wallflower

Brain Bromberg "Wood" and anything by Jack Johnson. "Soular Energy" by The Ray Brown Trio.

Get an OPPO DV-980H. It does a wonderful job with Redbook, plus it plays SACD, DVD-A, HDCD... For $169.00 you can't beat it.

Josh- You really need to give the OPPO more time to "play in". Yours is still practically new. I'll bet after a month of solid play in, you'll notice less difference between your OPPO and the Rega. You might also try a better power cord. I put a cheap Radio-Shack power cord on mine and it made an improvement (mostly because the new power cord would stay tight in the OPPO power socket). The stock OPPO power cord is really cheap, but at least with the new DV-980H you can use a standard power cord! Please report back! Jeff

Josh - If your unit is like mine, and I suspect it is, the unit will not go to "audio only" mode without the remote. Once in "audio only" mode you will see a very small "A-Only" on your OPPO display (once you push the button on the remote it will take approx. 5 seconds for "A-Only" to display on the unit). OPPO recommends that this mode is used for the best audio reproduction (it disables all video output from the unit while the disc is playing and apparently enhances audio performance). As I stated earlier, the annoyance is in needing to do it every time you load a disc. But it's not that big of a deal. One other nice benefit of the remote is that it has a volume control for the player on it, which obviates the need for a remote on the pre-amp while using the player! Jeff

Josh - The only way I know to program the OPPO is through the video setup. But once you've got it set you're good to go. I haven't needed to change anything since I put it in service. Actually the defaults were pre-set for two channel on mine. The only thing I have to do that's annoying is to push the "audio only" mode on the remote everytime I put a disc in. OPPO has confirmed that's the only way to set "audio only" mode. Jeff

This is my assessment of listening to the DV-980H for the past month: There are some very distinct similarities between this player and my Rega Saturn. The more the OPPO plays in the more similar it seems to the Saturn. The thing that stands out the most is the sense of a black background (or said another way, the lack of hash or noise in the background). I remember the first time I heard the Saturn I was struck by how quiet the background was and how instruments and voices seemed to leap from nothing to images in the air. The more I listen to the OPPO I’m hearing the same quality. The top end is silky smooth and the bottom end is substantial and tight. It’s very revealing and yet never unpleasant to listen to. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this OPPO is a giant killer (no a giant annihilator). Honestly I don’t know how the other manufacturers are going to compete with this product. It’s ridiculously good. And that's just Redbook. On a slightly different note... I have to thank forum member Tom Mobley for graciously sending me his copy of Soular Energy by the Ray Brown Trio. Tom couldn’t use this disc because it’s DVD-A and his player wouldn’t play it. Thanks Tom!! What a wonderful gift and gesture. This recording is simply unbelievable. The OPPO plays it spectacularly. It’s worth spending the parsimonious sum of $169.00 just to hear this disc on this player. OH MY GOD!

We've got a record store in town and they had three copies of this LP on Saturday. If you need a copy let me know and I'll get you one.

If you desire a multiformat player that sounds really good, just save yourself a bunch of money and get an OPPO DV-980H. I've got a Rega Saturn and the aforementioned OPPO and while I could point out differences between the two - in the end the differences would be rather minor and insignificant - but why do it because the OPPO is one hell of a player. In fact it's so good I could easily give up my Saturn and just run the OPPO.

Bill - What's the name of your restaurant in Silverton, CO? We're up there every summer and I'd love to stop in and see your place. Regards, Jeff

Mike, Thanks for the thoughtful response! As someone that plays music I'm very familiar with the instruments previously mentioned and I pay particular attention to how accurately they're reproduced. My experiences have led me to the conclusion that speakers do have an enormous impact on our perception of the music we listen to, but the upstream electronics also play a major role in imparting a sense of accurateness to the tonality of instruments. Without proper tonality coming from the electronics, I don't believe the speaker can do anything to make up for that sound (or lack there of). I'm glad to know that electronics do impart different characteristics to the sound produced with Jubilees. Judging from other comments, I was beginning to believe that Jubilees have a "life of their own" and thus no matter what feeds them they sound the same, which just didn't (and doesn't) make any sense. Thanks for the clarification!

So I'm curious.... Could you hear differences with your Khorns when you switched out different upstream components?

