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SACD and DVD-A: A feast for your ears when you hear them over Oppo's stellar BDP-83.

Oppo's new BDP-83 player spins just about every type of "silver" disc under the sun: CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video and Blu-ray. Cool!

I brought a stack of SACDs and DVD-A discs to the CNET listening room to check out the BDP-83 with our Denon AVR-3808CI receiver and Aperion Intimus 4T Hybrid SD 5.1 speaker/subwoofer system. I'll cover the high-resolution audio performance of the Oppo here, read Matthew Moskovciak's full CNET review for the rest of the story.

"The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East," recorded on March 12 and 13, 1971, was a trip. Sure, the original mix was stereo, but I loved the way the SACD's 5.1 mix opened up and clarified the sound, especially the band's two drummers, Jai Johanny Johanson and Butch Trucks. The entire rhythm section's dynamics and pulse came alive on SACD, it's more in the background on CD.

Oppo BDP-83 photos

On one hand the 5.1 mix is fairly subtle, but the sound's open quality and spaciousness was remarkable. The sense of being in the 2,000 seat concert hall was a thrill that you can't get with stereo. And no, you can't get there by playing stereo in Dolby Pro Logic II, a discrete 5.1 channel mix, if it's any good, will always sound better.

Led Zeppelin's "How the West Was Won" double DVD-A set was very different. How? The band's dynamic energy was even more present and the front three speakers soundstage depth and dimensionality were better than the Allman Brothers' disc. Too bad the bass was thicker and muddier, which was probably the way it sounded at the 1972 Zep shows. I didn't like the surround mix much, mostly because I couldn't understand why Jimmy Page's guitar was sometimes coming out of the surround speakers. Strange. But it's still the best sounding Zeppelin disc I own.

Ever since standalone Blu-ray players hit the market, there's been a great deal of anticipation for an Oppo Blu-ray player, mainly because of the company's reputation for making excellent upconverting DVD players. Oppo held out for quite some time, and in retrospect it was a smart move; almost all the early Blu-ray players were plagued with usability problems and hardware limitations. After a long beta-testing period, the Oppo BDP-83 is finally here and it lives up to the hype. The player feels fast and reliable, and has outstanding image quality on Blu-rays and DVDs. It's a true universal disc player, handling both DVD-Audio and SACD discs in addition to Blu-ray Discs, CDs, and DVDs. (Sorry, HD DVD fans--that dead format isn't supported.)

On the other hand, the Oppo BDP-83 really isn't for everyone. It lacks Wi-Fi and, more importantly, streaming media features such as Netflix and Pandora that are available on cheaper Blu-ray players from Samsung and LG.

At a $500 list price, it's also very expensive compared with the Sony PS3 Slim ($300), which also offers excellent Blu-ray playback--and can play high-definition video games, stream media, and browse the Web.

If you're not a home theater enthusiast with a sizable budget, you'll get more value from a PS3 Slim or LG BD390. However, if you are a dedicated, well-heeled home theater fan, the BDP-83 is a nearly perfect way to get the most out of your disc-based media.

Read the full Oppo BDP-83 review

Oppo BDP-83 photos

Matching SACD player and stereo amplifier from Onkyo

(Credit: Onkyo)

Face it: Most people listen to music on CD, LP, radio, or some form of downloaded file, and each and every one is a stereo format.

Even high-resolution formats like SACD have stereo mixes, so it's no surprise that Onkyo just introduced two new stereo components: An integrated stereo amplifier, the A-5VL, and a stereo SACD player, the C-S5VL.

The amp seems like a rational alternative to a feature-laden AV receiver, jam-packed with so much wizardry you need to read and comprehend a 100 page user manual to get it to do much of anything. Stereo is simple; no need to navigate multilayer menus to turn the bass up or down. No, with the stereo Onkyo amp, all you'll ever do is select the input--CD, aux, radio, etc.--and adjust the volume. Then sit back and enjoy the tunes.

Five speakers and sub for music? I don't think so!

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

It's interesting. Tens of millions of homes are equipped with multichannel home theater systems, but multichannel music is a dead issue. Stereo rules the roost, for going on 50 years.

Ten years ago it looked like stereo's days were numbered--the two new multichannel formats, SACD and DVD-Audio, were on track to be the next big things. Funny, it didn't work out that way. I cover the subject in detail in my "Whatever happened to 5.1-channel music?" article that appeared in the July issue of Stereophile magazine.

