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Does Oppo diminish receiver investment?

2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  jdsmoothie 
#1 ·
I can’t figure out how to update my system. $1000 - $1500 budget. I’m looking at Marantz SR5005 ($800) with either low cost Sony Blu-Ray($150?) or Oppo BDP-93 ($500). I hear Sony's BD players are a very good transport to allow the Marantz to handle processing and amplification. Oppo may have better audio and video processing than the Marantz receiver, in which case wouldn’t I end up using the Marantz primarily as an amplifier? If I go the Oppo route, am I better off getting a stand alone amp like Outlaw 7125 and forego the receiver? Or is the problem that I give up room correction processing and speaker level adjustments? Does the Oppo’s additional $350 cost diminish a receiver investment, which may be better spent elsewhere?
 
#2 ·
Get the Oppo. You are buying it in order to help upscaling for regular DVD's, It does a much better job than ANY AVR will do. As for the AVR you will also need one for doing room correction, connectivity and other features EXCept upscaling. If your budget allows and you are not into 3D the Yamaha 1065 is a good choice. If you want 3D look at the Yamaha 667 or as others here seem to say the Pioneer 1120 is an excellent AVR. As for the 1120 I have never used a non-Elite Pioneer product, so I would look at the dedicated thread for it. The Denon 3310 is also an excellent buy at this time. It would be my choice over the Marantz 5005. That Pop of Death thingy with the Marantz's scares me away from the X006 series. They seem to have got it fixed with the AV7005, but it over your budget. With Oppo player you can get a bargain from last years offerings for AVR's and you should be good to go. Get that OPPO, I feel you would love it.
 
#3 ·
Not sure Oppo would have better deinterlacing/scaling than any receiver.


Let's break it down a bit -


* For watching DVD's, you probably want some device with a good deinterlacer. That could be a player, a receiver or a TV

* One possible issue with players is that many don't seem to have 480i output over HDMI, only 480p, so you are forced to use their deinterlacer chip (I think Oppo may be able to output 480i, but it also has a good deinterlacer)

* When dealing with HD signals, such as Blu-ray or HDTV, no processing is likely needed, except for maybe 1080i channels needing deinterlacing

* For standard def TV, if your TV box's deinterlacer is poor and your TV's deinterlacer is poor, there's something to be said for a receiver with a good deinterlacer

* Some receivers offer more than just deinterlacing/scaling, and thus a bit of value - for example, noise reduction has some value


I have not noticed my Yamaha Z7's video processing to be of much use. My DVD player's deinterlacer is good enough, which is why it's not a big issue. For poor looking standard def TV, I have yet to find where my Z7 can improve it to acceptable levels. The Z7 scored perfectly on the HQV benchmark. So my conclusion has always been that that receiver VP has been of limited use. There's many option for DVD players with good enough deinterlacing/scaling that are cheaper than Oppo, I think.


It makes more sense though, if you don't have a Blu-ray player yet, to find a Blu-ray player that's also good at playing DVDS.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustAsking
I can’t figure out how to update my system. $1000 - $1500 budget. I’m looking at Marantz SR5005 ($800) with either low cost Sony Blu-Ray($150?) or Oppo BDP-94 ($500). I hear Sony's BD players are a very good transport to allow the Marantz to handle processing and amplification. Oppo may have better audio and video processing than the Marantz receiver, in which case wouldn’t I end up using the Marantz primarily as an amplifier? If I go the Oppo route, am I better off getting a stand alone amp like Outlaw 7125 and forego the receiver? Or is the problem that I give up room correction processing and speaker level adjustments? Does the Oppo’s additional $350 cost diminish a receiver investment, which may be better spent elsewhere?
First of all, how large is your display? If you have a 50-55" class or under, the vast majority of blu-ray players will upconvert your SD DVDs well enough and you can forget about needing to let the receiver do the work. Look at http://winstonsreviews.com/?page_id=63 for an idea as to which players are the best at handling DVD upconversion.


Second, the newer Sony players are NOT good transports if you are looking for another device to do the scaling and deinterlacing, as the Sony machines cannot output SD DVD in it's original 480i format. They output in 480p, which means that they've already done the deinterlacing which is the most critical part.


Third, the Oppos are great machines, but possibly overkill for your needs. There is another solution which will work just as well (and I can speak from experience as I own both solutions). Get a Denon 2310/3310 on clearance (last year's models) for $500-$580 at Amazon or another authorized Denon retailer. These both have the same ABT chip as the just retired Oppo BDP-83. The Denon implementation of the chip does not offer as many tweaking capabilities as the Oppo, but if fed a "source direct" (480i) signal for SD DVDs, they will provide the same basic upscaling and deinterlacing performance as the Oppo. The newest Oppo BDP-93 has a different Marvel chip, but is said to provide roughly the same PQ as the ABT chip in the BDP-83.


I have tested my Oppo upconversion against the Denon's upconversion and the PQ was identical at 106" just as I expected. Again, this assumes you don't need to tweak the picture with Edge/Detail enhancement & noise reduction (I never did), as the Denon implementation of the ABT chip leaves out these capabilities.


Now, for this to work, you need a player with the ability to output in "source direct". Unfortunately, the list of players which can do so is becoming fewer and further between. A list of players which can do so can be found in this thread. It's old, but has been updated recently toward the end with a *somewhat* comprehensive list (missing players such as the BDP-80 and BDP320/23fd). http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=19407815


Personally, I would get one of last year's Denons such as the 2310 for $500 over the Marantz. If you have a 55" screen or under viewed from normal distances, just get one of the players Winston has ranked highly for upconversion in his subjective tests. If you have a larger screen, get a player with "source direct" so the Denon can do the upconversion. Otherwise, get the Oppo (which is the best machine for under $500 but pricey). Either way, last year's Denon + the Oppo is still at the low end of your budget.
 
#6 ·
Thanks all for the information. I don't know if anyone is notified when I follow-up on this thread, but wanted to let everyone know I did check out the Marantz pop of death thread and it scared me off. I appreciate that! I picked up the Denon 2310 alternative at BB, the AVR-890. I couldn't pass up the deal. Sealed box, brand new, $325!!!! Sounds great... now I can start looking into my BR options.
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JustAsking /forum/post/19635809


Thanks all for the information. I don't know if anyone is notified when I follow-up on this thread, but wanted to let everyone know I did check out the Marantz pop of death thread and it scared me off. I appreciate that! I picked up the Denon 2310 alternative at BB, the AVR-890. I couldn't pass up the deal. Sealed box, brand new, $325!!!! Sounds great... now I can start looking into my BR options.

The Oppo is still the best out there. Read the reviews and test reports at Secrets of Home Theater. It will play all formats with the exception of HD-DVD. Also some of the best people to work with in the business.
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JustAsking /forum/post/19635809


I picked up the Denon 2310 alternative at BB, the AVR-890. I couldn't pass up the deal. Sealed box, brand new, $325!!!!

Click on the 2nd link in my sig to determine the firmware version of your 890 as well as reviewing the issues with the 2310/890 to determine if you need an update. If yes, the 890 must be sent in to a repair facility for the update rather then is the case with the 2310 which has a RS-232 port and can be user firmware updated. I'd also call around to ALL of the Best Buys in your driving area as 2310's are going as low as $200 and 3310's as low as $400 in some locations around the country.
 
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