THETA COMPLI BLU RAY or OPPO BDP-83 (R.A.M MODIFIED) AS A TRANSPORT

[Dan Osib]

I've got money ready to spend and I need some advice here. I'm using a decent offboard DAC that I'm more than happy with so I'm looking for a seriously high end sounding Universal Transport Player to go with my system, one that plays Blu Ray DVD movies and CD all to the highest standards. At the moment it's between the new Theta Compli Blu Ray and the Oppo BDP-83 (Reference Audio Modified). I've heard some good things about both. I've been told by the Kyle Tanaka at RAM that the best sound will come from the Oppo through the analogue outputs using the built in DAC within the player. Apparently using the Oppo as a transport player connected to an offboard DAC will not sound quite as good. But will the Oppo as a transport sound better than the new Theta Compli Blu as a transport? Are there any alternatives?

 

[JMAUSGP]

I've got money ready to spend and I need some advice here. I'm using a decent offboard DAC that I'm more than happy with so I'm looking for a seriously high end sounding Universal Transport Player to go with my system, one that plays Blu Ray DVD movies and CD all to the highest standards. At the moment it's between the new Theta Compli Blu Ray and the Oppo BDP-83 (Reference Audio Modified). I've heard some good things about both. I've been told by the Kyle Tanaka at RAM that the best sound will come from the Oppo through the analogue outputs using the built in DAC within the player. Apparently using the Oppo as a transport player connected to an offboard DAC will not sound quite as good. But will the Oppo as a transport sound better than the new Theta Compli Blu as a transport? Are there any alternatives?

Dan,

You asked the magic question. Yes there are always alternatives, the real question then is at what cost.

The modified OPPO will prbably outperform any other player when cost is taken into consideration.

There are other universal players out there now, but to get noticeably better analogue sound out of a universal player you would probably have to spend between 50 and 100 percent more than the RAM Oppo. I think I saw one slightly used on Audiogon for less than $1500. The Denon top dawg universal machine is over 3K used and closer to $4500 new. Is it 2 to 3 times better sounding? Now that is the question.

But the good news is that only you can answer that question.

 

[RUR]

Dan, here's another option to consider:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0810/aa_chapter_130.htm

Start at para 3. Description and photos of Dan's mods may be seen here, so that you may compare to Kyle's.

 

[Dan Osib]

Dan, here's another option to consider:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0810/aa_chapter_130.htm

Start at para 3. Description and photos of Dan's mods may be seen here, so that you may compare to Kyle's.

I've already looked into it. Kyle uses higher quality parts than Dan. Better Rubycon compared to Panasonic capacitors for a start.

 

[robertawillisjr]

There is also the NuForce mods of the Oppo. If you want to go high end ($$$) then check out the Ayre.

Here is a link that has Mr Hanson's response (post #11) about his makeover to the Oppo. Sounds more like the the type of rebuilding that was done during the early days of the CD players.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17402589#post17402589

 

[Dan Osib]

There is also the NuForce mods of the Oppo. If you want to go high end ($$$) then check out the Ayre.

Here is a link that has Mr Hanson's response (post #11) about his makeover to the Oppo. Sounds more like the the type of rebuilding that was done during the early days of the CD players.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17402589#post17402589

The Ayre sounds good but at $10,000 US they can keep it. RAM do the same level for $3500 US.

 

[robertawillisjr]

The Ayre sounds good but at $10,000 US they can keep it. RAM do the same level for $3500 US.

I doubt that is true. In my experience, some companies just do it right and Ayre is one of them. However, you can only spend what you have and the RAM and NuForce updates seem to be good units.