Hi-end dvd player recommendations

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Dan Osib

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I'm looking for a hi-end 'BLU RAY' DVD player to go with my system. When I say hi-end I mean something that plays CDs to a high standard comparable to a $5000 or above stand alone CD player. So far as I know there isn't one out there on the market yet. I may be wrong. I'd appreciate anyone who could point me in the right direction.
 
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Here is a thought and it won't break the bank to find out about it and you can get most, if not all your money back if it doesn't deliver the goods.

I personally have used a OPPO BDP83 Unversal Bluray player combined with a modded Level 4 PS Audio Digital Link III DAC. Total cost for both is $1700 and it plays DVD Audio/SACD/DVDs/Bluray and CDs and more.

I am not convinced that a $5000 dollar Bluray player is $3,300 dollars better if at all, especially when you compare features and I know I am not alone in that thought.

But hey, this may not be your cup of tea and that's okay too. Sorry if I spoke out of turn:D
 
I'd hold out just a little longer for the new Ayre Universal player that includes Blu-Ray. It should be available before the end of the year. What I saw and heard of it at RMAF seemed absolutely top shelf for both video and audio.
 
JMAUSGP said:
Here is a thought and it won't break the bank to find out about it and you can get most, if not all your money back if it doesn't deliver the goods.

I personally have used a OPPO BDP83 Unversal Bluray player combined with a modded Level 4 PS Audio Digital Link III DAC. Total cost for both is $1700 and it plays DVD Audio/SACD/DVDs/Bluray and CDs and more.

I am not convinced that a $5000 dollar Bluray player is $3,300 dollars better if at all, especially when you compare features and I know I am not alone in that thought.

But hey, this may not be your cup of tea and that's okay too. Sorry if I spoke out of turn:D
Click to expand...

I can say that buying the Oppo and having it modded depending on your location either by Joe Rasmussen (see customanalogue.com) or Vacuum State or its agents will make for a very nice surprise. I have used a previous JLTi SACD player (based on a cheap Sony DVD player) for about a year and it sounded much better than some devices costing 10 times its price (with mods included - at that time it was something about 1100 EUR if I remember correctly). The modded Oppo should be at least at the same level, if not (which is quite probable) better.
 
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miljac said:
I can say that buying the Oppo and having it modded depending on your location either by Joe Rasmussen (see customanalogue.com) or Vacuum State or its agents will make for a very nice surprise. I have used a previous JLTi SACD player (based on a cheap Sony DVD player) for about a year and it sounded much better than some devices costing 10 times its price (with mods included - at that time it was something about 1100 EUR if I remember correctly). The modded Oppo should be at least at the same level, if not (which is quite probable) better.
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I second the VSE modded player as an excellent path. There was a thread here recently about VSE and modded players.

Personally I would just buy a Blu-Ray player for movies and use a dedicated player for music. And get the music player modded. No need to burn up laser time watching movies on your music player.
 
I want a player that plays everything from CD's to DVD's well. I don't see the point in having one separate player for CD's and another player just for DVD's, this just takes up more space on your equipment rack. For example, if I owned a Meridian 800 series DVD transport I'd have State Of The Art audio and video performance all in one box. More boxes means more expensive cables for me to buy and I can't be doing with all that at the moment.
 
Dan Osib said:
I want a player that plays everything from CD's to DVD's well. I don't see the point in having one separate player for CD's and another player just for DVD's, this just takes up more space on your equipment rack. For example, if I owned a Meridian 800 series DVD transport I'd have State Of The Art audio and video performance all in one box. More boxes means more expensive cables for me to buy and I can't be doing with all that at the moment.
Click to expand...

Then you would not fail with the modded Oppo. And a "TerraFirma" clock makes for not only great audio experience, it also has a huge effect on the picture.
 
miljac said:
Then you would not fail with the modded Oppo. And a "TerraFirma" clock makes for not only great audio experience, it also has a huge effect on the picture.
Click to expand...

How much does it cost for the Oppo including modifications to it? Am I right by saying that you're using it with CLX's?
 
Dan Osib said:
How much does it cost for the Oppo including modifications to it? Am I right by saying that you're using it with CLX's?
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I wish it was CLX ....

For the modded Oppo have a look at Joe's website (www.customanalogue.com)
and the Vacuum State page for the list of representatives (www.vacuumstate.com). The Oppo page has the price listed but it's Australia - may vary for other regions, would be best to check.
 
The modded Oppo sounds interesting, but are there any reviews of it anywhere to back up his claims?
 
You can look for the tests of Vacuum State modded players on the net or follow the SACD mod link on Vacuum State page. Allen (Wright) and Joe (Rasmussen) do many things together so Oppo surely sounds similar (I know from the earlier JLTi model) and should easily beat some gear priced many times more.
 
Interesting, I just found this following post on the Audiocircle discussion. If true, it certainly validates the achievements of the Oppo BDP-83 design!
... Ayre, Lexicon, Theta at this point are all basing their bluray players on the Oppo BDP-83, and the price of admission for the aforementioned units range form $3k to 10k...
Click to expand...
 
Dan Osib said:
I want a player that plays everything from CD's to DVD's well. I don't see the point in having one separate player for CD's and another player just for DVD's, this just takes up more space on your equipment rack.
Click to expand...
It is the same running separate CD and Movie (Blu-Ray) players as it is running separate components - pre amps, power amps, Outboard DAC's, etc. It is for better sound.

To read up on the VSE modded players (not sure if the Oppo is being talked about yet) go the the HiRez forum on the Asylum. Plenty of discussion has been there on players and their excellent new clocks.

Miljac is right, the new VSE clocks are a significant upgrade for playback in almost any player. The Rasmussen's site has a great writeup on the VSE clocks. And plenty of discussions on the Asylum too.
 
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I would look at the Esoteric DV-60. I have a DV-50 and it has the best DVD playback I have ever seen. It also does well with SACD, DVD-A and redbook CDs.
 
Did someone say CLX???

I have been running the OPPO BDP83 with the level 4 modded PS Audio DAC and my CLXs, Vistas, Stage and Descent i.....but I digress. If you go to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1124287 on the AVS Forum, you will find no less than 22 linked reviews of the OPPO Universal Bluray player, including, drum roll, our own Tonepub's Tone Audio.

Seriously, the OPPO modded or with a modded DAC is really hard to beat, unless you spend silly money and even then.........well lets just say with the OPPO you will have enough money left over that you could repruchase your entire catalogue in SACD, DVD audio, HCHD, Mofi CDs, etc.
 
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