sony which wouldn't do DTS HD/MA.

I'm taking my son to dinner tonight, but as soon as I can, I'll try it in phantom center mode and report...if no one else gets there first.

Gaara wrote: »

2) Anyone using this with a CRT?

Sort of. Not a small screen CRT, but a 57" Hitachi RPCRT at 1080i. Before I bought the Oppo, I started a thread to research if there was any significant difference between Blueray at 1080i, and an up scaled DVD to 1080i. The replies varied from a little to a lot. My DVD player, Sony 9100ES, was their best DVD player at the time, and it does a great job of up scaling, so I did not want to buy a BR player if there was only a marginal improvement.

Anyway, I bought the Oppo and the BR picture is great. A big improvement over the up scaled DVD. In fact, it is so good that I can rebuy and watch my very favorite DVDs in BR, and it seems like a new movie. Throw in the fact the uncompressed sound for 5.1 LPCM over HDMI to my “old” AVR is really better than a DVD. I especially notice a better use of the rear speakers. I feel sorry for all those who skimped on their rear speakers since they felt, or were advised, rear channel sound is marginal.

All in all, the Oppo is a great introduction into Bluray. I hope I can get a year out of this player before I even start thinking of upgrading.