Oppo BDP-83 as dedicated CD player.

[pearsall001]

I'd like to downsize my system & the BDP-83 looks like it might fit the bill nicely. My current CA 840C player sounds fantastic but I would give serious consideration in selling it & using the BDP-83 for all my audio/video needs. I'm going on reviews that claim that the analog stage is very good. Even if it comes close the the CA 840's performance I think I'd be tempted to make the switch. Any opinions? Thanks.

[Hdale85]

The 840c is a very nice CDP. The BDP-83 is very good from what I hear. I'm sure it's going to be very nice although I'd have a hard time believing it would be as good as the 840c. The 840c's DAC's are just top notch and it is very well built. But like I said I bet the BDP-83 would still sound very good.

[alebonau]

the 840c is a very nice cd player. the oppo doesnt even compare wiht cambridge's base model budget player let alone the 840c. it all copmes down to the analog implementation, power supplies dac config etc. the oppo is very average in this regard over analog.

also matters what other equipment you use. if using equipment very average over analog then neither as source over analog will likely matter much. In the end also perhaps comes down to you, my wife for instance is happy enough with an ipod as source for her listening. so would care little for the differnece between them

so yeah if can borrow one for your own comparisons, will then be able to decide on the balance of experiencing both in your system whether worth changing.

personally I'd stick with the 840C, the oppos in my experience are really digital machines and best hooked up that way

[SoundEngine355]

It will depend on the connection, I found the Oppo BDP-83 better then the Arcam CD37 (Using the Oppo over HDMI and Arcam via analog), so much so I sold my Arcam and currently using the Oppo for CD playback too.

Arcam is miles ahead of the 840c and Oppo, using the right equipment can sound better then both.

[SoundEngine355]

This was using the:

Denon with Oppo via HDMI

VS

Arcam CD37 and C31 PRE.

[bigburner]

the oppo doesnt even compare wiht cambridge's base model budget player let alone the 840c. it all copmes down to the analog implementation, power supplies dac config etc. the oppo is very average in this regard over analog.

So you know that from listening to it do you alebonau?

Nigel.

[alebonau]

So you know that from listening to it do you alebonau?

Nigel.

most definitely Nigel, a friend of mine finally got his oppo. I stopped by his place and we hooked up via analog and compared to his CA 540C for CD. We made sure they were level matched and we both had turns listening between them with one of us swapping between source.

Concurrence was that though the oppo was good in detail where it fell down was in sound staging and solidity of sound. I'm sure though quite a few likely happy with it still but it was in comparison that it was obvious to us where it was lacking.

Was similar to when I had the oppo 983 and checked out in my system. Pretty woefull really over analog for both 2ch and mch I found comparing to my musical fidelity a5cd player, sony 9000es sacd and denon 2930 proved to me if nothing else what a decent machine the denon is over analog and for DVD and I use it now in my bedroom system which is all analog 2.0

The denons were not always decent with analog either. the denon 2910 I owned a few years back was really not that good. I swapped it for a 2900 which was quite nice for DVD but still not upto the standard of a teac/esoteric p700 transport and old musical fidelity valve dac from a decade plus ago for CD :E the denon 3910 I've heard being easily floored by dedicated CD players in quite a few systems as well.

ps the 840c mentioned in this thread by the OP is a much better CD player than the 540C we compared with. the marantz sa15/11 players are much better again. Get what you pay for I think. but there is a point of diminishing returns as with everything. Upto people to do their own comparisons preferably in their own systems to find where that point is for them :T

[wkhanna]

I have not heard the new Oppo BD, but have heard the CA 840c in my own system. Compared it to my CA 640c V2 and MMF-7 TT w/Grado Green cart. The 840c was absolutely stunning. The near equal to my vinyl source. Hard to imagine anything coming anywhere close at twice the price of the 840c, IMHO.

[JonMarsh]

If you haven't already made this decision, I'd STRONGLY urge you to read the "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity" review of the Oppo Blu-Ray player- it's strengths are Digital video and digital audio output- but not analog audio or analog video, due to different processing paths.

It's measured results as an analog CD player or DVD-A player or SACD player are mediocre at best, and no where in the range of your 840C Cambridge.

If you are only using an HT processor as an analog front end, then the typical degradations in audio quality of even the volume control circuits in most HT processors (except the most high end ones) will mask the quality of your 840C. So, if there's no difference in your system as it is, then, what the heck! But the 840C is in a different category as far as measured RB performance, S/N, low level linearity, and distortion from the Oppo. I wish it weren't so, because I was interested in doing analog capture to 24/192 from the Oppo on DVD-A, but the unit's performance doesn't seem to justify it, based on what I'm looking for (DVD-A performance equivalent to the SACD performance of a Marantz SA-11, which I have).

[Dmantis]

I would like to test this myself. I have been using DVD players as cd players for years now ( use only Pioneer Elite players for this duty). I also use them for SACD and DVD audio. It's nice to have one player do all and not have all the different players and all the wire mess.
I currently use a Pioneer ELite dv-58av for cd/sacd/dvd/dvd audio use. It replaced my champion Pioneer ELite dv-47a as I wanted a player to pass everything over HDMI.

[Chris D]

hey, if anybody's looking to get rid of a CA 840c, I could be interested.

I currently use a Parasound D3, which I got as a universal player. It has proved to have video limitations, but is very good for audio, so that's my primary player for critical listening of CD, SACD, and DVD-A. I use a PS3 for BD, and still have a Toshiba HD-A35 for HD-DVD. Can't decide whether the PS3 or Toshiba are better for upscaling SD-DVD.

[SoundEngine355]

I'd like to downsize my system & the BDP-83 looks like it might fit the bill nicely. My current CA 840C player sounds fantastic but I would give serious consideration in selling it & using the BDP-83 for all my audio/video needs. I'm going on reviews that claim that the analog stage is very good. Even if it comes close the the CA 840's performance I think I'd be tempted to make the switch. Any opinions? Thanks.

The Oppo RCA analog output is at the same level as the Classe CDP102 and CDP202.

Its clearly a level or three above the CA products.