DVD/CD Player Recommendation?

[rdgrimes]

For the person who wants exemplary dealer service, a product backed by a 4 billion dollar company, likes silver, and can afford it, yes.

Would I suggest you or I buy the Lexicon over the Oppo? Of course not.


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I realize that the dealer structure and support system is a lot different for Lexicon. But even at that, $3000 is a bit of a stretch. Lexicon seems to have screwed the pooch on this player.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/t...icon-outside-1

[Mr. Widget]

I realize that the dealer structure and support system is a lot different for Lexicon. But even at that, $3000 is a bit of a stretch. Lexicon seems to have screwed the pooch on this player.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/t...icon-outside-1

I don't know... they have had a hard time keeping up with demand. Not everyone is an AVS Forum member or is constrained by the financial realities that the rest of us face.

As for reviews... can we really trust any of them? Lexicon BD-30 Review


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[Titanium Dome]

Jerry and Dr. Ken both got severe Del Collion-oscopies over that one! Ouch and double ouch!

[rdgrimes]

Jerry and Dr. Ken both got severe Del Collion-oscopies over that one! Ouch and double ouch!

Well deserved at least in this case. Both from the angle of a very poorly thought out "review", and even worse handling of the aftermath.
Anyways........ there's a pretty cogent argument against a better performing player being had at any price.

Back to the BDP-80, I think there's a good chance it will wind up being viewed as the best value available in a universal player. Particularly since there are no options anywhere close to the price. They're (Chinese and Danish) already making the hardware mods to make it region free.

[Mr. Widget]

Q2: I believe SACD requires analog outs to the AVR in order to use only the players DAC, from what I read, do I have this correct? and what then about the other multichannel movie formats like, how does an HDMI or digital connection from player to AVR affect those? What I want is one HDMI connection from player to AVR, but not sure if this negates the processing of an expensive CD-DVD unit.

Back to the BDP-80, I think there's a good chance it will wind up being viewed as the best value available in a universal player. Particularly since there are no options anywhere close to the price.

I think you are probably right that the BDP-80 will satisfy the requirements of a plug 'n play HDMI solution with a very high bang for the buck quotient.

I'd submit if you are using a very large plasma or LCD you should consider spending $200 more and get the BDP-83.

If you are into DVD-A or SACD and have a preamp with multi channel analog inputs or are a 2 channel only sort, I would consider the BDP-83S3. Slightly OT. Has anyone compared the Sony SCD-XA5400ES decoding 2 channel SACD with the Oppo BDP-83SE?


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[midlife]

I would like the BDP83 and I'm slowly get the $$ for it. I will use it with a Samsung 52" and a two channel, four speaker "surround"

[Mr. Widget]

I had do do my own shoot out.

I must have been inspired by TiDome, posting pictures before I have anything to say, but for those interested in a brief comparison between these players come back on Sunday/Monday, and I'll post my opinion of all four.


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[hjames]

I had do do my own shoot out.

I must have been inspired by TiDome, posting pictures before I have anything to say, but for those interested in a brief comparison between these players come back on Sunday/Monday, and I'll post my opinion of all four.


Widget

Wow, thanks very much Mr Widget! I'm not in a rush for a BDP,
but when I get one later this year, its likely to be OPPO,
and would probably be the BDP-80 -
likely a nice upgrade to the OPPO 981HD I'm using now.

I eagerly await your review - and thanks again!

[BMWCCA]

I had do do my own shoot out.

I must have been inspired by TiDome, posting pictures before I have anything to say, but for those interested in a brief comparison between these players come back on Sunday/Monday, and I'll post my opinion of all four.

Looking forward to it! I, too, can see a BDP-80 in my future.

Thanks!

[Mr. Widget]

First let me explain what I have compared.

I have only compared the analog audio outs and really only the stereo left and right outputs in a simple but high quality two channel stereo system.

Now, let me put a quick end to the Lexicon/Oppo issue.

