OPPO DV-983H or Arcam DV-137 DVD Player?

[SoundEngine355]

Hi,

I have the Arcam AVP700/P1000 combo and want a new dvd player, not interested in a blu-ray player, I've narrowed it down to two:

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv983h/

or

http://www.arcam.co.uk/prod_diva_DV137_intro.cfm

Obviously the arcam matches my current equipment.

Oppo is cheaper and has some very good reviews, plus it has a USB 2.0 port.

Both player cd, dvd and divx

mmm... hard decision.

[audioqueso]

The Oppo is significantly cheaper!
What do you favor more, audio or video?
If audio, I would pick Arcam.
If video, I would pick Oppo.
This decision is solely based on some comparisons that I have read.
Here is a thread where a guy compared the DV137 vs a Marantz DVD player. http://www.avforums.com/forums/arcam...ml#post5021575 (is this allowed???)
The audio portion I can only go by what he says. So the Arcam is better.
The video portion, I can speak for. The guy in the review claims the Marantz is much better than the Arcam at video. I have a Marantz DV6001 DVD player, and a Oppo base-level DVD player. The Oppo has a better picture. You are considering their top of the line player. So for video, I would say Oppo is greater than Marantz. And Marantz is greater than Arcam.
I've never used the analog outputs of my Oppo for music, so I can't speak on the sound.

[wettou]

two:Obviously the arcam matches my current equipment. Oppo is cheaper and has some very good reviews, plus it has a USB 2.0 port. Both player cd, dvd and divx mmm... hard decision.

Oppo use it as digital transport the Audio will be decoded by your pre/pro and it decode SACD as well as DVD-Audio :T And on top of that you can't beat the video

[sonoma john]

Oppo will be out with a new blu-ray player very soon. It carries that high end video chip plays sacd and should be light years ahead of everybody else at a price point of $400 to $500....

[wettou]

Oppo will be out with a new blu-ray player very soon. It carries that high end video chip plays sacd and should be light years ahead of everybody else at a price point of $400 to $500....

MARCH 2009 if all goes well

[alebonau]

Oppo use it as digital transport the Audio will be decoded by your pre/pro and it decode SACD as well as DVD-Audio :T And on top of that you can't beat the video

the arcam avp700 does not accept audio over hdmi. it does hdmi switchign only. the arcam avp700 is very good with analog audio thats its strength. to get the best of it need to use it with a player for which analog is its strenght.

I've owned the oppo 983 and can tell you analog audio is not its strenght. on video if your read past the hype you'll find there not much between it and even a pio lx70a for DVD.

for the arcam p700, given the two options, the arcam dv137 would be a better pic in my opinon.

ps sound engine, do we know you as mvp jack back home (down under ?) :T

[littlesaint]

Have to disagree. The scaler and overall picture quality of the 983 is second to none in the DVD market, and bested by only a few of the HD-DVD or Blu-ray players for SD material. If film and video are the primary purpose, the Oppo is clearly the better choice. HDMI audio (as opposed to SPDIF) is only needed for SACD or DVD-A. If those aren't a priority, it's a moot point.

[audioqueso]

I've owned the oppo 983 and can tell you analog audio is not its strenght. on video if your read past the hype you'll find there not much between it and even a pio lx70a for DVD.

Picture wise, I can't agree with that. One user put that the Marantz is clearly better than the Arcam in video. And if that's true, taking the fact that my base-level Oppo looked better than my Marantz DV6001, I can't see how Oppo's flagship player could not be able to easily make DVDs look better than the Arcam.

[alebonau]

Picture wise, I can't agree with that. One user put that the Marantz is clearly better than the Arcam in video. And if that's true, taking the fact that my base-level Oppo looked better than my Marantz DV6001, I can't see how Oppo's flagship player could not be able to easily make DVDs look better than the Arcam.

hi audio, there are certainly plenty of complimentary posts too on the arcam in the link you provide !

Anyways I cant speak from 2nd hand knowledge, but as I mentioned with the pio lx70a (elite 95hd) vs the oppo 983 on dvd can tell you there was nothing in it. And by that I know I was quite suprised myself as beleived the hype and bought the oppo blind on account that it would provide me some benefit in that regard. guess I found the pio was actually pretty decent for DVD after all ! and I'm not alone I know atleast 2 others who had to freeze frame and squint hard to say one way or the other, and both have moved on from the oppo since.

my experience with arcam is they make some pretty fine players for both DVD and audio over analog.

for the OP with no hdmi audio ability and with an av pre-pro pretty decent with analog what is needed in my opinion is a player with good analog ability. the oppo 983 in my experience is absolutely useless in that regard. the arcam player qouted on the other hand is actually very decent for CD/SACD/DVDA via analog and would be a much better choice.

IF the OP had qouted Blu-ray disc as a requirement then something like the sony bdp-5000es perhaps a choice as does very well over analog and does a great job for DVD other choices there as well in the denon 3800/marantz 8002 or perhaps the new pio flagship 09fd which I believe is also pretty decent over analog and very good for DVD as well ofcourse would need to suplement those with an audio player if there is that need as well.

my suggestion to the OP that dont have to take anyones word for it and best thing can do is go check out the options to decide for him self.