Hi guys, first of all, the LX800 will be available in the U.S. soon. I just happened to have a customer in the UAE that was willing to send me one from the UK to take a look at. When they are available in the U.S., we will be ready to accommodate our customers.
RE the analog stage being replaced in both, you have a point but...There are numerous factors that go into good sound. The anti-resonant enclosure, the quality of the power supplies, the nature of how digital signals are handled prior to decoding by the DAC, clocking, etc., are all factors that dictate how good a player can be. The analog stage IS a huge part and if all else were 100% equal, WOULD be the deciding factor.
Given that the Oppo and Pioneer units both use nearly the same SABRE DACs and both serve the same universal functions, I felt that it was fair to compare them stock to stock, to see what I had to work with. I really won't know until I get into it, how the modified Pioneer will compare to the modified 105 and 205.
My intent is to make the LX800 the best that it can be. I will take what I have learned with the 205 and 105, but this is a different product with its own strengths and weaknesses. For now, I can simply say that it starts off life as a high performance product! I am excited to see how much farther we can take it!