[Scott F.]

I know, you guys already know this but I finally took the BIG step.

My old (crappy) 44" rear projection was finally dying and my wife and I decided to do the Hi Def thing. From a previous post, we decided to go for the Mitsubshi 62628 62" DLP.

After I got the Mits set up, it was really obvious that the rest of our HT was completely incapable of supporting the TV. So, we decided to take the next steps. I got on the phone and had DirecTV install the Hi Def reciever.

At the same time, my trusty old Denon 900 DVD player went on permenant vacation. It was locking up on pristine discs which meant we needed a new player too. Since the only way to 1080 was to go HDMI, I went on the search for a cheap player that had HDMI outs.

Since the format wars have only just begun, I decided to get a little better standard player (not hi-def), something that would last a few years. I looked at one of the Toshibas but finally zoomed in on a Sony 3100es. I got it on clearance for less than $300.

Needless to say in a matter of just a couple of days, my HT went from something that resembled 8mm to something that is pretty darned good.

Even though I'm a hard core two channel guy, I've got to say this thing looks pretty darned awesome  Heres a couple of pics. Sorry about the quality.

[Mag]

Thanks Alot! Now I want a 62" tv., my 30" is no longer good enough.
   

[bubba966]

Scott, you shoulda picked up an OPPO DVD player. That thing has damned amazing upsampled output over HDMI or DVI. I couldn't believe that a $200 player could ever look like that.

Talk to Wayne about his OPPO. And how it was before & after he modded it. I've got comments over in his circle about the OPPO both the stock one & his modded player I borrowed.

[Scott F.]

OPPO. Hmmm, never heard of it. No wonder since I'm just getting into the HT thing.

Good tip though. I'll have to give Wayne a shout. Since you mentioned modding the DVD player, I may need to crack the case on this Sony and take a look at a couple of things. Its suprizingly heavy. Well, maybe not since its an ES but maybe there is a couple of things I can do to the power supply.

I haven't tried the SACD player yet. I'll have to give that a spin later this weekend. To be honest, it will be the first time I'll have listened to music in the 'round'. This should prove interesting.

Thanks for the tip!

Oh, Star Wars Episode III was breath taking on this thing.

[bubba966]

My advice to you would be to get rid of the Sony (take it back, sell it, whatever), pick up an OPPO, and then mod that.

Wayne's modded OPPO came extremely close to my Pioneer DV-AX10 in overall quality. Some things it did better, and some things the Pioneer did better on. And that's saying a lot as the Pioneer is 10x the price of the OPPO with the cost of Wayne's mods added in (and the oppo weighs 1/12th what the DV-AX10 does).

[Bob in St. Louis]

Scott, if I may (as a newbe here) chime in, I totally agree with bubba on the Oppo. I personally have never viewed one, but the PJ forums I've seen are highly impressed with the unit. Ditch the current unit IMHO.

Welcome to the wonderful world of HD. (into gaming?? Looks great on HD)

Bob

[Scott F.]

Bubba,

I took your and Waynes advise and ordered the OPPO today. I should have on Friday so I can play with it this weekend. I guess I'll try to return the Sony, that or I'll sell it on eBay.

Bob, unfortunately I'm not a gamer though my kids are to a certain extent. I'll have to try Xbox on the Mits just to see what it looks like.

[jcrane]

Never mind, I was going to offer my OPPO to you Scott to try out. It really is a great DVD player and I am also under the impression they are releasing a universal player (no upscale though) for 149. Might have to pick up one and see if you can do anything to it to tweak it a little.

Jamie