You are most welcome because you deserve them!
But I have to confess I don’t quite understand your comment that you only mod what’s in your video. What does that mean? Only the video gear you personally own? Or?
I’m struggling to decide about buying an Ayre DX-5 DSD SACD & etc Player
- Thread starter Echolane
- Start date
But I have to confess I don’t quite understand your comment that you only mod what’s in your video. What does that mean? Only the video gear you personally own? Or?
Sorry for the confusion! I mean I only mod Oppo 95 and SCL AMP-5521 which are playing music in the video. Alex/Wavetouch
Hi Alex,
Can you please elaborate on what other SACD players / multi box systems you have auditioned and details of the system (or systems) you used for the auditions. Also, are there any other "independant" review(s) of your player and system details used for the review(s)? Finally, what are the details / cost for the mod and what after purchase warranties / servicing of the unit do you provide, should it need repair? Thanks.
I compared my modded Oppo BDP-95 (WToppo95) with my Sony SCD-1, Sony scd-xa5400es, and Oppo BDP-105. They were played with either my modded Bakoon AMP-5521 mk4 or Bakoon AMP- 7511A. Sony SACD players have more smoother sound quality and Oppo players have more grain in sound. Without my modification, they all sound veiled and bright (un-natural) that I can’t listen more than few minutes. ** The best sound system's sound at audio show (attending The home entertainment show every years) hurts my ears. I am used to my audio sound.
I decide not to mod Sony players because they have too many mechanical problems and replacement parts are hard to get. I have few problematic Sony CDPs (333es, 555es, 777es). I’ve never had any problem with any Oppos last >10 years. And parts are very easy to get even if there is an issue in the future.
*WToppo95 comes with attached RCA IC cables (3~5ft). My cables have no veil/glare sound. All other brands IC cables (or any cables) sound veil/glare.
* My modded BDP-105 sounds worse than WT oppo-95. So, I don’t mod Oppo-105.
*There are 2 different versions of Oppo BDP-95 and I can mod only one of them. So, I can’t just mod any (or your) Oppo BDP-95.
I won’t speak about my modding work. There are many people (including paid scientists) who are researching for decades to make an audio sounds like my audio system (recreating the original music). My few words could help them complete their search. It is lots of work. All electronics are made by people who don’t know how to make the best sound. I must replace/make many parts on both power and signal sections in Oppo. It is also very risky with fragile parts.
The price of WT Oppo95 is us$6,000. Shipping is free for con 50 states. The buyer can return WT oppo95 for full refund (less shipping) in 14 days after arrival. This is limited time deal. The price and term will change after this promotional period. The warranty is effect on this promotional deal.
Warranty on WT modded items
1) WT Oppo95 (and WT-amp) is sealed with tapes and special screws. Screws will be covered with a filler and painted. Any sign of intentional damage/tempering (cover opening, tempering circuit boards, etc.) voids the warranty. We won’t service a tempered unit.
2) Free 2 years parts and labor for the natural predictable problem repair (reading disk problem, transport mechanical problem, etc.). Buyer pays one way shipping to Los Angeles, CA.
3) $1000 repair cost for unnatural problem (burn circuit, drop damage, etc.).
4) After the warranty is over, the replacement of WToppo95’s whole transport and laser unit is $300. Other repair cost will be very reasonable too.
Alex/Wavetouch
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If you're inclined to experiment, here's a linear power supply for the 203 / 205 series: https://www.oppomod.com/index.html. There is praise for it. You can also look at : https://www.clonesaudio.com/bdmod for your 205. Neither mod requires soldering, apparently.
I'm using my 203 as a transport at this point, so I'm not sure what it will add for me. Just a thought.
Hi Echolane, saw this thread, wanted to throw in my two cents. I think the DX-5 DSD is an excellent choice. While I also have a Luxman -10X which is somewhat better, the DX-5 DSD is so good at the price for which it sells used that you should be very happy for it. TBH, I'd be perfectly happy with my Ayre player (now in my secondary system) even without the Luxman, which is no slight to the latter (which I love, too)- but just a sign of how good the Ayre player is. Also the Ayre can play my small collection of DVD-As and audio Blu-Ray discs (which my Luxman cannot), in addition to my large collection of SACDS and very large one of cds.