In comparing them, there was no performance difference between the Lexicon BD-30 and the Oppo BDP-83. The mechanisms were the same, response time, audio quality, etc... all the same as far as I could tell. That said, if money were not an issue, the look and feel of the Lexicon is significantly nicer... even the shade of blue from the display was a much brighter and nicer look. Is this alone worth a $3K price increase? Not likely, it does feature a 3 year warranty instead of a 1 year, but even so the math doesn't add up for my budget.

How about the Oppo BDP-80? Well, I compared it with the other two Oppo players and it wasn't as good. How do we quantify that? Hell if I know! I also compared it to my old Sony SACD/DVD player that was their $1200+ flagship a little over a decade ago. (It weighs about 40 lbs. and still performs regularly and faithfully... will any of these players last that long?) I think the SACD quality of the Oppo BDP-80 was a little better than the Sony's, and the CD analog audio was about the same... the sound stage was flat and rather compressed in both players to about the same degree... the Sony was a bit mellower or smoother sounding, the BDP-80 was a bit brighter sounding, but there was no more detail, air, or sense of space.

The Oppo BDP-83 was slightly better in every regard, but really only slightly. If a CD was playing that I was very familiar with and I walked into the room, I would not be able to tell you reliably which player was playing.

The Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition was certainly the best of the bunch, but again, not by a great margin. There was more air, the highs were more delicate, detailed, and extended, there was a more relaxed quality to the sound but with more detail not less. Of all five players I compared, it was without a doubt the one I'd prefer for musical playback. For now I will keep it in my system. I expect to have a Bryston BDA-1 DAC by the end of the week. I will compare the Special Edition's analog audio quality with the digital out through that DAC next weekend.


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[midlife]

Does the BDP-80 have analog L&R outs for those wanting to use two channel stereo audio playback?

[hjames]

Does the BDP-80 have analog L&R outs for those wanting to use two channel stereo audio playback?

Believe the BDP-80 has a 7.1/5.1 analog output - so for analog stereo, you'd just grab the fronts/mains ...

[Mr. Widget]

Does the BDP-80 have analog L&R outs for those wanting to use two channel stereo audio playback?

Believe the BDP-80 has a 7.1/5.1 analog output - so for analog stereo, you'd just grab the fronts/mains ...

Yes. That is how I used it. If you pop in a multichannel SACD or DVD-A you must press a button on the remote to select 2-Channel though or it will default to the L+R channels of the multi channel mix.

There might be a menu selection to set this as a system preference, but setting this up would require a TV connection. Along those lines, the BDP-80 initially started up in a "EZ-Setup" mode. To get it to function as an audio player you have to press enter three times to get past this. The other two Oppos did not require this.

I am not sure I'd recommend buying the BDP-80 for stereo playback unless it has some feature set you are currently missing and want. It's 2-channel audio performance wasn't particularly special, though it was certainly competent. If you already have competent playback I would either save up to spend more on one of the better players or I would stick with what I had.

One minor gripe about the Oppos. Their power cords are very similar to standard IEC removable power cords, but they are not interchangeable with IEC cords. I am not a power cord swapper, but the inconvenience of a unique cord is real. It appears the style that Oppo is using is less beefy and I suppose a few cents cheaper than a standard IEC cord. I guess these guys really shave pennies.


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[Mr. Widget]

The Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition was certainly the best of the bunch, but again, not by a great margin. There was more air, the highs were more delicate, detailed, and extended, there was a more relaxed quality to the sound but with more detail not less. Of all five players I compared, it was without a doubt the one I'd prefer for musical playback. For now I will keep it in my system. I expect to have a Bryston BDA-1 DAC by the end of the week. I will compare the Special Edition's analog audio quality with the digital out through that DAC next weekend.

I have been using the BDP-83 Special Edition as my primary source for a bit over a week now and I feel comfortable saying that it is very good.

Last night I finally received my Bryston BDA-1 DAC. I compared the digital out of the Oppo through the Bryston DAC to the analog outputs of the Special Edition. Pretty noticeable difference. The outboard DAC had a much better sound stage, with an overall clearer and less grungy sound. The highs were more crystalline. Could I be happy with the Oppo alone, I was, but last night was the first time in quite a while that I wasn't longing for the clicks and pops of a turntable.


