Theta Digital Bluray player. - Page 4

Originally Posted by PeterS

Steve,

Have you seen (or heard) one? ;-)

Originally Posted by rblnr

Will this be the first Theta anything that doesn't have balanced outs?

Originally Posted by vancouver

Are theta owners expecting this player will perform as well via its analog vs HDMI through a theta processor?

Originally Posted by mark haflich

Really? So if you mount an Oppo transport on a good base, damp the tray,and supply a linear power supply noted to improve the audio, that`s it.The best digital transport for 3K on can reasonable get?

Originally Posted by VGI

He has the Sony 3000 Cd player and he clearly stated that the Theta Was much nicer sonically and its not even broken in yet.
Craig

Originally Posted by Armand07

Yes, we already know that the Oppo sounds better than this player. My oppo even sounds a lot better than my old Theta Compli.

Originally Posted by Armand07

My oppo even sounds a lot better than my old Theta Compli.

Originally Posted by audiman

Really ? how are you setup with these players? (analog out or simply digital)?

Originally Posted by audiman

Really ? how are you setup with these players? (analog out or simply digital)?

Originally Posted by Armand07

An Oppo 83 SE version replaced my Compli soon after this broke down. Only relevant comparison in my setup is analog out for multichannel SACD (because I used AES/EBU for movies on the Compli and use HDMI on the Oppo). I have another player for redbook CD.

This "test" (we only speak of Audio quality here) was in my highly treated room with 5 dedicated ac lines and the rest of components in use for playing SACD´s from the Oppo are:

Surround processor is Cary Cinema 11a. Amps are Jeff Rowland 301 for front L+R, Jeff Rowland 501 for center, Bel Canto S-500 for surround. 2 x Burmester 948 AC conditioners. Speakers are Aerial 20Tv2 for front L+R, Aerial cc5 for center + Audio Physic Minos sub to fill in the cc5, Aerial SR3 surround, 2 x Aerial SW12 for LFE.

The Oppo got all the same cables that the Compli had before, Wireworld 5.2 Gold Electra power cord and rca interconnects from the Oppo to the Surround processor are Wireworld gold eclipse 5.2 for front, center and sub, wireworld silver eclipse 5.2 for surrounds. From there all cabling is mix of Nordost Odin, Valhalla and Tyr.

Brand new, out of the box, I was chocked how good the Oppo 83 SE was, I had never before had this sound from my SACD´s. Without any doubt it was quite a lot better than my old Compli. Much more resolution and dynamics - or better in every area I can think of. I was not prepared for this, only hoped it wouldn´t be much worse than the Compli, but I was completely wrong. I understand technology is moving fast! Hope you believe me, I am not making this up. Have no other agenda.

ps 1: Haven´t heard the Compli Blu. Guess its audio quality also will be much better than the previous Compli also for SD DVD and SACD. I had an Compli Blu on order, but mainly because Theta doesn´t provide HD-SDI I have cancelled this. The Oppo 83 SE with HD-SDI seems to provide all what I need at the moment. It is so good that I think it would be better to invest in new projector or better surround processor if I should think of anything. If I should get a better BD player I would also look at the new Ayre. Seems to me that they have done more changes/upgrades than Theta, but the price is of course even higher.

ps 2: For video and SD DVD I used SDI out of my Compli, and now through the HD-SDI on the Oppo. Can´t see any difference.

Originally Posted by tyree91

That's a nice rig. Your original post cited the BD-83 not the SE. The Std unit would not touch the old Compli. I do not doubt your observations on the SE however as I have not had occasion to listen to it yet. I was supposed to have a NuForce SE in house to test on Thursday, but I had to cancel to go to Mammoth. We're doing it in 2 weeks instead. We should have the Compli Blu, as well as a Denon DVD-5910 all disc player (no BD) and an Elite BDP-09FD. I shall post. Regards, Norm

Originally Posted by Armand07

An Oppo 83 SE version replaced my Compli soon after this broke down. Only relevant comparison in my setup is analog out for multichannel SACD (because I used AES/EBU for movies on the Compli and use HDMI on the Oppo). I have another player for redbook CD.

