Oppo BDP-83 on the way

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Serge.......I looked at a 50 inch Kuro Elite Pro at Sound Ideas in Gainesville, Florida, before I purchased my two Sony 52XBR9 televisions. Paul also had one 60" left in the warehouse. He pitched me good on the Pioneers, and I was drawn to them since I enjoyed the Pioneer Elite Pro510HD rear projection television for years with great results. I just wasn't happy about buying a plasma screen from a company that no longer manufactured plasma TV's. No doubt, the Kuro Elite Pro picture quality is the current benchmark.

Well, my decision was much easier. I came, I saw, I fell in love..... Never saw picture fidelity quite like that before. Of course there was not even a hint they may stop making them back then. I am glad it turned out that way though, I really enjoy watching it and I hope it lasts a while. I am sure there will be something even better then. One minor criticism I have is that it throws quite a bit of heat into the room after watching it for a few hours.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by jdandy

The Oppo BDP-83 arrived today. I was impressed even before I got down to the actual player in the box. The packing is excellent, not your typical two pieces of styrofoam on either end of the player like Sony and Samsung packing. The Blu-ray player came inside a custom made black cloth bag with handles. This was firmly supported with black foam on four sides, not styrofoam, for a secure and well cushioned ride. The accessaries (remote, power cord, gold plated 1.3 HDMI cable, and mid-level audio cables) were neatly packed inside a seperate black box that fit snuggly in its assigned spot, nothing loose inside the main carton to get loose. Once I unpacked the Oppo BDP-83, and removed it from its soft bag, I was impressed with the heft of the machine, very solid. The remote control is well laid out in a logical manner, backlit, and easy to operate. Once connected to my MX120 and energized, the set up menu is a joy to behold, crystal clear high definition, and color highlighting of selections, unlike the basic DOS computer level quality of the MX120's set up menu. The setup menu of this $500 Blu-ray player puts to shame the setup menu on the $8000 retail MX120. I have to ask myself why this is.

Anyway, setup took all of two minutes. I put the Shakira - Oral Fixation Blu-ray DVD in, and pressed play. HOLLY MACKEREL.......What an incredible picture. The visual clarity difference between my old Panasonic Blu-ray player and the Oppo BDP-83 is like the Claritin television commercial. The foggy vail was lifted. Every detail was bright, clean, and clear. Color saturation is amazing right out of the box, and I haven't made any video adjustments. I also like the disc tray in the center of the player with no hinged, translucent cover over the controls and disc tray, ala Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung. Those flip down or spring loaded covers across the face of the players are a royal nuisance. I am beginning to think that all the reviews, and the positive comments I have read and heard about the Oppo BDP-83 are true. This Blu-ray player is an unbelievable value at this performance level. At this price point, I am ultra impressed. The Oppo BDP-83 is a winner.

Dan...congrats and enjoy it. it's a great unit.

[jdandy]

Serge.......The Pioneer Kuro's are not without a few short comings, and heat is one of them. All that heat equates to greater energy consumption, as well. Another aspect of plasma that I have concerns with is their sensitivity to burn in on static screens. I worry about the parked static logos that are the rage among some networks, or the bars that are present on some aspect ratios. Crawlers at the bottom of the screen that are constantly trailing info with highlighted edges are notorious for screen burn in. Plasma has improved in this area over the years, and minute pixel shifting seems to be the way it is handled, but still, compared to LCD, plasma screens still have higher incidents of screen burn in than do liquid crystal displays.

Another disadvantage of plasma verses LCD is the weight. Inch for inch, plasma screens are quite a bit heavier than LCD's.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Serge.......The Pioneer Kuro's are not without a few short comings, and heat is one of them. All that heat equates to greater energy consumption, as well. Another aspect of plasma that I have concerns with is their sensitivity to burn in on static screens. I worry about the parked static logos that are the rage among some networks, or the bars that are present on some aspect ratios. Crawlers at the bottom of the screen that are constantly trailing info with highlighted edges are notorious for screen burn in. Plasma has improved in this area over the years, and minute pixel shifting seems to be the way it is handled, by still, compared to LCD, plasma screens still have higher incidents of screen burn in than do liquid crystal displays.

Another disadvantage of plasma verses LCD is the weight. Inch for inch, plasma screens are quite a bit heavier than LCD's.