Obviously, 5.1-channel sound makes sense for movies and home theater, mostly because 5.1 was an outgrowth of theatrical film-sound technologies stretching all the way back to the 1950s.

Every attempt to bring surround music into the home without video has flopped, big time. Are you old enough to remember the rise and fall of quadraphonic in the 1970s? What was needed was a surround format that didn't require music lovers to invest in new playback gear. Surely such a format would prove the viability of music surround...wouldn't it?

Sony got it right with the CD.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

Betamax was one of Sony's biggest blunders.

The videocassette format was introduced in 1975, and initially sold well. But when JVC's VHS tape cartridge was introduced in 1978, Betamax quickly lost its lead. The media loved Beta for its superior picture quality, but Standard Betamax tapes were only 60 minutes, and VHS 3-hour tapes could record more TV shows.

VHS was more popular, but Betamax refused to die. Production in the U.S. ended in 1993, and the last Betamax machine in the world was produced in Japan in 2002.

Ah, but the Compact Disc was a hit from the get-go. On August 31, 1982, an announcement was made in Tokyo that four companies, Sony, CBS/Sony, Philips, and Polygram had jointly developed the world's first CD system. Talk of the CD's demise are premature, sales are still in the hundreds of millions of discs a year.

The MiniDisc was introduced January 12, 1992. The recordable music format was originally based exclusively on ATRAC audio data compression, but the format never caught on in the U.S. MiniDiscs were popular in Japan and Asia as a digital upgrade from cassette tapes.

Which reminds me, Sony's ill-fated Elcaset came out in 1976. Like Betamax, Sony was trying to make a higher quality tape format, in this case better than the Philips Compact Cassette. Elcaset was better, but it was too large and cumbersome. Elcaset was a flop.

If CDs really are on their way out, Sony is ready with their replacement: Blu-spec CDs.

Although details about the new format, launched in Japan in November, are somewhat scant, we do know that users won't need a new player for Blu-spec CDs.

"The Blu-spec CD format boasts a new approach to the faithful reproduction of music by utilizing the leading-edge blue laser diode technologies optimized for the manufacturing of Blu-ray," according to CDJapan. The new discs' polycarbonate plastic, optimized for Blu-ray discs, is used "to ensure accurate reading of the data."

Sony doesn't claim that the Blu-spec CD sounds any better than a CD or how the new discs compare with Sony's previous and nearly dead super-CD format, Super Audio CD (SACD).

Although Sony made its Blu-spec PR splash in Japan, a few titles to the United States. The site lists Blu-spec CDs from Aerosmith, Jeff Beck, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Weather Report. While most Blu-spec CDs carry a list price of $25 in Japan, Amazon.com is selling them for $35.49 here.

Another CD format, SHM-CD, seems to be similar to Blu-spec CD, but with non-Sony artists.

Have you heard a Blu-spec CD or SHM-CD yet?

Let's face it, setting up a home theater with five speakers and a subwoofer is a hassle.

Home-theater-in-a-box systems ease the pain somewhat, but you still have to run wires to five speakers and a subwoofer. Single-speaker sound bar systems? Sure, they eliminate the tangle of wires, but they're just glorified stereo bars and never really sound all that good. You can get much better sound from a decent set of stereo speakers.

You could put together a much better sounding system with Integra's DSR-4.8 DVD/AV receiver ($600) and a nice pair of speakers and possibly a subwoofer. It's a stereo receiver with 50 watts per channel with a built-in DVD/DVD-Audio/SACD player; video connectivity includes a 1080p HDMI output, one HDMI input, and two composite inputs. (You can multiply the usefulness of that single HDMI input by adding an inexpensive HDMI switcher that multiplies the number of available outputs.)

(Credit: Integra)

Let's compare and contrast an Integra DSR-4.8 based system with Yamaha's YSP-4000 single-speaker surround system ($1,800). The Yamaha is self-powered so it doesn't need an AV receiver, but it doesn't make much bass. So, you'll need to add a subwoofer, like Yamaha's YST-FSW150 ($280) and a DVD or Blu-ray player.

Fifty watts may not seem like much, but Integra components sound pretty good; pair the DSR-4.8 with efficient speakers you'd get a big sound. Klipsch's RB-61 bookshelf speakers ($499/pair) would be ideal and make better and more powerful bass than the YSP-4000, so some of you won't have to get a sub. But if you're thinking about going whole hog, I like Klipsch's Sub-12 subwoofer ($500). That's all together a $1,600 MSRP system, so it's at least $500 less expensive than the Yamaha system.