By this description do you mean to imply that regardless of electronics the Jubilees sounded the same? If so, that would seem quite odd. I've heard a lot high quality amps and while many sounded excellent, they all provided some type of different sonic characteristic. Please explain.

The DV-980H is OPPOs first attempt at building an audio focused player. The 981 is an older design similar to the 970. The 980 is a completely new design. I've got one and recommend it highly for audio playback.

I really appreciate all the comments about Jubilee speakers! It seems there are a lot of comments about dynamics, low distortion, bass response, etc..., however I haven't noticed comments about the tonal character of instruments (e.g. the sound of a Fender Stratocaster on a Fender Twin Reverb amp, or a Gibson Les Paul on a Marshall Stack, or a 1936 Martin D-28, or a 1923 Gibson Lloyd Loar mandolin, or a Steinway Grand Piano, etc...). I've realized that electronics play a large roll in providing a natural or "real" sense of the tone and character of these particular instruments. Can the Jubilee owners speak to the unique characteristics that the combination of Crown SS gear and Jubilees provide in this regard? Thanks!

The '92s because the crossovers would be AK-3s, which are very good and would probably not need to be replaced or updated yet.

Has anyone tried the 103R with a VPI JMW-9 arm?

Dave, To quote from the DV-980H User Manual: "You can enjoy higher quality audio by turning off the video processing and output. The Audio-Only mode reduces interference between the video and audio signals." I'll call OPPO on Wednesday to get more information. Regards, Jeff

Dave, The DV-980H will also play DVD, SACD, CD, whatever you put in and do it on its own, but it appears that in its default mode it's also putting out a signal to the video (e.g. if you have the T.V. on you'll see the OPPO display on) and it'll stay on until you select the "Audio Only" mode on the remote. When you select "Audio Only" mode there's a 5 second countdown on the video and the signal to the T.V. turns off and then there's a small display on the DV-980H that shows "Audio Only". It would really be preferrable to have the unit stay in this audio only mode until the user decides to change to video. Jeff

Dave, The DV-980H starts up in a dual video/audio mode and there's a button on the remote to put the unit into an audio only mode (the manual states this mode is preferred for audio playback), however it seems the unit goes to this default (dual mode) whenever I change a disc (without powering down). Does the 981 do the same thing? If so, do you know how to set the player so it's always in audio only mode? Jeff

I've heard Tom's setup with the Aleph 30 a number of times and it's outstanding!!

FYI... I just purchased/received an OPPO DV-980H. I'm very impressed with my initial listening. For $169 it's amazing! After a burn in period I'll give an updated report. However, what I'm hearing right now is exceptional; very smooth and balanced. One thing that does stand out is its ability to reproduce piano. Right now it seems a bit bass shy, but the top end is what I'm most concerned about and that sounds right on. It'll be interesting to do some A/B sampling with my Rega Saturn.

Two ideas to throw into the mix of this discussion... I've visited with the folks from OPPO and they actually recommend the DV-980H as their best "audio" quality player ($169). They recommend the DV-981HD if you have a need for the higher resolution video capability. The DV-981HD has the same design and path that their now discontinued 970HD had. The DV-980H apparently has a newly designed board (with help from Rotel), new DACs and upgraded caps, etc... I've heard the 970HD and if they've improved on that player (which they say they have), $169 is pretty amazing for that much sound. The DV-980H still does 1080p and all the other video levels, it just doesn't have the Faroujda video processing capability. For the money it's probably best to just get both players! Conversely, they said in 6 to 8 months they should have a new player that has the same audio capability of the DV-980H which will also include the Faroujda processor. Regarding the USB DAC discussion. As mentioned, the TAS article referenced a PCI external DAC (the Echo Gina3G), which for a street price of approx. $250.00 (price includes the PCI card, PCI cable and external DAC) sounds like a real winner. Combine the freeware (Exact Copy and Foobar) and you'd be in business with a "roll your own" music server on the cheap. I think I'm going to give it a go.

Hi Gary, Could you please PM me your home email address or phone number so I can contact you off forum? Thanks!! Jeff Bredthauer

"I've been told the original LS speakers get that "cupped" nasal sound" That's hogwash. With good updated crossovers, good amps and good sources, original LS do not sound nasal.

What's a good design for a DIY subwoofer that can keep up with the La Scala?