You probably already know this, but Oppo is now or is just about out of their supply of replacement drives that the DX-5 uses- and so if you wish to use your unit for a no. of years, I'd say you should buy a couple used working BDP-83s (as that's the unit/drive used in the DX-5) on Ebay or elsewhere (costing, say, anywhere from $100 to $300, depending upon decent listings), in case the drive in your goes (as mine did, having to be replaced by Ayre at one point); and given that there's no telling how long a laser drive of this kind will last. Fortunately, there are still a lot of the 83s floating around. Maybe what I'm suggesting seems like overkill to you, but given the modest price of the units/drives for backups, particularly from used players, and their variabie reliability, better safe than sorry.
Ayre really is a great company, with great customer service, so that's a plus, too!
You probably already know this, but Oppo is now or is just about out of their supply of replacement drives that the DX-5 uses- and so if you wish to use your unit for a no. of years, I'd say you should buy a couple used working BDP-83s (as that's the unit/drive used in the DX-5) on Ebay or elsewhere (costing, say, anywhere from $100 to $300, depending upon decent listings), in case the drive in your goes (as mine did, having to be replaced by Ayre at one point); and given that there's no telling how long a laser drive of this kind will last. Fortunately, there are still a lot of the 83s floating around. Maybe what I'm suggesting seems like overkill to you, but given the modest price of the units/drives for backups, particularly from used players, and their variabie reliability, better safe than sorry.
Ayre really is a great company, with great customer service, so that's a plus, too!
I’m super pleased to see your note endorsing the Ayre DX-5 DSD. And you have a new Luxman and still like the Ayre! I wanted that Luxman, especially for its hi-res DSD capability and its DAC but thank heavens the Ayre came along and such a nice one. I did buy it. It arrived Saturday! And I’m thrilled to have it. The first SACD I played in my cold unbroken in player was Korngold’s lushly romantic Violin Concerto. It was exquisite! Goosebump music to be sure. I put the hybrid in my CD player and the difference was obvious.
I have to mention that I was incredibly lucky to score the Ayre that I did. It was actually a new, demo’ed only once DX-5 that’d been hanging around the Ayre facility for sometime. I had them upgrade it to DSD, which they did. While I was waiting for the upgrade I became aware of the sudden announcement by Oppo to Ayre that they would no longer supply transports. It was something I was quite concerned about because I had the extremely unpleasant experience of having my pricey Meridian 508.24 CD player suddenly made worthless by the lack of a replacement transport. That happened many years ago and it still rankles. Luckily I own two Oppo players, one is the 205 and the other is an 83SE which the 205 replaced. So if I have to I can sacrifice my 83SE to the Ayre. it is just sitting around taking up space. I couldn’t help but notice that the remote control looks exactly like the Oppo 205s, which tends to prove its Oppo roots.. I’m 83 years old, planning to use the Ayre as long as I’m around to enjoy it. I am hoping it won’t need a new transport. If I ever get to the oldster age where I have to downsize fhen I would have to merge my two systems. At that point the Ayre will replace the Oppo, and that will be a good thing because the Ayre is so much better.
I got nicely acquainted with Jake at Ayre. if the rest of the company is anything like Jake, it’s a great company. Seriously, I am very impressed with Ayre. Everyone that knows audio says that Ayre is a great company. Ayre will service their oldest products if they can. One could say “they don’t make them like that anymore”.
I have to admit I’ve been a little taken aback at the much higher prices for SACDs. New ones coming out of Japan like Sony and Esoteric run $50-$60 plus expensive shipping. I like opera so that means at least two discs and even higher prices. I have a large collection of ripped CDs that I stream through Roon and I’m well spoiled by the prices of used CDs which I now buy because they only need to be handled once to rip them. I haven’t tried Blu-Ray Audio or HDCD or DVD-A. Are they worth investing in?