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[herki the cat]

=Jerry and Dr. Ken both got severe Del Collion-oscopies over that one! Ouch and double ouch!

[quote=herki the cat]
Well, maybe it appears that Jerry & Dr Ken Taraazka were abused,but you need to wear their shoes for a couple hours perusing Dr. Ken Taraszk's excellent reviews & home theater.com Website's ... jerry's experience with the policies of superb Icons like Mark Levensen inc., which morphed into Madrigal Inc., then together with Lexicon marched into Harman international etc. These companies have always offered superb after market support & excellent warranty service on their sophisticated proprietary products, but it was for good and valid reason impossible to purchase any of their drawings, or parts list or technical data regarding their product designs. It has always been "stay of our box, & do not monkey with our products."

They always insisted on doing all repairs in house well into decades after the product models became obsolete. I have been there. Madrigal was very accommodating when the Mark Levensen product was still in production because it was very convenient to simply drop the repairable product into the production line etc. It was impossible to buy any repair documentation from these companies, much less have entrée or access into their equipment system profiles or technology, specifically "to grab a list of the improved design items" that went into the Lexicon BD 30 Blue Ray demanded by the unfriendly review desenting critics, no one outside of these companies will understand the
product design engineering and the specification control of the parts & components peculiar or have access to parts inventory, or procurement, or much less the purchase documentation. Parts inventory is very complicated.

Lexicon is not talking. If you like the BD 30, buy it or forget it. From what i see, Lexicon did a superb design in the BD 30 Blue Ray, and I exepect to buy this product some day soon; Dr. Ken has witnessed the excellent equipment product design and product performance, he is very astute, the clues are there in his review. In all modesty, i have been working with mechanisms & electronic for 72 years including 40 years with critical Military Product Designs and Production. I have hired & trained several engineers for RCA in my work place. I remember interviewing one bright mechanical engineering candidate whom i asked for a description of his special expertise & his reply was "no specialty, I am very versitile..my word, the poor fellow had never even taken an alarm clock apart in his life, & I was looking for creative people for my group...Bonne, Ce la vie.

The competition should know there is a very impressive Lexicon BD 30 profile specification free for the asking of the new Lexicon BD 30 which an army of quality control experts require the factory to adhere to before the product leaves the floor.. Still they are screaming for a list of technical details executed by Lexicon, which they will never understand any more than the house wife understands the design details of her automobile's windshield engineering that guarantees that harmless piece of glass will always safely pop out in a head-on crash with minimum harm to the driver.

Here is a snip-it of Dr.Ray's review:

The Lexicon BD-30 has the best build quality of any Blu-ray player I have seen to date. The thick, machined faceplate with deeply indented lettering and recessed area for the drawer and display are exceptional-looking, while the remainder of the case is rock solid. This isn't some Japanese stamped steel player, and for the price, it shouldn't be. The Lexicon BD-30 has the best build quality of any Blu-ray player I have seen to date.

The thick, machined faceplate with deeply indented lettering and recessed area for the drawer and display are exceptional-looking, while the remainder of the case is rock solid. This isn't some Japanese stamped steel player, and for the price, it shouldn't be.

The rear has everything you'd expect from a player that does it all. A 7.1-channel analog output and a dedicated stereo output are included, one each optical and coaxial digital outs, composite and component video, LAN port, a second USB 2.0 port, HDMI and RS-232 controlThe rear has everything you'd expect from a player that does it all. A 7.1-channel analog output and a dedicated stereo output are included, one each optical and coaxial digital outs, composite and component video, LAN port, a second USB 2.0 port, HDMI and RS-232 control.....and on and on.

Dr, Ken has the credentials, and superb Audio equipment to audition this Lexicon. It is not unusual to meet Medical Doctors with a keen engineering mind. After all it does take a fine mechanic also to perform the marvelous new surgery procedures of today. Madame herki at age 84 has been there...she has been skiing two years now with a superb knee replacement which is pain-free and works better than the orignal knee.

Basta para ahora, 5:30 AM....herki the cat