Oppo (attn: Joe Murphy Jr.)

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A quick note for you Oppo 971 fans: A few months ago I picked up a Cambridge Audio DVD79 DVD player which is basically an Oppo 971 with different (much nicer) cosmetics, better build quality, detachable IEC power cord, remote and firmware. I flashed the firmware with the latest Oppo firmware which makes all of the front panel controls useless except power on/off and drawer open/close but greatly improves the picture. You need to use the Oppo remote to control the unit after changing firmware.
The DVD79 looks and sounds better than the stock Oppo and can be greatly improved with a decent power cord. It has a very weak audio section and use of toslink is mandatory for digital out. I have several high-end dacs including two Stereophile class "A" units as well as several jitter filters and always use either I2s, AES/EBU balance or coaxial digital connections and had no luck getting decent sound from the Cambridge until I tried toslink. The analog audio and digital outs and underpowered and use very cheap caps but the optical is actually a very robust design and has a very strong and clean output. Heresy for some purists but there it is. The Cambridge also responds very well to footers and placement on a Seismic Sink and use of sand bags or a Bright Star Audio brick for chassis damping.
The DVD79 greatly improves on the already excellent performance of the Oppo player. It hardly every has lip sync problems and you only need to hit pause for a couple of seconds to cure the problem when it does appear (maybe one time out of ten movies). It's hard to believe the level of performance you can get from this inexpensive player. I've spent upwards of $4,000 on DVD players in the past and the $250 Cambridge Audio has the best picture yet. Try it, you'll like it.

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Topic - Oppo (attn: Joe Murphy Jr.) - Bender 09:35:14 08/20/06 (4)

not really a fan - Joe Murphy Jr 21:58:59 08/21/06 (2)

Panasonic and the Faroujda chip - La Dolce Vita 21:20:17 08/23/06 (1)

"macroblocking" - Joe Murphy Jr 20:52:51 08/24/06 (0)

Is it Region Free and does it Convert PAL to NTSC? (nt) - Jack G 04:42:15 08/21/06 (0)

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