Hi, my response to you here is in two parts (this is the first), as it ran quite long!
A few things here- re. the Luxman- I'd seen some rave reviews of it, knew it was their latest flagship model, know that Luxman's been around for 97 years or so and is a major company that keeps a good stock of parts (at least a decade I'm told) and makes their own drives, which are reputed to be very well-built and highly reliable- so I bought the unit as much to have a better prospect (even beyond a newer, smaller company like Ayre) of servicing this in the long run. My calculus there is based upon my being 57 years old, hoping to always use predominantly physical media, and so looking ahead (if I'm lucky) 20, 30 years or more. Who knows if Ayre will be around that much longer? Or how many companies will make high-end dedicated disc players? Even Luxman may not be around. But now I have two hi-res disc players I consider truly high-end. Odds are at least one of them will last me for decades, assuming that I do, too.
As it was, gear drive/reliability problems have followed me. I'd had to send in my DX-5 DSD, which I'd bought used several years back, because the laser drive had gone after a few hundred hours - and life circumstances prevented me from sending it back until late last year, so I presume got one of the last Oppo spare drives. Re. the Luxman, got it used inspected/refurbished/very lightly used, from a dealer with a three year warranty, for about 2/3rds price. I wanted the store support because my audio gear problems with used gear I've bought have been mounting the past five years, even though all of it has been from reputable companies with great people- Ayre, Aesthetix, Vandersteen- from drive issues to transformer hum, a pair of Vivid V1.5s irreperably damaged in shipment (got them from OAHN, and they refunded my return of them. Happy Ending on that note- early in the pandemic I bought a used pair of black Vivid B1s with modest cosmetic damage for 1/3rd their list price, and they perform perfectly in my primary system, and mix well with my Luxman and Ayre players, my Aesthetix linestage/phono stage, and Ayre amp.
So, I got the Luxman, and within a few weeks of getting it, I began experiencing problems with the remote and drive- the latter not reliably performing according to the commands from the former. So now I have to ship that back for domestic repair, but at least it's under warranty and the seller is reputable.
Re. sound, the Ayre IMO- though I haven't extensively compared them, I've done it a few times with perhaps a dozen discs, cd and SACD- captures 90% of what the Luxman does, though of course that calculation is subjective. TBH, the Luxman would have been too much for me new, and not worth that much, and even at 2/3rds cost, while I'm glad to keep it, I do wonder if it was worth it, given the steep cost to me- a feeling I don't usually get with gear I've purchased new, demo, or used. Diminishing returns are really hitting me here. But I have it now, and for all of the reasons above, I expect to keep it a long time- though the alternative would have been for me to get the Mola Mola Tambaqui, about which I've heard even better things, but is not an all-in-one player, not a 'legacy company,' and which would require me to rip my hi-res discs, which I don't want to get going with, due to my impatience with computer tech/software. Plus I like an all-in-one box, less rack space; and handling physical media.
I'm actually getting strongly back into LPs, after 15 years away from them (though I never threw out my vinyl nor even stopped buying albums for future enjoyment). I've got an SME 20/2 with Lyra Skala cartridge going into an Aesthetix Janus signature linestage/phono stage with NOS Siemens and Telefunken tubes throughout, and while I still mostly prefer my digital end from resolving the large classical orchestral music (which comprises about 20% of my listening) and to a lesser extextent for classical overall (in total maybe 35-40% of my listening); and for other genres as a form of convenience; for most rock, jazz, world, r & b, and soundtrack music (nearly all of the rest of my listening) I prefer vinyl at this point when I'm doing more dedicated listening, though it's - such a hassle!- compared with digital! So my listening is about half vinyl and half disc nowadays.
Part two follows.