This "test" (we only speak of Audio quality here) was in my highly treated room with 5 dedicated ac lines and the rest of components in use for playing SACD´s from the Oppo are:

Surround processor is Cary Cinema 11a. Amps are Jeff Rowland 301 for front L+R, Jeff Rowland 501 for center, Bel Canto S-500 for surround. 2 x Burmester 948 AC conditioners. Speakers are Aerial 20Tv2 for front L+R, Aerial cc5 for center + Audio Physic Minos sub to fill in the cc5, Aerial SR3 surround, 2 x Aerial SW12 for LFE.

The Oppo got all the same cables that the Compli had before, Wireworld 5.2 Gold Electra power cord and rca interconnects from the Oppo to the Surround processor are Wireworld gold eclipse 5.2 for front, center and sub, wireworld silver eclipse 5.2 for surrounds. From there all cabling is mix of Nordost Odin, Valhalla and Tyr.

Brand new, out of the box, I was chocked how good the Oppo 83 SE was, I had never before had this sound from my SACD´s. Without any doubt it was quite a lot better than my old Compli. Much more resolution and dynamics - or better in every area I can think of. I was not prepared for this, only hoped it wouldn´t be much worse than the Compli, but I was completely wrong. I understand technology is moving fast! Hope you believe me, I am not making this up. Have no other agenda.

ps 1: Haven´t heard the Compli Blu. Guess its audio quality also will be much better than the previous Compli also for SD DVD and SACD. I had an Compli Blu on order, but mainly because Theta doesn´t provide HD-SDI I have cancelled this. The Oppo 83 SE with HD-SDI seems to provide all what I need at the moment. It is so good that I think it would be better to invest in new projector or better surround processor if I should think of anything. If I should get a better BD player I would also look at the new Ayre. Seems to me that they have done more changes/upgrades than Theta, but the price is of course even higher.

ps 2: For video and SD DVD I used SDI out of my Compli, and now through the HD-SDI on the Oppo. Can´t see any difference.

Originally Posted by edorr

May I ask if you ever compared the digital route for multi channel SACD on the Oppo using PCM output over HDMI, and compared it with MC analog? If so how did this compare? Conversely, did you ever play Blu Ray over the analog outs and how did this compare with HDMI?

Reason I'm asking is that if you found all Multi Channel High Rez audio to sound better over analog, you may get more bang for the buck upgrading your MC analog preamp than sinking 10K into an Ayre (if money is no object you could of course do both). I personally was using the very good Pioneer 09 Blu Ray into the MC analog inputs on my Onkyo processor, and going from the Onkyo to a Theta Six Shooter was a night and day difference. I suspect you would get a big lift from going from the Cary 11a to a six shooter (or equivalent). Since you indicated you have a separate 2 channel setup, you could use the second input on the six shooter for 2 channel and integrate your multi channel and 2 channel systems. The casablanca III you would need a to control the six shooter can be used for digital sources such as satelite receiver. Finally, if it turns out Theta's forthcoming HDMI implementation bests the six shooter analog route you can upgrade your casablanca III and go back to digital.

Originally Posted by Armand07

You have a very good point. I have compared the analog outs from the Oppo vs digital/HDMI and using the DACs in my Cinema 11a. For movies I prefer going digital, but for SACD I prefer analog. I don´t know why it is so, that is just my findings.

Six Shooter/CBIII (or iV?) could be of interest. I was hesitating for a moment because of lack of room correction, but have done some changes in my setup recently and added more acoustic treatment which makes me think I no longer must have this. Another option is a high quality multichannel preamp like the Audio Research. Then I could keep my Cinema 11a which I will need for several other digital sources and integrate it with an analog mc preamp. (I am one of the few out here which haven´t had much problems with this unit, works very nice in my system). My 2ch preamp has cinema bypass, so I would let the L+R signals from the mc preamp go through the 2ch preamp, not the other way around.

Originally Posted by Bulldogger

I am hearing very good reports about the Oppo SE. Too bad Thete did not have that model to build this player. I would certainly buy it considering how nicely done the Theta power supply looks

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

I agree!

