Ronnie,

I took your advice and did just that and the results are disturbing. Obviously I couldn't use a SACD so I played Reference Recordings Copeland HDCD. I used Fanfare for the Common Man which has about as much dynamic range as I can find. With the 980 the standard digital coax and modded SPDIF sounded very close, the edge possibly going slightly to the modded output but it's really close. Using a SPL meter the quiet passages were in the 63-65 db range with the drum peaking at about 80-81 db. Very nice lower octave performance--I can feel it in the floor. With the BD83 the modded output is restricted. Again the quiet passages are in the 63-65 db range but the drum passages peak at only 76-77 db and not going nearly as low. The standard coax output does a little better, about splitting the difference between the 980 and the modded 83 output. This is using the same digital interconnect and power cord.

At this point, without the benefit of any audio setup since I don't have a monitor available with my 2 channel, the modded or stock 980 is clearly superior to the BD 83 and not by a small margin.

Main: G68J, 5K2s, 5Ks, HSU subs, Pio 151FD, Dish VP722, Roku, Wadia I70, Anti Mode Dual Core, Oppo 103D Vanity Lite
Office: SBT, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2/MQA, Magico S3 Mk II, Boulder 2060, Lumin U1 Mini streamer, Roon.