Addressing your questions about hi-res media purchases - first, if you don't happen to be familiar with HRAudio.net, they're an indispensible resource for hi-res disc buying- I've been using them and their predecessor, SA-CD.net, for the past dozen years or more. On the cost side of things, Amazon, Discogs, and even Ebay often have used copies of hi-res titles at discount to new ones, and they're generally in fine condition, as the hi-res crowd seems to take better care of its discs- often I get used SACDs from Germany, England, the US, wherever, and they're like new. Even the more expensive ones- right now I'm listening to an Esoteric SACD of Alexander Nevsky and Lt Kije, by Abbado and the LSO that was about $60 from Music Direct- are worth it to me if I really love the title, like this one. CDJapan Amazon, and Ebay often list the Japanese titles (the most expensive ones)- these prices are typically for the better/rarer classical ones. The SACD titles I purchase - probably about 60% classical, 20% jazz, and 20% rock nowadays- typically cost me $15-30, new or used. Some of them, like the Analog Productions or MOFI ones at $30 or $35, have been remastered better than the older generation of ones, so the price there is merited for me. For example, I got an ORG of Monk's Dream, a fabulous album IMO, which sounded- great. But then MOFI released one that sounded even better- like going from a 9 or 9.5 to a 10- subtly better, but for a favorite title of mine, worth the upgrade/expense. As for DVD-A's- YES! absolutely get them- I have about 30 to 40 I guess, predominantly rock- and typically I think they sound even slightly better than their SACD equivalents- a tiny bit less processed sounding. Re. Blu-rays, I need to clarify my last post- I'm glad to have the Ayre to play them (I have perhaps 10 or so), but haven't gotten around to that, because I never took the time to figure out how to set up an external touch screen- but when I recently posted to you, I saw that you were making an inquiry re. using a dongle with your ipad, which had never even occurred to me! I was thinking, where do I get a cheap touchscreen? Well, please let me know how that works out, because I DO have an ipad! Re. HDCDs- I think they sound better than typical cds, but much closer to regular cds than to hi-res. Even for hi-res discs, I believe that the transfer/remastering process is as important or maybe even more so than the higher-res format itself- but fortunately, hi-res discs predominantly have great transfers/remastering IMO.
Regarding having replacement drives- THIS IS IMPORTANT- my understanding is that the DX-5 ONLY TAKES ONE OPPO DRIVE- the 83. I'm not even sure that it will take the 83SE- PLEASE consult with Jake carefully on this. Am not sure if you'd meant to suggest in your post that the 205 drive could be used- I don't think that's what you were saying- but if it were- it won't work with the Ayre unit. Finally, re. Ayre- I've owned a ton of their gear over the year- their CX-7E cdp, K3X pre, V5XE amp, C5XE-mp UDP, the DX-5 DSD UDP, the L5xe pwr filter, their interconnect and pwr cord (they sound like Audioquest/Cardas hybrids), a P5XE phono stage, and a VX-5 amp - all great stuff, though I think their cabling a bit less so. Though I'm gradually moving away from their gear dominating my two systems, I'm still using the DX-5, VX-5, and will be using the P5XE in my secondary sytem when I get a turntable up there. Everyone I've dealt with at Ayre over the past 20 years, has been friendly, informative, and helpful. A truly great founder (now sadly gone) and company (still apparently well-run). I'm actually getting my VX-5 upgraded to twenty status at this time and am eager to get it back and enjoy it!
Okay, that was obviously a verrry long response, but I hope you find the details and context helpful.
Oh, one more thing- the really expensive Japanese titles are predominantly legacy titles (and there are many great ones!), bu even nowadays, t the new (predominantly classical) titles on SACD are rarely more than $20-25 for a single disc in my experience- though obviously double or multiple SACD sets will be more. DVD-A is dead AFAIK (though steve wilson's prog-rock reissues are an occasional and welcome exception); blu-ray releases are slender compared with SACD; and other than classical and jazz, SACD rock reissues nowadays are typically Analogue Productions or MOFI, both of which typically do a splendid job with them.
This is just a quick reply, it’ll take awhile to respond to your other generously lengthy replies. I just placed an order with cdsvinyljapan.com. I wanted to buy them out, if you know what I mean. So many wonderful titles! I bought only 5 SACDs and i still cringe when I look at my order and see how much I paid! OUCH! I won’t be splurging on SACD purchases like I have been buying CDs. I almost always buy used CDs. i buy used now because they are just handled once and that’s when I rip them.
