[Freo-1]

I have to vote for the Marantz...the sound is just more natural and real than the over detailed and light weight Oppo, and I've heard the 83, and 93, not the 105....

Well, you should listen to the 105.  It is very refined, and full sounding.  Not at all like you describe.  In fact, it so good that Modwright decided not to offer a solid state modification for the unit, since it that good. 

[Phil A]

The 105 is a whole other animal.  I've a solid state modded Modwright 83, a 93 and an old 980.  I've heard the 105.  Really good as a player and a DAC too.

[Bazinga]

Sony SCD-XA5400ES  For Sure

[SteveFord]

You can not beat Oppo's customer service.
Sony is at the opposite side of the spectrum.

That counts for a lot with me.

[2gumby2]

You can not beat Oppo's customer service.
Sony is at the opposite side of the spectrum.

That counts for a lot with me.

I've had good customer service from Sony. I called their customer service number on a couple of occasions to get some additional information on my Blu-ray player and I spoke to a real human being that answered all of my questions.

[C17FXR]

If your able to find one I would highly recommend the Denon DCD-A100. It’s a real sleeper. I haven’t heard a bad word from other owners of this machine.
It has a Toslink and Coaxial with up to 24/192 input for Hi-Rez playback along with Toslink and Coaxial output. It also does an outstanding job on the Redbook CD’s.
I can’t compare it to the Oppo but I have heard (from bias owner) that it was better, I have plans to get an Oppo and someday I’ll be able to compare the two.

[Freo-1]

Sony SCD-XA5400ES  For Sure

I had one. It is very nice, but I found the Yamaha CD-S2000 to be slightly a better overall performer.  The Yamaha is better balanced, with less grain (IMHO).

[SteveFord]

2gumby2,
You're lucky.
I spent 10 minutes in teleprompter hell and at the end of all of the prompts the call disconnected!
I got so mad I will never buy anything from Sony.
I had an Oppo CD section croak and I didn't know it but the unit I bought was grey market with no warranty.
They said to send it in and they sent me a new one, no charge.
I'm still just astonished by that.

[Freo-1]

I had better luck with Sony ES.  I had sent in a 7100 receiver in to get updated.  It came back damaged from shipping.  Sony sent me a new 6400ES unit as a replacement.  The five year warranty is pretty good, and that does get honored.

I agree with the Oppo service.  I had to send in my two year old modwright 95 for service, and they fixed it for free, no questions asked.  Hard to beat that.

[wgallupe]

+1 for OPPO BDP-105. It's predecessor, the BDP-95 is also fantastic and can be found used for around $700