blu ray connections to an amp

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jpohlman

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Hi,

A audiophile friend of mine made this suggestion to me.

I am upgrading my home theater from DVI to HDMI inputs. I have no HDMI inputs on my system now. Since I have the ML Vantage speakers, I don't want to put garbage into it just because I need HDMI. So I was looking at Classe and Krell amongst other pre/pro gear. My friend said to get a High end digital processor/digital media source and hook it directly to the amplifiers and forgo the pre/processor altogether. So I am looking at an Exemplar t-105. Basically it's a modified OPPO 105 blu ray player. So in the price range of a Classe SSP-800 ($10,000), plus $1200 for the OPPO without the mods, thats a big chunk of change. The hot rodded OPPO from Exemplar costs about $5000. So for half the money I get better performance than running it through a preamp/processor.

Has anyone had experience with doing something like this?

Joe
 
I'm not up on the latest but I don't recall a stand alone amp having HDMI inputs.
 
Let me clarify. The blu ray player has 7.1 analog outputs. Those will be connected to the amp directly. The player also has volume control and eq. The only thing that will be missing is more than 2 HDMI inputs. The only real thing I have HDMI in is the directiv receiver. What was recommend an apparently works is to connect the stereo analog out to the front L and R amp and the connect the rest of the surround cables from the 7.1 outputs on the blu ray to the other amp inputs.
 
Joe, there are so many other ways to spend the ~$4K difference (stock 105 vs. modded) that will actually make a difference in your audio experience. IMHO most/all of these modders are a waste of $$$ at any price.

There's no issue* with sending the 105 analog output directly to a multi-channel amp, however, and I know several folks who do just that.

*Aside from permitting multiple sources or some proprietary processing which the Oppo won't do vs. a specific pre-pro.
 

The Essence HDMI DAC does not even come close to what Oppo 105 / 105D can do. Why would you even consider this HDMI DAC when you have an Oppo 105 (with two HDMI in and can decode everything) in your setup????

Joe, there are many people in AVSFORUM who connect the Oppo 105/D directly to their amps and as far as I know they have no issues regarding "bit perfect", gain or volume. IMO, RUR is right when he says that you don't need to spend your money on an upgraded Oppo. I'm goning to use the same setup as yours with the next generation of Oppo (113/115 when it gets a room correction software).
 
I'm goning to use the same setup as yours with the next generation of Oppo (113/115 when it gets a room correction software).
Room correction, really? What's been disclosed?
 
Room correction, really? What's been disclosed?

Hi RUR,
There's a "rumor" going around that it's gonna be Dirac but Oppo has not confirmed it officially. But I'm 95% sure (based on my intel network report:) that the next Oppo will have a room correction with it.
 
Hi RUR,
There's a "rumor" going around that it's gonna be Dirac but Oppo has not confirmed it officially. But I'm 95% sure (based on my intel network report:) that the next Oppo will have a room correction with it.
Now that would be very cool. If you get any confirmation, please post it or shoot me a PM.

Ken
 
The Essence HDMI DAC does not even come close to what Oppo 105 / 105D can do. Why would you even consider this HDMI DAC when you have an Oppo 105 (with two HDMI in and can decode everything) in your setup????

Joe, there are many people in AVSFORUM who connect the Oppo 105/D directly to their amps and as far as I know they have no issues regarding "bit perfect", gain or volume. IMO, RUR is right when he says that you don't need to spend your money on an upgraded Oppo. I'm goning to use the same setup as yours with the next generation of Oppo (113/115 when it gets a room correction software).

He didn't say he already had an Oppo 105. I was just giving him an option to consider. While the Oppo 105 might be flavor of the month, I always think it's a good idea to canvas other options.
 
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He didn't say he already had an Oppo 105. I was just giving him an option to consider. While the Oppo 105 might be flavor of the month, I always think it's a good idea to canvas other options.

You're correct. He does not have the unit yet and yes, Essence HDMI DAC is another option. But since he said he was looking at Krell and Classe and a moded Oppo, The Essence HDMI DAC is too limited regarding input/output and features to be compared to the other options.
 

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