I went back to post #1 to remind myself of the purpose of this thread. edisonbaggins, what equipment were you using with your 103 to begin with? The first thing you asked in your opening post was about the possibility of the analog outs sounding better. I don't think we ever really answered that, and that's the most important question to deal with FIRST, IMO.
Since you were already using the Oppo, I assume you had only used the digital output, which implies you're already using an AVR or pre/pro. Which one?
Whether the analog outputs would sound better than the digital depends on which component, Oppo or pre/AVR, does a better job of processing the signal and converting it to analog. The Oppo 103 is a very nice player and does a good job in the analog out department, but it's the 95/105/205 that have the beefed-up analog circuitry that make them special. So if you wanted to use the Oppo's analog output to produce a better sound than you're currently getting, then you'll either need to bump up to a 105 or else get a newer preamp/AVR that has a better DAC and analog processing than the one you currently use with the 103's digital output.
Hey MCDave, good questions.
For years, my OPPO BDP-103 connected via HDMI to my main HTS. First a Pioneer Elite 7.1 AVR, then a Denon x6400H 11.1 AVR. It sounded great/just fine in both cases.
Recently, I pressed it in to service for this listening room project, because it can play all my Quad sources, connecting via HDMI to a Sherwood 7.1 AVR.
As you may be aware, the speaker setup is an array of Klipsch KG full-range floor-standers from the '90's.
If you haven't seen the Operation Quad Station video, it explains a lot of this:
I was not thrilled with the sound of the Sherwood. Rather than hunt for another AVR, it was suggested I focus on gear meant only for sound, not video.
I should have googled "do OPPO BDP-103 analog outputs suck?" but I didn't think to. I figured if OPPO equipped them, they've got to be good. The fact is, OPPO's own support folks have clarified online that you basically
have to use a dedicated, external preamp if you use the 103's analog outs. OK... Good to know...
So, I picked up an Emotiva A-800, per a recommendation in this thread. As I've said, when the music is loud and robust, I think it sounds great. During quiet passages, there is GOBS of hiss.
As I see it, I have 3 possibilities to pursue:
1) Score a 95, 105 or 205 and try it out with the Emotiva. If I understand correctly, this would leave me digitally contolling volume with the OPPO and maybe that's undesirable in some ways. Yet, there seems to be a consensus that xx5's sound good without the need for a preamp. Maybe they actually have analog volume control? IDK.
2) Score a suitable preamp and try that out. I guess it would behoove me to find out what the voltage of the 103's analog outputs are at 100% (fixed) volume.
And make sure the preamp can handle that?
3) Score some kind of AVR with lots of flexibility, like
@timbre4 has suggested. His 3 recommendations can accept either HDMI or analog input and have the needed analog preouts for my use case.
All of these options have pros and cons.
I think one of
@timbre4 's recommendations is likeliest to make me happy with my listening room project. However, an additional AVR of this type is highly unlikely to be useful for integrating in to my main HTS in the future (the plan is to consolidate amps, full-range speakers and such in to my main media room in the future, when my son isn't so destructive).
An OPPO xx5 would doubtless get use over the years, in any system setup. But, what if I get it all hooked up analog and there is still too much hiss for my taste? That would be disappointing in the here and now.
A preamp would most likely not be of much benefit being integrated in to my main HTS later (or maybe it would still be great upstream from the A-800 - the thought being to take some load off of the x6400H via it's preouts, leaving it to only power the heights, perhaps). And what if I hook it up and it doesn't solve the 103's hiss? However, it might work, could be fairly cheap and might possibly sound the best of all my choices, assuming it is a good match for the 103 and the A-800.