The Integra/Klipsch system would be way, way more dynamic, with vastly greater clarity for movies and music (single-speaker systems never quite sound right for music). To be fair, the Yamaha big claim to fame is its ability to produce a facsimile of surround sound from the single speaker, and it's the best of its type (I've reviewed a ton of single-speaker surround systems for CNET--both units with built-in video connectivity and those without--so I should know). The Integra/Klipsch is strictly stereo, but it'll be really good stereo. Big and wide, with a great sense of depth and spatiality.

(Credit: Jon Spackman of AVSForum)

We've been fans of Oppo's upconverting DVD players for quite some time now, but it's been harder to recommend them recently with the company's latest player costing as much as a Blu-ray player. There has been tons of speculation over when Oppo might release a Blu-ray player, and it looks like it's finally going to happen: Oppo showed off the BDP-83 Blu-ray player at CEDIA.

Oppo's DVD players are known for playing back both SACD and DVD-Audio, but Gizmodo reports that Oppo is still "investigating" DVD-Audio support. That's unfortunate, as a true universal player capable of playing back SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray, and DVD discs is still missing in the marketplace. And since SACD support is already available on some models of the PS3, it may be a harder sell even for enthusiasts. That being said, the BDP-83 is sporting the logo for Anchor Bay video processing--good news, considering how well the DV-983H handles DVDs using the same processing.

In terms of Blu-ray features, the Oppo looks to have the full suite of features we now expect on a Blu-ray player. There's an Ethernet port on the back that says "BD-Live," which means it should fully support Profile 2.0 features. Oppo says that while the current version of player only support standard Dolby Digital and DTS, Gizmodo reports that both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio will be supported in the future, via either onboard decoding or outputting the soundtracks in bitstream format.

(Credit: Jon Spackman of AVSForum)

The back panel looks to have just about every connection you would want. There is a set of 7.1 multichannel analog outputs, which is a boon for those with legacy receivers. There's the standard HDMI output, which can carry both high-def audio and multichannel audio, as well as a component video output for those with older HDTVs. Finally, there's a USB port on the back, which we expect will be used as a storage solution for download Profile 2.0 features.

As far as pricing, Gizmodo is reporting it should cost between $500 and $700 and will be available "soonish." We'll be looking to do a review of this player as soon as it comes out, so check back soon.

(Credit: Woo Audio)

You have two grand to spend on a fantastic stereo system. Can your cash get you there? Yes, it can!

In this case, we're talking about a headphone-based system, but I will in the coming months cover speaker-based audiophile-grade systems for less than $3,000.

For the headphone system, I'm recommending the Woo Audio WA6 Special Edition vacuum tube headphone amplifier ($1,050) I reviewed in yesterday's blog, along with Grado RS-1 headphones ($695), and Oppo's DV-981HD SACD/DVD-Audio player ($229). All prices are manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Mind you, the Woo and Grado are hand-crafted in New York, and they are truly stunning designs built to last a long, long time. The Oppo is nowhere as extravagant, but the brand has gained quite a reputation among audiophiles for building budget-price high-performance players (I didn't have time to acquire an Oppo, so I used my Sony DVP-NS90V ($220) SACD/DVD player for most of my listening tests. DVD-As were played on a Pioneer DV-45A.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

First, a word about the W-G-O's sound signature: the clarity and "listenability" made long sessions a joy. The tubes didn't--not even a little--soften the sound or add a mellowing influence. The resolution of fine detail was right up there with the very best I've heard.

"Lies" from The Black Keys' Attack & Release CD wasted no time in telling me what the W-G-O system did so well. The duo's distortion-strewn blues rock was all there, and it was great to be able to play it as loud as I wanted without worrying about disturbing my neighbors.

The W-G-O made it all sound vivid and immediate, as if there was nothing between me and the musicians. Bass went plenty low but never turned flabby.

Neil Young's Greendale on DVD-Audio upped the ante even more. I found the "live," you-are-there quality to the sound highly addictive. Neil's acoustic guitar, in particular, had an eerie presence over the W-G-O.

(Credit: Oppo)

Oh, and there's no reason why you couldn't use the W-G-O to enjoy DVD movies. Two-channel home theater-in-your-head will be just as amazing.

Just for fun, I plugged my old Sennheiser HD-580 headphones into the Woo, and I have to say, they never sounded better. Nowhere as vibrant as the Grados, but the Sennheiser's more laid-back sound might suit some tastes better than the Grado. The HD-580 is no longer made, but the current model, the HD-650, might be a worthwhile option.