Hello all.
As my main gear, I have an Oppo BDP-105 in my living room as my main player and I love it love it love it. I love how I can dedicate one HDMI port (which does video better on most things) to just video output directly to my TV and a second HDMI port to my Denon AVR-4311 for digital audio processing via Audessey XT32 (and sometimes to also let the Denon do vid processing, but thats rare).
I tend to find that on MOST stereo applications, the Oppo outshines the Denon+Audessey, and on most 5.1 Video applications, the Denon does the better job. But enough of that.
In my bedroom, I have an older Oppo DV-980H DVD player mated to an older Denon AVR-788, with similar situations: in 5.1 the Audessey of the Denon sounds better, but in stereo music, the Oppo sounds better. However, I decided to share the wonders of SACD and DVD-A with my brother in law, and will soon be gifting him my Oppo 980H to him. This will leave my bedroom setup with a big hole for Hi-Fi sound. I have the following choices to fill that gap:
Oppo 83SE, 93, 103 Denon 3910, 2910 Yamaha S2500
Oppo 83SE/93/103: The pluses are that they will likely have better sound than the older Denons and Yamahas (based on the SQ of the older 980 and the newest 105: the 980 isnt as good as the S2500, but it is OLD and still very good), they will play blu-rays and at least the 93/103 will have internet apps like Netflix. The cons will be that the price will probably range from $300-$500
Denon 3910/2910: Pluses are they will probably run from $100 to $250, and even by today's standards are considered to have great sound. Cons are that finding a goo 3910 copy for $250 is hard (but I also hear that the 2910 equals the 3910 in sound quality), another con is that are only DVD players and will lack internet apps.
Yamaha DVD-S2500: Pluses are the sound quality. I own one already, I am familiar with its sound and I love it. These can be had for cheap when they do show up for sale and may be the best bargain if we consider ONLY SACD/DVDA/CD SQ. Cons are: its still just a DVD player, no apps, they do tend to be quite buggy, and they rarely come on the market.
So what do you think guys? My main concern is obviously SQ:Price ratio I want to maximize SQ while minimizing cost. My secondary concern is I would prefer it play BRs and have apps, but SQ for the money is king.
Any other suggestions? Im open to hearing suggestions.
|