I use awesome power cords already (DIY NEOTECH & Cardas 9.5 AWG all round). First of all have you ever listened to STATE OF THE ART hifi components? (I HAVE). A $10,000 Amp or CD PLAYER for example? Therefore I use my previous experience as a YARD STICK to compare the OPPO's against.
There is no way in a million years that a STOCK/UNMODIFIED Oppo disc player is worthy of 8.5 OUT OF 10 by any standards. At best a STOCK/UNMODIFED OPPO is equivalent to a $1000 CD PLAYER, anyone knows that.
What hifi are you using with your BDP-95, then we can take it from there?
Yes I've heard all the "greatest" as of a a couple of years back... did the RMAF for several years. Then again a few months back with Danny Richie's latest prototype (you've never heard anything near this good- don't care what you think you've heard).
My speakers are GR-Research LS9's (there are better, but not many), my pre is a Dodd battery (there are better, but not by much), upgraded Moscode 401HR (ok, there are better, but not significantly under $6000), power cords are TWL and WYwires, interconnects are Wywires. Since this is now a pissing match, I'd suggest that your DIY PC doesn't stack up against Pete's stuff.
Look, one of the guys asking about the Oppo was someone who's system i've heard and I know his range. The Oppo would be a very decent option for him, if he likes the Sabre sound. I accept your assessment that the Oppo could equal a $1000 cd player (it basically
is $1000 player). And I'd argue that nearly anything in our hobby goes up by powers of 10. A cheap $100 Marantz cd would get you a 6 out of ten, an oppo 83 w/ Sabre dac could be a 7+ out of ten (at about $1000 when it was releaseed), the Oppo 95 with multiple Sabre 9018's is a step up again at a cheap price; you want to step up to
9 0f 10? Multiply the price by 10, you want
9.5 out of ten? Multiply by 10 again? You want the SOTA (whatever that means) multiply by stupid.
BTW, my system is posted with my info.
What about yours, osib16?