I kind of agree with Milt, I'm not sure anyone will replace Oppo. In addition to being great players in general, Oppos were like the Swiss knife of optical players. But in a few years, they will be seen as audio dinosaurs.
Oppo format capability included nearly everything (in spite of losing some capability in recent models due to licensing agreements that primarily affected burned disks). I'm not at all sure if there is anything on the market now that will play MLP (DVD-A) anymore. DVD-A has basically been banished to the format graveyard to wither alongside VHS and audio cassettes. SACD is holding on by its fingertips and will soon join them.
Oppos always included multichannel analog outputs. Are there ANY other players that still offer that feature? It seems to me that no matter what, the multichannel analog front end is long gone. More and more, designs for players and AVRs/PrePros simply do not accommodate them. And I have to admit, I cant see a reason to include them any more either.
Oppos could be used as decent quality DACs for multichannel file streaming. I think the choice of multichannel stand alone DACs is extremely limited (as opposed to stereo DACs which are plentiful) and they sell for thousands of dollars more than an Oppo does (did).
The fact is, the vast majority of consumers out there don't need or want an optical player at all. They will soon be a novelty, like turntables are now. I mean... consider that there are entire automobile lines that do not even offer disk players for their cars anymore. Chrysler hasn't offered an optical disk player in years and I hear GM is planning to remove them across all their car lines very soon. But they will all link up to the files on your smartphone. Strangely enough, even marine electronics for boats are starting to omit disk players. This trend is not going away folks.
Even audiophiles who truly care about fidelity don't need an Oppo-like product either, because they don't need the multichannel capability. Once that aspect is taken away, there is lots of gear to choose from.
So who is gonna fill the Oppo niche? No one. Because no one needs all that an Oppo could do any more. But there may well be some high end manufacturer out there that see a bit of opportunity to replace the Oppo product. And they may... but nowhere near the price point Oppos were at. The universal optical deck of the future will likely be in the $4-5K range, maybe more. You just cant make a "specialty" product like an Oppo in the small quantities it will sell and charge a reasonable price for it. So in effect, no one will replace Oppo. Only a high end boutique manufacturer will even try. The market for used Oppos will remain strong for a few years, fostered by those audiophiles who are determined to not move on from optical disks.
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