Originally Posted by edorr

Also, I do not know how the AR compares sonically to a six shooter, but it is probably in the same leaugue. Another potential additional benefit is that unless you are using some esoteric $10K plus 2 channel preamp, the Audio Research MP1 (and six shooter for that matter), may be at par with what you are using now, allowing you to take it out of the chain. If Theta delivers HDMI, their CBIII + six shooter will probably be superior sonically to AR MP1 + Cinema 11a, but it would be more expensive and most importantly it is not there yet. Another multi channel preamp option would be a EMM switchman 3.

Originally Posted by Bulldogger

IMO the Six Shooter is better than the LS25 which I believe the MAP1 is based. I have owned the LS25 briefly.

Originally Posted by edorr

For now, getting an Acoustic Research might be your best bet to upgrade Multi Channel analog sound quality, without loosing the flexibility of the Cinema 11a. If your budget allows, you could then take things up another notch on MC SACD by getting a universal player with reference DACs and analog circuit (possibly Ayre, may be Marantz UD9004). The only possible compromise I see with using the Audio Research + Cinema 11 + 2 channel preamp is you would need to run the Cinema 11a multi channel analog outputs through an active multi channel analog input on the AR. This is one redundant circuit that could possibly compromising sound quality. You could ask if Audio Research could rewire their Multi Channel 3 input to bypass mode, which would solve this problem. Also, I do not know how the AR compares sonically to a six shooter, but it is probably in the same leaugue. Another potential additional benefit is that unless you are using some esoteric $10K plus 2 channel preamp, the Audio Research MP1 (and six shooter for that matter), may be at par with what you are using now, allowing you to take it out of the chain. If Theta delivers HDMI, their CBIII + six shooter will probably be superior sonically to AR MP1 + Cinema 11a, but it would be more expensive and most importantly it is not there yet. Another multi channel preamp option would be a EMM switchman 3.

Originally Posted by Lex22

I received my March Stereophile today. There is a comparison between the Oppo BD-83 and the Lexicon. Needless to say, Kal's findings are essentially the same as Audioholics. Kal did find improvement with the BD-83SE over the regular version.

Let's hope other high end companies do better than Lexicon with their Oppo derived players, although I'm sticking with my Oppo.

Originally Posted by Armand07

I am mostly a 2 channel guy, at least 90% of my collection is redbook and I have invested heavily in 2 ch gear. I have latest Burmester reference cd and preamp. So I believe there isn´t any multich preamp in the same league. At least I can say that my current preamp is far, far better in all areas than my previous Theta GenVIII (mkI).

I would prefer, if possible, not to have mc preamp and surround proc. in two different boxes so if I could replace my Cary Cinema 11a sometime in the future with a top notch surr.processor I would be happy. I have also heard very good reports about the Krell processors, the 707 and also the s1200, when it comes to the analog section. The 707 is too expensive I think, so I am mostly interested in the s1200 and to know how the new Theta CB will compete with this.

Originally Posted by Bulldogger

IMO the Six Shooter is better than the LS25 which I believe the MAP1 is based. I have owned the LS25 briefly.

Originally Posted by SamKVA

I don't own a Six Shooter as I'm still in the Theta dark ages with a CBII but I did own the AR LS25 MKII for a few months and was not impressed. The sound quality of my Stax preamp that is almost 30 years old remains my favorite 2 channel path. However, I did like how AR's HT bypass feature worked which certainly doesn't exist on my Stax; now I use a passive preamp as an HT bypass. It's more cables but it allows me to keep my preferred source (turntable) in the system as the Stax supports moving coil cartridges. My L&R main speakers are powered by Stax DA80M class A mono-block amps which are nice match for the preamp. I bought the Oppo SE as a gap filler while waiting for the Compli-Blu and I'm very happy with it. I mostly listen to the 2 channel path and since I'm a bit behind on the MC front, I can't offer much in that area. However, the SE is better than any other 2 channel unit I have owned (including a few a still own). I will likely purchase a mid-fi SSP, ditch the CBII and stick with my current 2 channel path.

Sam