Plasma burn in is definitely an issue. Since I mostly watch movies on that set when in bed, I don't have to worry about it much but I always make sure my DVD/Blu players have the screen saver feature in case I pause the movie. Of course my kids know better than to play their games on my PS3 that also resides with my set. That is the reason I got both of them their own sets but LCD, not plasma. They tend to pause their games and forget every once in a while. Energy consumption, I don't feel guilty about, I didn't design the set. Weight is also not an issue for me.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by JJinID

Dan - congratulations on the arrival and setup of your Oppo BDP-83. I was fortunate enough to have been selected to purchase and test the player back in March as part of the 2nd round of Oppo's Early Adopter Program, and I knew back then that this player was indeed an exceptional performer and value. I have since had the player modified by Dan Wright, and I owe this forum a review of the improved performance, which I intend to write up as soon as I can make the time to do so.

Regarding your question regarding calibrating the picture, the Oppo is accurate out of the box, so do as much calibration with your TV as possible, and then use the players settings if there is something that you can't get quite right with your display's controls.

Enjoy

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Modwright mods. When I emailed Dan a few months ago about it, he said he is also working on a tube-based analog output stage for the Oppo BDP-83 (similar to what he did with Logitech's Transporter), so I am going to wait for that and see what customer feedback is like on the tube vs. the ss analog output stage. Enjoy your upgraded Oppo

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by jdandy

The Oppo BDP-83 arrived today. I was impressed even before I got down to the actual player in the box. The packing is excellent, not your typical two pieces of styrofoam on either end of the player like Sony and Samsung packing. The Blu-ray player came inside a custom made black cloth bag with handles. This was firmly supported with black foam on four sides, not styrofoam, for a secure and well cushioned ride. The accessaries (remote, power cord, gold plated 1.3 HDMI cable, and mid-level audio cables) were neatly packed inside a seperate black box that fit snuggly in its assigned spot, nothing loose inside the main carton to get loose. Once I unpacked the Oppo BDP-83, and removed it from its soft bag, I was impressed with the heft of the machine, very solid. The remote control is well laid out in a logical manner, backlit, and easy to operate. Once connected to my MX120 and energized, the set up menu is a joy to behold, crystal clear high definition, and color highlighting of selections, unlike the basic DOS computer level quality of the MX120's set up menu. The setup menu of this $500 Blu-ray player puts to shame the setup menu on the $8000 retail MX120. I have to ask myself why this is.

Anyway, setup took all of two minutes. I put the Shakira - Oral Fixation Blu-ray DVD in, and pressed play. HOLLY MACKEREL.......What an incredible picture. The visual clarity difference between my old Panasonic Blu-ray player and the Oppo BDP-83 is like the Claritin television commercial. The foggy vail was lifted. Every detail was bright, clean, and clear. Color saturation is amazing right out of the box, and I haven't made any video adjustments. I also like the disc tray in the center of the player with no hinged, translucent cover over the controls and disc tray, ala Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung. Those flip down or spring loaded covers across the face of the players are a royal nuisance. I am beginning to think that all the reviews, and the positive comments I have read and heard about the Oppo BDP-83 are true. This Blu-ray player is an unbelievable value at this performance level. At this price point, I am ultra impressed. The Oppo BDP-83 is a winner.

Dan,

Time to consider sending the Oppo BDP-83 to ModWright for a upgrade! You will not only see a difference but HEAR too!

Cheers!

[Waboman]

Originally Posted by PHC1

One minor criticism I have is that it throws quite a bit of heat into the room after watching it for a few hours.

I used to own a Kuro Elite. You won't find a better picture on a flat-panel. With that said, I can't believe it puts out more heat then your class A amp. I used to own Krell class A amps, BM (before McIntosh). I could fry an egg on those bad boys. After a really good listening session, I would put my hand on the Krells just to feel the heat. As nerdy as that sounds, it was pretty awesome.

[PHC1]

Just noticed the Oppo 83 has earned A+ stereophile rating of "recommended components" used through the HDMI output as a transport. It did pretty well through the analog outputs as well. It's pretty funny seeing a $500 blu ray player being in the same bracket as other CDPs up to $80K range. I'll bring it downstairs and see what it does through my system.

[jdandy]

Serge.......That is certainly a notable engineering feat. I was speaking about the Oppo BDP-83 to Ivan when we had lunch last week. I remember making the comment that I would have paid $1000.00 for this Blu-ray player and still felt I got a great deal for my money. That is how impressed I am with the player. It is intriguing to know the boys at Stereophile magazine gave it such a high rating. I think they are right on the money.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Just noticed the Oppo 83 has earned A+ stereophile rating of "recommended components" used through the HDMI output as a transport. It did pretty well through the analog outputs as well. It's pretty funny seeing a $500 blu ray player being in the same bracket as other CDPs up to $80K range. I'll bring it downstairs and see what it does through my system.

I would like to know how it sounds as a two channel hi-rez audio player.