[Big Red Machine]

Are those BRM's TRL amps?

Nope

[audiotom]

Are those BRM's TRL amps?

Not Big Reds,

Paul made me a "navy" pair of mono blocks, he is a little color blind
My intent wasn't to mimic Pete, me swears, me swears
Me swears on the precious

[kc8apf]

After nearly a year of convincing myself and my wife that I needed new speakers, I put in an order for Supercharged SongTowers and a matching center today.  My wife required that they match the cabinetry in our living room so they'll have a white automotive finish instead of a veneer.  After waiting so long, it should be easy to wait another 45 days but I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to check Jim's status page already.

[jtwrace]

Not Big Reds,

Paul made me a "navy" pair of mono blocks, he is a little color blind
My intent wasn't to mimic Pete, me swears, me swears
Me swears on the precious

Well, in hin (anodizers) defense it's very hard to predict small color batches.  You certainly wouldn't want to pay for the approved samples. 

[benguin]

Uh oh- here's one more thing on the "things to do while you wait" list... while working on prepping my basement for the new SS8/Rythmik set up I found a perfect place for another set of speakers.

So-- now now Jim has worked up a pair of WOW1s that will meet my space requirements for the order as well.  It's going to be a very good Christmas!

[glangford]

I should note for whoever keeps the first page and post up to date that my SCSTs arrive today.  I'll post impressions later.

[PETE6737]

To pass the time while I wait for delivery, I just hooked up an Oppo BDP-105 in my system, replacing an Oppo 83SE, and it sounds fantastic. I can't wait to hear this with the SS8s when they come in, hopefully next month.

[audiotom]

Pete
you must be estatic with SS8s on the way
waiting for Salk's is a pleasant addiction, well worth the patience
and a side effect is other equipment miraculously shows up in your system

if you avatar is your music room
well done

glad to hear you like the Oppo 105 and it's a big step up
I have two of the original BDP83s (I was a beta tester)
excellent transport - great for high res blu ray, dvd_a and sacd but I felt it lacked at standard cd
my friend's bdp83se was better all around - more resolving
interested to hear your redbox comments on the BDP 105
I have signed up but haven't heard back from OPPO yet
this would be going in the ht room with v3s (or possibly HT3s)

mostly analog in the main system

[benguin]

I've been considering the Oppo 103 or 105 for my incoming SS8s.  The 105 has had a lot of positive press- glad to see that confirmed here.  With that in mind, we may have found our disc player.

Thanks!!
  Ben

[PETE6737]

Audiotom, Thanks for the props on my DIY theater. It's a well acoustically treated room. I will post pics after my SS8s come in. The OPPO BDP105 has only been installed for two days, connected by XLR , into a Cary Audio SPL-03 and theater bypass into a Bryston SP1.7 with 5.1 analog inputs with Harmonic Tech cables with Bryston 14BST and 9Bst amps.  Right away the mutlichannel input was easily recognizable as better than my Oppo 83SE. Not even close. As a matter of fact, I listened nearly to multichannel more than usual just because it really sounded great.

Today I listened to two channel only. Using my 15 year old B&W 803 Matrix speakers, I could still tell a difference in the 105 compared to the 83SE. The 105 is better than the 83SE in two channel, smooother mids and highs and tighter better sounding bass.  Redbook CD is better with the 105 compared to the 83SE. I use a Cambridge Audio 840C Cd player for CD, that I like over the 83SE, but now after after some time with the Oppo 105, I can say that I like the Cd sound on the 105 over the 840c. Damn, cause now I have a paperweight in my rack, because I won't use the 840C again! Time to sell it if I can.

I will say that the audio differences are minute over the 840C but easier to find over the 83SE. I am very optimistic that this 105 will sing with the Salk SS8s in my system. I am going down from 5 floorstanders all around with 5.1, to Salk SS8 2.0. I have a friend that heard my older 803 matrix speakers and surrounds and they were sold after a short test drive! He even bought the 83SE. I am holding them until mid December. I found that I was listening to 2 channel more than surround, and even though I have a projector, I am 90 percent music and that takes the priority over surround sound. I'm ok with watching the occasional movie in stellar two channel. If that philosophy changes, I will get Jim to make me some surrounds and center.  I bet with SS8s I could find more differences but for now, I am limited by my speakers. I have said that when I started my system 15 years ago, the speakers were better than any equipment in my rack, Now, after buying better components, I believe that my speakers are the weakest link, which is why I went with the SS8s.

Benguin if I were you, I would not hesitate to buy the 105 if you use the analog section, otherwise if you use HDMI into a receiver, I'd go with the 103. I use HDMI only to my projector.

Here's to Salk speakers and the ultimate listening experience we can afford! Any typos are alcohol related.

