Blu Ray Player

Posted by: IanG on 16 September 2016

Currently my home cinema 5.1 system comprises a cheap Sony blu ray player into a surround sound receiver (Rotel RSX 1550) via HDMI. The front left/right channels are run via my Naim 252/300 with the 252 in AV bypass mode. All other channels are run by the Rotel.

My question is this, in the above set up, would replacing the Sony blu ray with a premium player (e.g. Oppo etc) would I benefit with improved picture and audio or are these processed in the Rotel and hence would be the same quality regardless of which blu ray player I use ?

Apologies if this is a very basic question but I'm not sure which part of the chain is responsible for what as far as the audio and image processing is concerned.

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by MDS

My order went in a week ago 

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by Finkfan

Very jealous! How long is the wait? 

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by MDS

I was told two or three weeks.   

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by Finkfan

Please tell us what you think when it arrives! 

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by Bert Schurink

I am very happy with my Oppo, so I am very interested in your report about the new beast....

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by MDS
Finkfan posted:

Please tell us what you think when it arrives! 

Will do.

Posted on: 09 January 2017 by MDS
Bert Schurink posted:

I am very happy with my Oppo, so I am very interested in your report about the new beast....

Yes, Bert. I've been very pleased with my 93U but the technology seems to move on quickly in the video world so always had it in mind to think about an upgrade when the successors to the 103 line were announced.

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by tonym

I've had my Oppo BDP- 203 for a few days now, & as expected it's up to the usual Oppo standards. We've only watched one disc so far, The Revenant, but the picture quality is gobsmackingly good, as is the sound quality, the latter a surprising step up from my 103D, given that I use the Denon processor, not the Oppo, to decode the soundtrack. The only negative is that for the first few seconds of 4K playback you get a blank screen but apparently the new firmware upgrade overcomes this.

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by Finkfan

Does anyone know if there will be on on demo at the Bristol show next month? 

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by IanG

Tony I have to say I agree with you, the 203 is my first Oppo/high end blu ray player and I was lead to believe there would be no real improvement in sound as I use a Rotel AV amp to do the decoding. The 203 has definitely improved the sound quite markedly. Even my kids have commented on how much better it is !

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by Foot tapper

Darn it, Tony.  I'm going to have to put it on my wish list now....

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by tonym
Foot tapper posted:

Darn it, Tony.  I'm going to have to put it on my wish list now....

Just do it FT, you know you want to! 

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by Bert Schurink
MDS posted:
Bert Schurink posted:

I am very happy with my Oppo, so I am very interested in your report about the new beast....

Yes, Bert. I've been very pleased with my 93U but the technology seems to move on quickly in the video world so always had it in mind to think about an upgrade when the successors to the 103 line were announced.

For my purpose I try to allows buy the most up to date tech, but I am not throwing out things which work, just because a new technology comes up - so I have to wait then till this one breaks...

Posted on: 10 January 2017 by MDS
Bert Schurink posted:
MDS posted:
Bert Schurink posted:

I am very happy with my Oppo, so I am very interested in your report about the new beast....

Yes, Bert. I've been very pleased with my 93U but the technology seems to move on quickly in the video world so always had it in mind to think about an upgrade when the successors to the 103 line were announced.

For my purpose I try to allows buy the most up to date tech, but I am not throwing out things which work, just because a new technology comes up - so I have to wait then till this one breaks...

Very sensible, Bert, and I generally do the same.  However in this instance I can justify it to myself because I have another TV in another room on which I use a very old Pioneer DVD player which I plan to replace with my Oppo 93U.  

Mike

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by rjfk

If you wanted a reason not to buy the 203 Oppo have announced the 205 due in the next couple of months

http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/

Given the timings on the 203 I'd suspect they could already be in a container en-route.

Regards, Russ

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by Finkfan

Cost? 

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by count.d

Yes I saw the 205 announced a few weeks ago. Interesting.

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by Anto68

The 205 provides significantly better audio performance just as it had been between 105 and 103. Here in Italy we do not yet know the price of 205 although many think it will not be less than 1500 Euros

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by MDS

But won't the 205 be the successor to the 105 i.e. about twice the size and price of the 103, so not directly comparable? 

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by tonym

The 205 only makes sense if you're using its internal sound decoding for analogue output - you're correct MDS, it's the new equivalent of the 105. 

Posted on: 11 January 2017 by Mr Underhill
Mike1380 posted:

Sound on bitsream out via my AV2 also noticeable and significant step up on my old 83SE

You be kind to that old machine!

M

Posted on: 12 January 2017 by Felty99
tonym posted:

The 205 only makes sense if you're using its internal sound decoding for analogue output - you're correct MDS, it's the new equivalent of the 105. 

Interesting you say this Tony, especially when I think your earlier post suggested you were using your Denon AV processor to do the processing so I assume connected via HDMI bitstream output from the Oppo. Yet you also said the sound quality was improved between the 103 and 203, so was the 103 connected in the same way via HDMI?

I know some people who use the 105 effectively as a digital transport via HDMI and feel it is a step up via HDMI compared to the 103, possibly partly due to the higher quality linear power supply in the 105.

Thanks

Richard.

Posted on: 12 January 2017 by Mike1380
Mr Underhill posted:
Mike1380 posted:

Sound on bitsream out via my AV2 also noticeable and significant step up on my old 83SE

You be kind to that old machine!

M

Posted on: 12 January 2017 by tonym
Felty99 posted:
tonym posted:

The 205 only makes sense if you're using its internal sound decoding for analogue output - you're correct MDS, it's the new equivalent of the 105. 

Interesting you say this Tony, especially when I think your earlier post suggested you were using your Denon AV processor to do the processing so I assume connected via HDMI bitstream output from the Oppo. Yet you also said the sound quality was improved between the 103 and 203, so was the 103 connected in the same way via HDMI?

 

Thanks

Richard.

Yes, connected up the same way. Which is why I was surprised by the better sound quality.

Posted on: 24 January 2017 by nickpeacock

Picking up a previous comment - please talk me through this in basic terms.

After too many highly recommended but frankly unreliable blu ray players (mostly Sony but also a Denon), I have had my eye on an upgrade for a while. Since my latest player gave up the ghost this week, the time is ripe.

I want a dvd/blu ray player to watch films, not to play CDs or stream music. Sound will play through my two-channel Naim system. I'm not racing to move to 5.1 or 7.1 but a new flat means I may need that capability at some point. So, my priorities are picture quality, sound quality and build quality. (With a bit of future-proofing.)

Given the fairly similar pricing currently, is there any reason to consider an Oppo 103D as opposed to the new 203? (And should I consider anything 'less'?)