T Cobe wrote: Thanks, Rick! It's on the way along with a few other goodies. Taking advantage of the Amazon Prime free shipping and ordered:

Sonny Rollins- Saxaphone Colossus
Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out
Cannonball Adderle- Somethin' Else.

Gotta love free two day shipping! Hopefully the sound quality is worthy of the T1s! If nothing else, the music should be top notch. Thanks, Anthem, for all the references!

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi, T Cobe

Good fpr you! I really admire what you're doing to expand your music collection! I'm sure your T1's will catch every nuance.

Re the Virgil Fox HDCD, there are a number of Bach pieces with quieter sections. Since they're all recorded in churches, you can hear things in the pews in those sections, like someone shifting in their pew right in front of you to the right, someone turning their page in the program right to the left of you just in front to the left.. To me, that is not a distraction, it just reinforces that you're in a church, part of the audience, and not in a recording studio.

I listened in enhanced stereo, and also in stereo direct, to the T1's only. I prefer enhanced stereo, with the Center and surrounds also involved. I believe you are now feed everything in analog .I have not tried that. IF you get the time to also listen in digital feed with your center and surrounds also involved, I'd be very interested in your impressions. I'm going to be auditioning the OPPO 103d and the 105d this coming Saturday.. As I understand it, in digital out like HDMI, both units are identical. But in analog out the 105d has a more sophisticated DAC system. Since I listen in surround (digital) virtually all of the time, especially if I add a height channel that can only be used in a digitally massaged mode, is there any path where the 105d would be more useful to me? Decisions. decisions!

All feedback welcome.

Rick

Rick,

Thanks for the update. Some live noise is certainly not too distracting and does transport you to the time and place of the recording. I look forward to the new music. I do enjoy Bach!

Regarding the 103 versus the 105, I think the biggest benefit is definitely the DAC and stereo output. If you're not going to use those features in the 105, it may not be worth the added expense. I currently use the analog outputs from the 103 and find them very good. The music is more rich, detailed, and has a greater sense of depth when feeding my preamp with the RCA outputs than using the DAC in my Integra. I think you would be happy either way. If you are at all interested in stereo music reproduction, the 105 may be worth the upgrade. Maybe more so than the Darbee. That's another issue entirely...

Cheers,

T Cobe

T Cobe wrote: Rick,

Thanks for the update. Some live noise is certainly not too distracting and does transport you to the time and place of the recording. I look forward to the new music. I do enjoy Bach!

Regarding the 103 versus the 105, I think the biggest benefit is definitely the DAC and stereo output. If you're not going to use those features in the 105, it may not be worth the added expense. I currently use the analog outputs from the 103 and find them very good. The music is more rich, detailed, and has a greater sense of depth when feeding my preamp with the RCA outputs than using the DAC in my Integra. I think you would be happy either way. If you are at all interested in stereo music reproduction, the 105 may be worth the upgrade. Maybe more so than the Darbee. That's another issue entirely...

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi, T Cobe

As always, you're spot on with feedback and advice.

So... is the the new, improved, 32/192 DAC in the Marantz SR 7010 I have on order as good as the DAC in the OPPO 105d I am about to audition, so I can feed digital signals to the Marantz and have equivalent sound sound quality from a 103 in digital out mode as I could get feeding analog in bypass mode from a 105???? And, how do I handle feeding the height channel if I want to add that to surround music? Ah, the life of chasing audio perfection..

Enjoy your new music!

Rick

anthem wrote: Thanks Rick...Just ordered a copy of Live in San Francisco - 1976 - from Reference Recordings.

T Cobe...I think you'll really like the selections you listed, especially Saxophone Colossus.

Enjoy, anthem!

I just finished listening to 2L's "the Nordic Sound". It can be very relaxing, destressing. Mostly classical, with a mix of choral, violins, piano. 19 tracks in all. The choral pieces can sound almost 3D, holographic.

Rick

Hi Guys,
Not long ago I would have said the Oppo 105 should really be a great DAC, and having the balanced outputs are sure great in some setup situations where you can keep the signal all balanced, That is what I do with my 95.
BUT things change fast in audio, so perhaps now the Marantz COULD have as good, or even better DAC. You would need to check. IF so, then just get the 103.
I have some 2L discs, and they are WELL recorded, but sadly most of it is not my kind of music. Good for demos though.
God Bless, Wayne

A cloudy Monday afternoon, listening to Jeff Golub/Grand Central (2007) -- The Way I Feel Tonight.