I sold the non-plus-ultra Oppo BDP-105D and bought a used Oppo 83. All the goodness of the 105 w/o the complication, and I got $700 in change to help buy a tube DAC. Listening to the Oregon - 45th Parallel CD on it and now it sounds pretty dang good - to my ears as good or better than the 105 (though not as good as that damn Phillips - maybe after I get the DAC). Will try a SACD next.
My take on the Oppo lineup now: the 105 is not worth the extra dough. The DAC is not that good and is painful to use (little ergonomic things like not remembering what digital input I used last - had to scroll through the menu of eight inputs [of which the DAC is last] or hit a combination of keys to get to the DAC). I may be in the minority, but I think that Oppo DAC is oversold. Rev's Arcam DAC (a 4 year old design costing much less) sounds way..... better. The Darbee video processing in the 105D is not useful - at least not in my video display setups (Sharp Aquous 65" LCD or Mitsu 7900 front projector, both at 1080p with the 105 doing all the processing) - the Oppo 83 is doing as good a job w/o all the complexity (or I do not have the "golden eyes" to appreciate the Darbee effect). If you are going to purchase a new Oppo, go for the 103. The "D" is not worth it except as a resale value gimmick.
My 2 cents.
OBG
