I presume this thread will simply die a natural death as folks check in on it to see that it's all over now. In the meantime, if you'd like to move on sooner, there are 651,000 other threads here to visit and participate in, so I'd say you're all set.
If you're tired of the discussion of the demise of Oppo Digital try "moving on" to another thread. The thread title is quite obvious so the discussion shouldn't shock you in it's content.
It's amazing how people thread crap just to thread crap. "Oh, I think I'll just go to a SH thread and just start posting smack." just because I can. Must be a Mike Love Fan. Beave
I have two of these and I might grab more. If you don’t have a multi room system (Sonos, etc.), then Sonica is worth looking into. Build quality is awesome, sound quality is extremely good.
I think OPPO's premature death gives the larger names like Pioneer some breathing room now in the universal player space. Most of the mid-range and premium market customers were getting sucked up by OPPO. They now have to look at other brands.
Just a heads up. Cambridge occasionally sells refurb CXU’s with full warranty from their eBay store. I grabbed one and it's one sweet sounding unit. The biggest problem I found is the dumb remote.
I just got a new UDP-205 this week. I've been listening to it the last 48 hours. I'm pleased with the improvement in sound quality over the 105. I've also been comparing it to a dedicated cd/sacd player, as well (I plan on applying the same filter on the cd/sacd player and doing more comparisons; my preference is NO filter on the dedicated player.) It's important to pick the right filter. While they are more similar (with the exception of "corrected minimum phase fast") than other players that I've used that allow for filter selection, I found the one that offered the most clarity, the least edge/brightness, and most natural sound was Filter #7, "Linear Phase Fast." "Linear Phase Fast" doesn't offer the "most" bass, and I'd agree the default filter, "Minimum Phase Fast" might be the one that does, but it seems it's because there's an overall bit of excessive energy in the signal with that filter, and the high frequencies are a bit too much. The UDP-205 is the most neutral, revealing player I've ever heard.
I thought we weren’t supposed to post eBay links here. What kind of Gort are you? cambridgeaudiousa on eBay They go for $599 from Cambridge when they’re available. I had an email alert set up for the CXU but for some reason it didn’t work with the Cambridge store. I found it when I checked the store directly.
A rogue kind! We don't want EBay links to member's auctions. We have a forum or two in Classifieds for that. Thanks! That's at the top dollar limit of my budget, so I'll explore that option, thanks. My frontrunner has been the Sony 1000ES, in spite of it being made by Sony.
Love to see someone who appreciates and explores the capabilities of the 205 for themselves. You're an Audiophile, my friend. I agree with with you about the 205 being a superior player and a superior sounding player vs. the 105. Too many people expect some kind of revelation. If your system is up to it, you will hear a difference.
Also, if you are ONLY interested in the 205 for its two channel performance and are not interested in physical discs or video, try searching eBay for the Oppo Sonica DAC. I’ve seen them priced between $1k-$1,500. It uses the same exact DAC chip (ESS 9038PRO) as the 205 and has identical two channel output stages.
I'll put it in perspective - if I'm recalling what I read correctly, it might put me at odds versus some reviews I've read that have it the other way around - I've had the Oppo 95, 105D, and now the 205. Based on my memory of the 105D versus the 95, I'd say the difference between those players was bigger than the difference between the 105D and the 205. In the 105D vs the 95, it was like the proverbial "lifting of veils" when I compared those. The 95 was colored and stuffy sounding by comparison. Granted I missed the warmth that those characteristics of the 95 imparted, but that's where my preference in sound leans. With the 105D vs the 205 over the last couple of days, I'd say it's a refinement of the noise floor of the player, and probably the new Sabre chip, which combined, give improved extension, clarity, and punch of the low frequencies and additional clarity in the mids and high frequencies. It's a meaningful difference to me, but I'd say its evolutionary whereas the difference I recall between the 95 and 105D was greater than that. *I'm writing with reference to disc playback only, thus far. I haven't tried any files from a connected hard drive and I don't have a computer or server to utilize the usb dac function.
Go to 2ndhandhifi in the UK. They've got a 752BD for £450. Same as the CXU internally but minus Darbee. The CXU has a different fascia and that's it. £3500? Meh!
I didn't realize that the 752 and CXU were essentially the same on the audio side. Very good to know - thanks!
Yup, five WM8740s and their upsampling processing. Same in both, from memory. They redesigned their range for 2016 and brought the new styling in.