Probably will go with the Oppo BDP-83, questions (1 Viewer)

[Geoff H]

Coupled with an older Mits HD RPTV, do I understand correctly that the Oppo is (generally) the best player in the $500 range?

So will be going with component for now and coax or optical for audio -- I understand that I can still get full HD audio via the 5 RCA outs from the Oppo but am wondering if anyone has tried this as opposed to the single cable (coax/optical) having the audio compressed, that is to say, is there an audible difference?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gene c]

There is an audible difference but there are other things to consider.

First, using the analog inputs on almost all receivers bypasses the internal processing like room correction eq's, Bass and Treble controls and Bass Management. The receiver acts as a volume controler only. There are a few receivers like the Pioneer Elite 59txi and Outlaw 1070 that can convert the analogs to digital so those things can be used and the H/K 525, 7200 and 7300 can do the same but only for Bass Management. Some older Onkyo's allow Bass and Treble adjustments only. Depending on how much you rely on those things to improve the over-all sound of your system, this may be a problem.

Second, the OPPO 83 has a fixed cross-over set at 80 hz. This is probably O.K. for many systems but If you use smaller speakers this may also be a problem. There was supposed to be a firmware to allow an adjustable cross-over but I'm not sure if this has been released yet.


The 83 is pretty much the best $500 BR player out there and it supports DVD-A/SACD thru those analogs (and HDMI) to boot.