As you can see I’m into Opera and Classical. Callas is getting her last chance to impress me. I really haven’t found any recordings of hers so far that make me like her like so many of her almost fanatical fans. i am hoping one or the other these two SACDs will allow me to hear what her fans seem to hear and like so much.
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Hi, hope you like them! I've never ordered more than 2 SACDS/sets at a time from cdjapan, so less one-time sticker shock, but yes, there's the cost of the discs, plus since the pandemic, Japan or at least cdjapan, has really limited shipping methods (it's crazy, some Japanese peculiarity), so shipping costs that were once $5 or $10 at their cheapest for a purchase a few years ago (IIRC) are now more like $25 to $35 or above. Unfortunately the equivalents by EBAY third-party sellers from Japan tend to work out about the same overall.
Some of these Japan-based SACD sets that I've bought in the past five (?) yrs or so, which I could compare with their cd equivalents include: Sanderling/Berlin/Shostakovich symphonies; Argerich/Dutoit Prokofiev cto 3 and Argerich Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit; Michelangeli Ravel Concerto in G/Rach 4th piano cto, Karajan/Berlin Berg/Webern/Schoenberg works; and on the rock side, Quadrophenia, and both Ctdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan. IMO opinion the extra cost is worth it. The only Japan-originated SACD that was a dud, as I recall, was Aja, by Steely Dan.
Can't comment on the opera selections, as that's generally not been my thing, though I'm slowly getting into it- but not the typical repertoire- more the slavic variety, e.g., The Cunning Little Vixen and House of the Dead, by Janacek; Shostakovich's The Nose; plus beyond that, maybe a bit of John Adams' offerings. Not yet the German or Italian stuff. I expect I'll slowly move further in that direction.
I love physical media, and spend too much time already on devices/screens, so I'm holding off on streaming as long as possible, though both the Ayre and Luxman units have great stand-alone DACs that I really should get going with - even just connectin my macbook, though from what I've heard, if I got serious about it, I'd do well to get a Melco NAS (?) drive, a (Sonore rendu?), stuff like that. I'd be more into buying digital downloads than getting a streaming membership with a service, though I frequently evaluate prospective purchases or just randomly stream when in the kitchen through youtube or spotify.
There are ways to rip SACDs to drives- in the past few years, posts/discussions and links to do so have been widely disseminated- but at this stage of my life, busy with work/etc, and having ADD to boot, I'd like to keep it simple! Plus, again, though it takes up tons of space, I love having my lps and discs. Re. cds, though, since discovering David Hurwitz's youtube channel a couple years ago, and generally liking his recommendations, I've gone on an explosion of classical disc buying beyond what I'd already had, and have found that many out-of-print titles on cd have become markedly more expensive, given the general ongoing drying up of the cd market.
I didn’t like putting together a large order Like I did at cdscinyljapan, but I discovered shipping costs go down considerably with each new title added to the order. I observed the same high shipment costs on the sellers from Japan on eBay. It doesn’t pay to buy one disc and pay an extra $20 to ship it!
Your taste in opera is definitely not standard repertoire, but good for you! I’ve ventured in that direction with Janacek and Shostakovich but I’m a sucker for the traditional Italian and French in particular.
I don’t much like paying the cost of streaming services. I have tried Deezer, Tidal, Qobuz and have stuck with Qobuz longest, but the monthly cost doesn’t appeal. I have so many of my own CD collection that I probably couldn’t finish listening to all of them in the lifetime I have left to me. I’m 83 and according to the latest demographic estimates for females, I ought to make it to 91. Who knows, but I’m planning to enjoy myself and splurge only occasionally. I just opened my first shipment of “snake oil”. I bought several Shunyata power cords. A power conditioner will soon arrive too, needed because I have exceptionally dirty power coming in to my house. I can’t wait to use my ears to find out whether I’ve improved my system. If not, i have a generous 60 days to decide if they are keepers or not. I must say this is definitely NOT the sort of audio gear I like to spend money on but short of dumping my equipment for newer more expensive gear, the only way to improve my system is to check out whether I can get improvement with these “tweaks”.
