Dead Oppo 205 on ebay up to almost $1200

As good as the Oppo 105? 205?

 

On a par with the 105D, according to those who have heard both (I haven't), no idea re: the 205.

Unlikely I'd have thought. The 205 was a later design, the Sabre DAC was further improved into a design that was probably underpriced (when you look under the lid, there's a design topography that wouldn't be out of place in a player two or three times the price), while the 752BD had the WM8740 - still a great DAC IMO - dates back to around 2004/5, but with a great power supply and analogue section.

I think, as with anything really, it comes down to your personal preferences. From everything I'd read, the audible differences between the 105D and the 752BD were pretty narrow. Some liked one, others preferred the other player. A few bought one, then went and bought the other. I went with the Cambridge having looked at several reviews for both. In the end it came down to two things when sound quality was set aside: design styling (I favour the slimmer design) and, at the 11th hour, price.

In the UK, the 752BD was £800, or maybe £900 while the Oppo 105D was about £1100. Richer Sounds, who were the exclusive brick and mortar store for Cambridge in the UK, had a Christmas sale in late 2014 and knocked about 50% off with almost two months to try it out. It was a done deal and I didn't look back.

Over the last 10-15 years, I've probably been through about 20 or so disc spinners, CD and universal player alike and the one I've had the longest is the Cambridge. They got something absolutely bang on with the 752 and it's a player I'll be keeping for as long as it's still able to play a disc. Hell, even the remote control's still going!

 

I use a lg BP 450.

 

I have the 105D and CXU in the same rack right now. Lots of similarities but the CXU has finer detailing. I can hear things on the CXU I can’t hear on the OPPO. It’s also a bit smoother sounding, which says a lot considering how nice the 105D sounds. OTOH, the 205 is a closer matchup on my system, via XLR. I still think the CXU is better via the unbalanced outs than the 205.
Cambridge did a great job tuning these players.

 

Per Crutchfield who seems to be the main USA source for Cambridge the 752 & CXU are both discontinued. For the moment, I'm good with my Oppo 95, but I am searching for something comparable to an Oppo that available for purchase new, & ideally would be region free hackable.

 

They hold about 21% of the Chinese cell phone market.

Even at double the price the BD player market would be random noise on their financials.

 

Yeah, they're long out of production. The 752 was maybe 2013, the CXU 2015? The CXU-HD, which was transport only, was their last foray and that came out around the 203 / 205 appeared. Now, they updated their domestic hifi line and moved heavily into higher end gear with their Edge range.

 

I'm writing this in an Oppo phone. Must admit it is not the best phone I've owned. Wish they had stuck to disc spinners.

 

Must be they aren't marketing the phones in the USA.

 

Another remote question. I ended up buying an unused (acording to seller) legit OPPO remote for my 105. Works good, but I can't figure out how to disable the backlight. The design is slightly different than my original BDP-105 remote. Looks like this.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/YmAAAOSwVi9fmHfk/s-l400.jpg

I've tried holding DIMMER + 0 for five seconds, but this does nothing. So the backlight comes on every time I press a button. I'd prefer to turn it off just to not run through batteries as much.

 

AFAIK, the backlight can not be disabled on my stock 95 remote.

 

On page 10 of the 105 manual it explains how to change the remotes backlight setting.

Changing the Backlight Method:
The remote control supports one of two backlight methods. By default, pressing the LIGHT button will turn on the backlight, and pressing any other button within 10 seconds will keep the backlight on. The alternative method will activate the backlight whenever any button is pressed; in this mode, the light will stay on for 10 seconds, and pressing any other button will keep the backlight on. To switch between these two backlight methods, press and hold the LIGHT button for 5 seconds.

http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP105/BDP-105_USER_MANUAL_English_v1.8.2.pdf

I just tried this with my 103 remote. The manual isn't totally accurate. What is needed is to hold the light button down which illuminates all the buttons. Then wait (still holding the Light button down) for the lit buttons to flash then release the Light button and then the backlight mode will be changed. This worked as my remote was set to not illuminate when a button was pushed. Once I went through the above steps now when any of the buttons were pressed all the buttons illuminated. Did the process once more and now the buttons do not illuminate when pressed.

Do the buttons on the 95 remote illuminate when any button is pressed or do you have to press the Light button?

 

I read that same section in my 105 manual Bill, and it doesn't seem to work for this remote. On my original 105 remote before it died, the backlight was never coming on, so I must have found how to disable it. With the replacement I got, the light comes on with any button push. I'll try what you suggested, and hope that works!

