With the announcement that over 54% of music purchased in the last year was purchased via streaming services such as Tidal , Spotify and Qubos amongst others , OPPO has decided to cease production of their excellent range of Blu Ray and SACD products ./
As previous owner of an OPPO UDP 205 Blu Ray/SACD player I’m saddened by this . Both it and its stablemate the UDP 203 punched well above their weight . It could perform to a standard of players costing much more . /
Still the future is streamed music and when I received a good offer on my 205 I sold it to an Audiophile club member . I now stream everything through Tidal Hi Fidelity …/
Below is a link an article appearing in Tech Radar which explains the whys and wherefores of OPPOs decision and on going firmware updates etc for their products ./
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Truly a sad announcement as when any manufacturer of high quality, reliable products steps out of the marketplace it opens the door further for those lower quality producers. I’ll be keeping hold of my UDP 205 though as my DVD & Blu-Ray collection is too big, and I won’t be shifting to the digital bandwidth/storage eating versions any time soon lol. I’m not surprised by their commitment to keeping the customer service standards they are known for as I’d expect nothing less from them. Very nice to see them announce that firmware updates and the like will continue as normal, although of course that can change in the future lol.
I must disagree on your statement of streamed music being the future, at least in the short to medium terms anyway. Cd’s have a long time to run yet, and the revival of vinyl is showing no signs of slowing down. Unlike many people I do not share the view of vinyl’s re-appearance as a short-lived trend, mostly due to the fact that it’s a source product with a distinctly different sound to anything else, and the new and growing converts really enjoy that sound. It will never again be at the same levels it was in the 1970’s but I truly believe it will hold it’s own for many, many years to come.
Back to the Oppo though, I’d highly recommend to anyone that needs a fantastic Blu-Ray player to keep an eye out for good pricing now that they are officially a discontinued item. You might even be able to pick one up from people like Vax who are unloading them. Due to the quality and price of the product it is unlikely that you will be getting a mistreated unit second hand lol. They are not something you can pick up at Good Guys for $100 each year after your kids beat it up :P.
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Since my post concerning the demise of the fabulous OPPO UDP 205 Blu Ray /SACD player I have noticed the “carpet baggers” on Ebay are charging $5600US + $400 from the US for these players . /
I phoned Audio Trends in Ringwood Victoria . They have OPPO UDP 205’s available for $2000 +$40 postage if you are an on line purchaser . They have 30-32 units coming in and are taking orders at the moment . /
Just thought would give a heads up on this . Don’t dilly dally because these units are not being manufactured any more .They have some UDP 203’s in stock . They are an excellent unit but have a much weaker DAC in them . OPPO also produced the excellent Cambridge Audio Blu Ray/SACD player . Their specs fall somewhere between the OPPO 203 and 205’s . They are not being produced now ./
I have no affiliation with Audio Trends but my friends who are very heavy into high end hi fi gear speak well of them . They were most helpful on the phone when I needed some info to put this post together . Thought I would give a heads up to anybody who wants a truly magnificent sounding unit . I actually picked up a 2nd hand unit off Gumtree yesterday at a very good price . I’m no audiophile but it is like getting an old friend back .
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Only to be expected that the pirates would be jumping on them lol. Good heads up though for anyone looking - they are great units but not $6k worth of great lol.
Haven’t dealt with that mob from Ringwood myself but know friends who have, and they seem decent. honest operators who know their stuff with the gear they sell. Have to be honest that I haven’t heard anything regarding their after-sales service, but seriously these days on that front no news is good news lol.
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