My streaming gear starts with a Roon Nucleus with an SSD inside holding all my ripped music. Then a Roon app on my iPad displays my entire library. To play a selection is as easy as putting a finger on it. I LOVE the ease of streaming. I don’t miss the physical media at all. But at the same time, I want to own a physical copy of everything.so I don’t sell off what I’ve acquired. i have two choices when I stream
1) Roon Nucleus > Audio Alchemy DMP-1 > Berkeley Audio DAC Reference Series 2 > Audiomat Prelude Reference 20 MKII > Quad ESL-63 Speakers.
2) Naim Uniti Core > Audio Alchemy DMP-1 > as Above Berkeley DAC, Audiomat Prelude, Quad speakers.
The latter is my starter streaming gear. It hangs around because it is just so easy to rip CDs in the Naim. Then I have to transfer newly ripped music to Roon.
Lastly, sure I would like to be able to ditch the physical SACDs and use an App to stream my selections, but that’s not possible. My DAC does t do DSD for one thing. But I’m not going to buy an older DVD player that can be used to rip SACDs. Well beyond my interest Level. So I’m stuck with physical media in the case of SACDs. I’ll have to decide whether I’m going to acquire the other formats the Ayre is capable of playing. It’ll depend on whether it’s something I really want to own.
Good luck with the power cords and conditioner! I'm a firm believer in their benefits, depending upon one's power supply/equipment. I've had good results with power cords- primarily in the lower/modest price range from Shunyata, e.g., Diamondbackss, a Viper, Black Mambas, usually on discount (demo or discontinued) from Music Direct. Haven't returned any of them, though I got a Venom Defender for my home theater setup, which made no difference at all in that or my secondary system. I've found that power cords (just like interconnects, isolation gear/accessories, and tubes, with tube gear) can, in addition to improving the overall sound, also subtly (or not) help one further tune a system's tonal balance and overall voicing.
Have had good results with Ayre's L5xe power filter, but expect that there are better options from companies specializing in such gear, as Ayre made theirs as basically an afterthought, for their equipment, and haven't followed up on it. At some point I'm going to look into offerings from Shunyata and Aquest re. power conditioners, maybe also a dedicated line (depending upon the cost of the latter).
I hear you in terms of costs/collection size concerns for music media. With over a couple thousand titles in mine now (and still growing) I'd really like to slow down such growth and thin it out a bit, as I don't like things to get to the point where I've got titles lying around that I'll barely ever listen to- or to spend $50 on a title I may only listen to a few times in the long run, when I have so much other music media already in my possesion. Re. SACDs and cds nowadays, even though it's not a significant income stream for classical musicians (or any musician, for that matter - it's more of a portfolio builder and artistic commitment to them I imagine), I do console myself with the thought that when I buy these releases, I'm helping in my own modest way to support the artists and the industry, and to a much higher degree than any royalties they get from streaming.
Have had good results with Ayre's L5xe power filter, but expect that there are better options from companies specializing in such gear, as Ayre made theirs as basically an afterthought, for their equipment, and haven't followed up on it. At some point I'm going to look into offerings from Shunyata and Aquest re. power conditioners, maybe also a dedicated line (depending upon the cost of the latter).
I hear you in terms of costs/collection size concerns for music media. With over a couple thousand titles in mine now (and still growing) I'd really like to slow down such growth and thin it out a bit, as I don't like things to get to the point where I've got titles lying around that I'll barely ever listen to- or to spend $50 on a title I may only listen to a few times in the long run, when I have so much other music media already in my possesion. Re. SACDs and cds nowadays, even though it's not a significant income stream for classical musicians (or any musician, for that matter - it's more of a portfolio builder and artistic commitment to them I imagine), I do console myself with the thought that when I buy these releases, I'm helping in my own modest way to support the artists and the industry, and to a much higher degree than any royalties they get from streaming.
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