Oppo Dead

Home Theatre
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…or perhaps undead. It flicked off and now only powers to suspended.

I quickly had a look on the internet and bought a Sony UBP-X700 pro-temp.

The build quality is laughably different, but the picture and movie sound quality is perhaps a tad better!

The onboard apps are virtually non-existent, having not been maintained. So I have moved a 4k firestick from the rear HDMI on the Oppo into an HDMI on my Lexicon decoder. I think the picture quality is a tad better.

Playing my ripped files is a hoot. MKV is a container and, depending on the contents, some files will not play properly.

An example would be the set of Blu-ray Star trek movies. The audio track is TrueHD. The player does handles them, apparently, but not when streamed. Solution? Kodi on the Firestick - as long as I use a wired connection; WiFi stops and starts.

As my TV is a widescreen Phillips, HD 1080p, I am hesitating about getting anything more capable until I am forced into replacing the TV. Even then, this does Dolby Vision & HDR, so I am less than convinced that anything is really needed.

Any thoughts?

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Maybe @Mike_S ?

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Hi @frenchrooster ,

I was over at Guildford Audio a few days ago listening to the dCS Varese. Trevor is knee deep in EAR-Yoshino, including: 912; 868; and two sets of 509.

I was damned tempted! :wink:

M

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If you have a lot of MKV rips the Kodi is the way to go. Doesn’t even need a UPnP server as it can access SMB and NFS shares directly from a NAS. It will even hand rips you did as ISO with the original menus and stuff, but ISO rips waste a lot of space with languages you don’t care about.

Plex is pretty good but very reliant on a beefy Plex server even when everything is set to pass through.

But if you have older DVD rips too, I can’t recommend either with a FireStick. It’s wimpy video processing just isn’t up to making DVD look nice. An nVidia Shield with Kodi will close the gap between standard definition DVD rips and HD to be pretty small. The hardware hasn’t been updated in 6 years but the nVidia Tegra X1 chip still trounces everything else in the video streaming market.

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My next will be probably the 890. So tempted too. :grin:
What electronics and speakers had the Varese?

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Oppo dead? My condolences. I haven’t the foggiest what you are talking about

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Excellent system, very open window!

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:smile:

Oppo produced great Blu-ray players with excellent build & chip sets.

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I have lots of old dvd rips.

The Philips TV is 21:9 and does any upscaling.

I have played with Kodi many times over the years, but it fits in very well.

My system is 5.3 when everything is turned on, but generally I now run as 2.0, with the 300dr and SBLs. Works well.

I think I prefer it over the Sony, which I still need to play the Bluray discs that don’t rip.

I’ll look at the nVidia.

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Looking at Magnetar.

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If you need SACD and/or DVD-Audio playback then the Magnetar and Reavon players are the current new players to go for.
Otherwise the Panasonic DP UB9000 is very good, check out the thread on opinions on it, which also has some info on the new Magnetar 900 model.

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Thx.

Never tried SACD, having elected for DVD-A, the Naim preference …which I have long since ripped.

I’ll check the thread.

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Reavon seem to be out of business so your option there would be to buy second hand.

BUT as an owner of a Reavon player my advice would be sadly stay well away…

While the picture quality is excellent and it will play any DVD or Blu Ray (including 4K) from any region as well as CDs and SACDs, the drive can be horrendously noisy on some, but not all discs.

I am also not convinced as to their long term reliability as the power supply board on mine blew up recently (I was lucky enough to source a replacement). The engineer who fixed it thinks this was probably due to it nor really being happy with the 240V AC we have in the UK

The forums for this also imply that DVD-A playback is problematic (I have no idea if this is true as I dont have any)

Sorry to be negative

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Thx

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That’s very good feedback on the Reavon’s, they dont get discussed much on the forum, thanks for sharing your owner experience.
Australian dealers are still advertising new Reavon’s for sale so there must be some still left in stock here at the moment.

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Be interested in your thoughts on 534 vs 890, if you go in that direction.

How are you enjoying the 534?

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They were a very fine make of BluRay players and other quality audio. Then they pulled up the plug and went to mobile phones only .

Sadly I don’t think it is that easy to get them repaired , the nearest (I guess) today would be the top of the range Panasonic and Reavons

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Been looking at the nVidia, certainly looks like a good bit of kit.

One YT video was opining that the age of the Shield probably means it will be replaced soon. Perhaps, but as you note the Tegra X1 is good.

I like the Firestick as I can power in from the Lexicon’s USB input, without plugging in a SMPS. Still tempted.

I played with the Kodi upscaling, it made a minimal improvement with some files.

I am enjoying Kodi as an interface, but will require me to do some re-naming to get the most from it for films; and just too many changes for TV.

M

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I enjoy the combo very much. But I have the disease you are aware of, and you share too. So may upgrade still.
Or Nd555 second hand, if the firmware is sorted.

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The Disease! :rofl:

Well, not quiet as bad as some I know.

I had to replace my Focals after they were killed by the cats.

A friend lent me an old pair of SBLs he had lying around, and they worked soooo well in my room that I bought them.

Having fitted them with the LAST set of SBL drivers that Naim had the left the mid/bass was roasted by an amp I was reviewing …so I had to buy another pair. But they were Mk2, and I now have a collection of spare drivers in the loft.

The LP12/Aro/'Geddon are unchanged for decades. The Troika is newer, and has been refettled twice.

The 534 didn’t work as well with the SBLs as one of my old 250s, and after some listening a 300DR was purchased a few years ago. That won’t be going anywhere.

I loved the EAR868, but really hankered after the 912. BUT, I thought the Townshend Allegri was as good as a line stage, sans the phono and remote. Which led me to the Icon 4 autoformer passive, with remote. An absolute BARGAIN at the time. Gone up a bit since, but still great VFM.

Phono stages were interesting. But the Tron 7 GT solved that and will be staying. Just serviced and upgraded.

Which leads me to DACs.

I am not convinced you achieve a LOT by changing DACs. But, the small differences are important, unfortunately. Would you rather drink a good New World or an 1855 classification bordeaux? Depends on a range of factors.

A part of the equation is how wide open your system is, which itself depends on your room …etc.

Which is better: Ferrum DAC + Hypsos; Weiss 204 + PS102; PS Audio StellarGold DAC; Laiv Harmony; or Mola Mola Tambaqui?

All sound great in my system, with minor differences; which makes cable selection and setup important.

I have settled on the Weiss, and HOPE to just stick :joy:

I confess that I am toying with buying the Nagra Streamer.

I have bought some other gear, but that is to assist with reviewing. Giving a piece of gear a sympathetic system with which to work.

The death of the Oppo was an anticipated blow, but it gave me over a decade of reliable service.

I may well just stick with the small Sony for the moment, and revisit it when the Phillips TV dies.

I have just bought nVidia Shield Pro, curiosity. In my case I have a LOT of old series in lower res formats and would like to see what it can make of them.

M

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