“I finally got an OPPO!” This has been the enthusiastic statement I have been hearing every time a customer has walked out our door with a smile on their face holding their most prized audio/video possession. I often find myself smiling with them as I vicariously live the experience through them. Well, as of Friday, as luck would have it (or fate), I can now say for myself “I finally got my OPPO too!” The BDP-105D to be exact. Now I could say that I chose to get this piece for the sake of research (heck, I sell it, so I must become familiar in a home setting right?!) but nay! I say, I chose this piece because I’m as passionate about my music and video as our customer right next to me! The OPPO BDP-105D is the latest iteration of the top of the line OPPO universal player. The D (standing for Darbee), is a new high end video processing technology implemented into the BDP-105D. As this review is for our Premiere customers on FB and not a national publication, I will keep this review short and sweet. FEATURES: I will tell you right now that out of the box, this player met and exceeded all the expectations (and dreams) I could muster. This piece oozes audiophile quality! From the weight to cosmetics and design, the BDP-105D has all the options I could ever want as an Audiophile/Videophile. There are settings for dedicated 2 channel XLR out (true differential), and when used as a preamp (as I am doing) 5.1, 7.1 surround parameters, speaker level, distance, and size options are available. You will not run out of video or speaker settings when it comes to this player! Darbee processing on its own is beautiful (see more on this below). This is a CD, SACD, DVD, DVD Audio, Blu-Ray player... with a DAC, music/video streamer, and video processor built in! How they keep it at a price of $ 1,300 is beyond reason. THE SOUND: Simply beautiful. The first thing I set up when getting the player snuggled upon its wooden base ( with BDR isolation cones underneath, Cardas contact cleaner and RCA caps on back) was to check out how my Youtube videos sounded through the dedicated XLR outs. I was stunned by the richness and detail that simply poured out into the air around me. I kid you not, when I played Patricia Barbers “Inchworm”, it sounded like I was listening to an SACD. I had no idea that the ESS Sabre2 DAC inside this player could resolve a YouTube video to reference quality. Not to mention what it did to the video! (see comments below). As I played DVD-Audio, SACD, Redbook, and Cable TV, I was constantly reminded why all the reviews of this player (including the one by Stereophile), rate this player as Product of the Year. It is simply the best all-around source (or dedicated) player I have heard in our store. VIDEO: The OPPO takes the 2D representation that a TV presents, and adds through actual pixel modification a 3D image, adding depth and detail into what was already there but was shrouded by lower resolutions. The effect was not subtle. I set the processing level (which is user settable from the Darbee button on the remote from 0-120%) to 35% (per other user reviews) with no notice of artifacts. In a word, it made regular cable look like a Blu-ray, and Blu-ray movies look as close to 4k as my 1080p Pioneer Elite Pro FHD1 plasma would allow. CONCLUSION: If the $1,300 dollar price tag OPPO is asking for this piece has you 2d guessing, don’t. It performs above and beyond its price point and will show you what true audio/video nirvana is all about. Come into premiere and audition the OPPO today. We offer 12 month interest free financing, or a 6 month layaway plan to meet anyone’s budget. I look forward to hearing you say “I got my OPPO too!” Paul Helvin Audio/Video Specialist
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 18:10:39 +0000
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