Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

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06-13-2018, 05:25 PM
N Boros

Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Just noticed the Sound and Vision review of the Cambridge Audio’s UHD Blu-Ray player, which is basically just cosmetic changes to the Oppo BDP 203.

https://www.soundandvision.com/conte...-player-review

If you didn’t get one before the scalpers bought them all up, you can get one now. It is a slight premium in price for the Cambridge name. But, it is not as bad as I thought it would be as far as price gouging. I could have got one of the Oppo players before they were gone, but I didn’t feel great about getting a player that doesn’t have the firmware support in the future. I would feel much better getting the Cambridge unit, in that regard. Not that they will necessarily be as responsive as Oppo was, but if they are still in business they should be at least somewhat responsive. Who knows maybe Oppo will be supporting the firmware in the background.
06-14-2018, 02:06 AM
racrawford65

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Congrats. I picked up my Oppo 203 several months ago. FYI - per Oppo's website, they say they will be supporting warranties and firmware upgrades in the future...

https://www.oppodigital.com/farewell.aspx
06-14-2018, 08:23 PM
Blutarsky

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Will learn to be happy with my OPPO BDP-95. I just hope that they support upgrades and repairs in the future
06-16-2018, 10:08 PM
Asliang

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Price has really gone nuclear, you can sell used 205s for $1800 now...
06-18-2018, 02:44 AM
Mose Harper

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

I paid $1700 for my 205 about five days after the news first dropped.

It was hardware modded to be code free so there was already a slight premium tacked on, but waiting three days I saw the price go up $300. Still seems like a bargain now.

Part of what prompted me to finally pull the trigger was a belief that resale value would more or less hold if I found it was more machine than I needed or the cost/value proposition didn't sit well.
Neither of those happened. The improvements in sound that I was hoping for with the better DACs is something I can hear.

Even if someone offered me $2K for it, I wouldn't sell it.
06-18-2018, 09:11 AM
racrawford65

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mose Harper

I paid $1700 for my 205 about five days after the news first dropped.

It was hardware modded to be code free so there was already a slight premium tacked on, but waiting three days I saw the price go up $300. Still seems like a bargain now.

Part of what prompted me to finally pull the trigger was a belief that resale value would more or less hold if I found it was more machine than I needed or the cost/value proposition didn't sit well.
Neither of those happened. The improvements in sound that I was hoping for with the better DACs is something I can hear.

Even if someone offered me $2K for it, I wouldn't sell it.

Curious, improvement in sound versus which player previously? I'm on the contact me list for the 205 for when the last run is made, and am considering picking one up should I be high enough on the list.
06-18-2018, 10:57 AM
MarkGraz

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

I figured that OPPO wasn't going to throw away the actual tech and we'd be seeing some rebadged units, makes sense. They are setting up a separate company with current employees for ongoing technical and warrantee support, doesn't make sense to do all that for discontinued products.
06-19-2018, 02:53 AM
Mose Harper

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

Quote:

Originally Posted by racrawford65

Curious, improvement in sound versus which player previously? I'm on the contact me list for the 205 for when the last run is made, and am considering picking one up should I be high enough on the list.

I'd been using a 103 the last four years. In 2016 I upgraded to RAAL towers and the Horizon. Then last year I upgraded to the Lunas as surrounds.
The system sounded just great with the 103 (going analog out), but I definitely could detect improvements with the 205.

The improvement I hear is similar to what I get when I use a small DAC with my desktop setup versus going straight from the iPad or Mac Mini- The latter is perfectly fine and I use it that way most of the time for convenience. But when I do use a DAC, the soundstage becomes more expansive, the lower end comes through with more authority, imaging is clearer, more air between sounds, etc.

It definitely takes everything up a notch or two.

But , of course, YMMV.
06-19-2018, 10:31 AM
JR123

Re: Oppo BDP 203 Lives On

I had an Oppo BDP-83 in my system for ages. Loved it, but it was finally starting to fail. No blame towards Oppo, as I don't have cable TV so it was spinning DVDs and Blu-rays constantly.

So I started shopping for a UDP-203. But I only do two channel stereo over RCAs. And I have a decent headphone collection, so the improved headphone amp in the UDP-205 was appealing.

I got lucky and grabbed a 205 at the normal price just a few weeks prior to Oppo announcing their farewell. Very glad I was able to treat myself to such a nice player.

The video quality is the best I've ever seen.
Sound quality is stunning on movies and CDs and SACDs.
Listening to SACDs with headphones- incredible.
Build quality is off the charts- it weighs 22 pounds and they weren't kidding about that massive toroidal power transformer.

I'll miss Oppo.

Nice that Cambridge Audio is taking up some of the slack. Though it wouldn't work with my system, since Cambridge took away the stereo RCA outs.