[Austin08]

Pete, I agree with you 100%. the 105 is way better tham my 83se Nuforce edition. Red book cds sound a lot better with the 105. I am absolutely can live with this multiplayer as a player and dedicated dac for a long time. There are 2 minor cons about this player. First, it is not compatable with window 8 (I hope Oppo is going to work on it and the new supported driver for window8 will be available in the next couple months). Second, They need to debug the hdmi hand-sake. I, sometimes, lost sound via hdmi input in the back and have to restart my computer. (maybe, it is my pc but it has never happen before) 

[glangford]

Ok, new SCSTs are set up. I promised listening impressions. I had a lengthu post on AVS forum I know many of you also read, but I've copied part of it hear as well: (with an Oppo-BDP-95)

"Here is where I departed from Jim's instructions. His instructions suggest first listening to his provided test CD of songs. Well when I fired up the Oppo the disc inside the player was a DVD-audio I'd created from a download of a Linn Records 24/88 flac recording of Handel's The Messiah. My first instinct was to test the Salks and how deep the bass was having come from a set of bookshelf speakers (Paradigm Studio 10s, great bookshelves, but a little short in the bass department). You won't get enthralling bass from Handel's Messiah, but I was instantly captivated by the clarity of the mid range the piece starting with a string arrangement. I couldn't stop myself, I sat there and listening to the whole disc. (about 1.5 hours or so). It was a good test disc, as I had just listened to that same disc a couple of days ago through my old speakers. The difference was very apparent. Its also a good piece to take the Raals out for a spin. Some of the high notes the soproanos hit are indeed amazing as well as some of the high notes of the horn section, particulalry when it gets to the hallelujah chorus. The mid range and the Raal shined. The Handel piece does have some good bass in places, some organ, cello, and kettle drums. The SCST handled it all very nicely. After Handel I wanted to explore something totally different. (I had forgotten about the test disc at that point). What's up... The Beatles White Album. I wanted to see how they rocked as well. One word, exceptional. Starting with Back in the USSR the SCST were amazing. My favorite song on that disc, Dear Prudence, is where Paul's bass really shines. The SCSTs handled it flawlessly. I ended the session right after While my Guitar Gently Weeps (and it did or I did)."

[PETE6737]

Glangford,
Thanks for your listening impressions. I hope I "weep" a little when I hear my new Salk speakers!

Austin08,
I am glad to hear that you are having the same sonic experience with the BDP 105! As with any new release, there are tweaks that will come out in updates. So far I have had no issues, but I haven't played with anything but the analog section. Happy listening! Pete

[audiotom]

Pete

I read your post last night, checked on the oppo site and they had the buy it option up, so I with no hesitation have a 105 on the way.

I had b&w matrix 2s in my system at one time and my friend 803s
Resolving speakers
But your jaw will drop when the SS8s arrive

Hearing them in your home setup - it will be a Godsend

[glangford]

I'm on the fence on the 105.  I have the 95 which spec wise in its analog audio section is not much different than the 105.  Some of the extra features would be nice, so I'm thinking about it, but from an audio perspective I can't find much reason to upgrade.  The main feature I like is the built in headphone amp, but I already have a headphone amp.  So,   

[PETE6737]

Audiotom,
I am sure the 105 will not disappoint you. Last night I was feeling nostalgic about my 15 years with the B&Ws. The 105 really made them sound great, minus the lower bass.  I know that the Salks will kick them to sleep!

Glangford
Reading the forums, I wonder how much you would notice stepping up from a 95. It was Significant from the 83se. You may want To sit this model out, unless you have a need for the bells and whistles.

[glangford]

Audiotom,
I am sure the 105 will not disappoint you. Last night I was feeling nostalgic about my 15 years with the B&Ws. The 105 really made them sound great, minus the lower bass.  I know that the Salks will kick them to sleep!

Glangford
Reading the forums, I wonder how much you would notice stepping up from a 95. It was Significant from the 83se. You may want To sit this model out, unless you have a need for the bells and whistles.

Yea I probably will sit it out. I have no use for a bdp player that acts as an external dac as my oppo is my only real audio source that I use, either disc or flac from usb port.  The 105's headphone amp seems to struggle with high impeadance cans so I don't see that as a compelling feature either. 

[jsalk]

Does anyone know if the BD105 is USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant?  If it is, it will not need special drivers for bit rate/depths up to 24/192 with current MAC or Linux systems.  (Windows will always need special drivers for these higher bit rates as the Win USB implementation is sub-par in comparison.)

The reason I ask is that I would consider using one of these with our StreamPlayer (Linux) if it was USB Class 2.0 Audio compliant.  It sounds like it may be possible to look at it as a very reasonably priced, competent DAC with a transport thrown in for good measure.

- Jim

[benguin]

Jim, I was reading through the on-line manual for the 105 last night and Oppo indicated this in the USB section:

The BDP-105 supports up to 2ch/192kHz PCM signal through its USB audio input, and up to
2ch/96kHz PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS and AAC signal through its Optical and Coaxial audio inputs

http://download.oppodigital.com/BDP105/BDP-105_USER_MANUAL_English_v1.4.pdf

One of the three USB ports is specifically called out as "USB Type B Audio Input" and is in the Digital Audio Input cluster on the back of the unit. 

Hopefully one of the new owners can confirm.

[srb]

According to the BDP-105 Support Page, there is a driver for Windows XP/Vista/7, no driver required for Mac, and currently there is no driver available for Windows 8 or Linux.
 
Software Driver for USB Audio DAC:

For Windows computers (XP, Vista and Windows 7): software driver download link. Please unzip the downloaded package and double-click on the "setup.exe" file, then follow the on-screen instructions to finish this installation. Select the BDP-105 as your sound output device by setting "Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Sound -> Playback" to "OPPO USB Audio Device 2.0".
 
For Mac computers, no software driver is required. Please set "System Preferences -> Sound -> Output" to "OPPO USB Audio Device 2.0".
 
Currently there is no software driver available for Windows 8 or Linux computers.

 
Steve