Thread: SACD Player with a built in pre-amp. What??

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Post by Links November 28, 2013 (41 of 46)
You can use the Oppo 105 as a master volume control with no worries of increased noise
or loss of audible bits.
Read this:

ESS Says OPPO 105 Volume Control Doesn't Lose Bits

"The -135dB of the ESS Sabre DAC would need an exceptionally low noise analog volume
control to beat its internal digital one"

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=114588.0

Post by duchski November 29, 2013 (42 of 46)
Case closed for me. Instead of buying a pre-amp with bells and whistles I would never use I can skip it and effectively put more money into a decent power amp like Parasound Halo A-52. This is yet another reason to go with Oppo: it would replace my SACD and BD players, my network player and preamp. All for $1,200!

Anybody has any thoughts on that setup: Oppo 105 + Parasound a52 + Phase Technology Teatro speaker system?

Post by Chalkperson November 29, 2013 (43 of 46)
My Linn Unidisc SC player failed, whilst getting it fixed I tried plugging an Oppo 105 into the Linn Power Amps. The quality of sound was so good I cancelled the repair, I was shocked by how good the sound from the Oppo was.

Post by Fugue November 29, 2013 (44 of 46)
duchski said:

Case closed for me. Instead of buying a pre-amp with bells and whistles I would never use I can skip it and effectively put more money into a decent power amp like Parasound Halo A-52. This is yet another reason to go with Oppo: it would replace my SACD and BD players, my network player and preamp. All for $1,200!

Anybody has any thoughts on that setup: Oppo 105 + Parasound a52 + Phase Technology Teatro speaker system?

When my pre-amp was out for repair, I hooked up my Oppo 105 directly to my Parasound A 51 (the 5-channel version of the A52 amp) and it sounded great--pretty much the last word in purist audio. It would not make a good long-term solution for me since I have numerous other sources, such as a turntable, cassette, VCR, etc., but if the Oppo is your only audio source, then it makes a lot of sense. Just be sure to turn its volume down to zero then slowly raise the level: you don't want your speakers taking the full brunt of your amp all at once! (Nor your ears...)

Post by duchski November 29, 2013 (45 of 46)
Fugue said:

When my pre-amp was out for repair, I hooked up my Oppo 105 directly to my Parasound A 51 (the 5-channel version of the A52 amp) and it sounded great--pretty much the last word in purist audio. It would not make a good long-term solution for me since I have numerous other sources, such as a turntable, cassette, VCR, etc., but if the Oppo is your only audio source, then it makes a lot of sense. Just be sure to turn its volume down to zero then slowly raise the level: you don't want your speakers taking the full brunt of your amp all at once! (Nor your ears...)

So there is no way to preset a default startup volume level? That's a bummer....

Well, I think I could live with that and then bug Oppo for adding this useful feature to the next firmware update. Oppo 105 covers pretty much all of anybody's optical disc needs while my CD collection has been residing on a hard drive in a lossles format since 2005, even here Oppo shines by taking advantage of its outstanding ESS SABRE DACs and DLNA compatibility. The only other source I would ever use is the digital cable box but Oppo's HDMI-in and optical-in ports more than cover that part.

Again, I am really glad to find out that Oppo decided to improve the level control and added extra HDMI and digital inputs to 105, effectively turning it into a simplistic but more than adequate preamp. I always thought that the standalone preamps and full blown AVRs were simply an overkill in SACD world as they unnecessarily lengthened the analog audio path.
And no, I don't intend to listen to FM radio on a $2,000 speaker set ;). Long live Oppo and its no-nonsense approach to high-def audio and video!

Post by Fugue November 29, 2013 (46 of 46)
duchski said:

So there is no way to preset a default startup volume level? That's a bummer....

The latest firmware update includes a startup level, but I haven't downloaded it since it's a beta release and I prefer to use the public releases.

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