Originally Posted by 5imon
Simon, thanks for the update.
The slightly harsh edge you speak of, is this something that can take the enjoyment out of listening or just noted in the comparison between the players. I.E. if you only had the oppo and nothing to compare would you be happy with CD reproduction. Regards Simon

Certainly I would be happy with the Oppo as a CD player. Incidentally, I thought I heard occassional harshness from the Oppo when playing SACD as well, and this was as compared to my Denon (since the 800 obviously does not play SACD).

I need to do some more side-by-side comparisons before I am completely comfortable with what I think I am hearing. No question the Oppo is a keeper for Bluray and DVD - just not yet completely convinced on CD or SACD.

I still haven't made it around to trying DVD-Audio, although I did attempt to listen to one of my HDAD discs that are recorded in either 24/96 or 24/192. I note that the 24/96 tracks played flawlessly and sounded very nice, the 24/192 tracks did not play (which makes sense as the 861 doesn't take in 192, right?).

My Kit: 861v8+ID41, 800v4, UHD722, MD600, MS600, MS200, Oppo BDP-203, Genesis 201, Genesis 350 SE, Genesis S4-8 Sub, BG 520i, VTL MB450 II, Krell Showcase 7, Genesis 928 Subs, Danley DTS10 sub, SVS Ultra 16 subs.