Didn't work. I held the LIGHT Button down for a good 10-15 seconds waiting for a flash, never came.

Is that what this is, the 95 remote? Seller didn't actually say what model it came from, just that it was unused in the box as he got a universal remote as soon as he go the player.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NFIAAOSwrSNhCIzN/s-l1600.jpg

I guess if this is a 95 model remote and that model doesn't have a way to turn off the backlight, then I won't be able to. That's annoying.

I looked at the BDP-95 manual at the Oppo site, and it doesn't have any instructions in it to disable the backlight. So I guess that wasn't a feature until the 103/105 series.

 

Triodes: OPPO sent me am auto email, then nothing else. Did you just send your unit in for repair, or did they contact you with price, etc?

 

That remote must be for a 93/95 as the 103/5 remotes have Netflix and Vudu app buttons.

This remote would be for a 103D/105D remote as it has the button for Darbee video processing.

 

Probably because of the weekend. They got back to me the same day.
They first gave me advice to clean the lens myself. You have to open the unit and remove the top cover of the disc loader. Gently clean the lens with a lintless q-tip and alcohol. That didn’t work in my case. Then they sent an email to pay $99 up front. When I sent that in they gave me a RMA number and instructions on shipping and packing the unit.

BTW, if you have the 83, it’s worth opening anyway. If you see a battery (iirc, it’s a 2032), you can change the laser yourself for about $10 via some instructions found in another thread here. My unit was a later revision without the battery. The laser module number was different and more expensive.
It’s still worth considering sending it in. They do a check of the machine while they have it to make sure it’s working up to specs.

 

Thank you tri. I will take a look and see.

I searched for that thread you mentioned but nothing came up. Any hints? Thank you.

 

Any button on the 95 original remote. I have a backup remote I bought from Oppo that has no back lights, & probably weighs half what the original does.

 

What Oppo player was it for? It must be a remote from an earlier player due to it not being backlit. Remotes as far back the 83 are backlit.

 

I assume it was a 2nd manufacturing run. I bought the backup from the repair website after Oppo had shut down. Identical to the 95 remote other than backlighting & weight.

 

So there’s no Light button on the remote? If it’s identical to the 95 remote why would it weigh less? Also if it was identical it would have backlighting. I can’t see Oppo offering a remote for the 95 that doesn’t have all the same features as the original remote.

 

I've always been curious about that. Not curious enough to write Oppo and ask, though. It is 100% identical looking, & I definitely bought it direct from Oppo. They removed the backlight circuitry & it also doesn't to have quite the range the original does (It does work fine in all functions); probably cost cutting measures so they could sell it cheap.

A week or 2 ago when I last looked, they were still selling remotes for 83, 85, 93 & 95 for $8 each.

 

Interesting. I guess not having the backlight function is a positive especially if it comes on when any button is pressed.

The lack of available remotes for the 103/5 and 203/5 series players makes me wonder why more do not use universal remotes. I've been using a Harmony 688 remote for years. I can't imagine going back to a table full of remotes to run my system. The ease of use of a multi activity and component system with one simple remote is excellent.

No more reaching for multiple remotes hoping I choose the right one then trying to make sure all the right inputs are selected. No thanks! One of the many benefits of using the 688 is that the range for controlling Oppo players is far superior to the factory remotes. I can be off to the side or much further away and have no issues. With the factory Oppo remotes I have to point it at the player and be fairly close.

The Harmony 688 is an older model that is much simpler than some of the more recent remotes. It uses four AAA batteries which I prefer over using a charging dock. When the battery on remotes with a charging dock die they have to be placed in the dock to charge. With the 688 there's a prompt on the display when the batteries need to be changed. Takes a few minutes to change out the batteries and you're back in business.

 

Oppo was selling 10.x & 20.x remotes for awhile; but likely the flippers bought them out. Oppo is now requiring unit serial #'s to sell a 93/95 remote.

 

My Oppo 95, primarily used for music disk playback (but also as a video disk player and files from USB) is having difficulty reading disks. Since Oppo stopped making disk players I've been dreading the day when my unit developed a fault in cause parts aren't available to repair it. I've been happy with the performance, and really like the diverse formats it can handle (part of the attraction for me to buy it). I would prefer not to have to replace it, and would be concerned about being able to replace it with similar functions and audio quality for the price. I've contacted the local distributor about repairs, and need to wait until our current covid lockdown travel-distance restrictions ease so I can take it in for repair.