As so many of us are waiting for OPPO's latest, I just want to be ready when the time comes, with the appropriate cables and also not wanting to get into/behind my rack more than once. Knowing some privileged Outlaws are in BETA testing with the BDP-83, I thought I'd inquire as to the hookups need. (Hopefully these questions aren't in the "guarded secret category".)

Currently I'm running an older Pioneer DV-45A multi-format player which is handling my SACD's, DVDA's, plain DVD's and CD's; with all audio going through my 990. I'm of course using the 5.1 audio, along with coaxial digital audio and analog audio for the interconnection.

I was going to retain this player for cd listening, and use the BDP-83 for all DVD/BD watching, SACD and (hopefully) DVD-A listening/watching. My guess is that I will simply reconfigure all the current DV-45A audio interconnects to the BDP-83. I would then make a new 2-channel audio connection between the DV-45 and the 990. (Basically using it as a single play cd player.) I plan to send the HDMI video directly to my Pioneer Pro-151. I would abandon the component video from the DV-45A to the plasma.

Does this arrangement sound correct? Or, am I short sighted in keeping the DV-45 for any use? I do have an even older Denon multi-changer cd player that I use from time-to-time for cd listening, and it is connected to the 990 via the "cd" input. I prefer the simplicity of the single play DV-45 however.

Any guidance or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would not keep the DV-45 in the system.
The BDP-83 has a dedicated stero out and a completly seperate set of DAC's for this purpose.
I don't see where you are gaining anything by leaving the DV-45 in the system.
The OPPO is going to be a true universal player.

No secrets here, as rear panel pictures of the BDP-83 have been public domain since September.

For Model 990 users in general, the obvious connection priority is the 7.1 analog output (using either 5.1 or the full 7.1 depending on your speakers). You could also connect coaxial or optical to let the Model 990 do the decoding and DSP for DVD's and CD's (this is how I set up my 983H and previous universal DVD players). The best bet for video output is the HDMI connection, both because it allows up to 1080p (24 or 60) and because it is the only way to get the ABT hardware involved. You can either use the 990's DVI switching (if you have a couple DVI/HDMI sources) or go straight to the display. If you don't have DVI-HDCP or HDMI on the TV, you can go with component video instead.

For your specific case, your plan sounds good. Migrate the DV-45A's multichannel analog and coaxial digital audio over to the BDP-83 and go straight to the Kuro with HDMI. I'm still refraining from offering comments on performance, but I'll toss out the option of hooking the BDP-83's stereo analog output to the CD connection on the 990 and letting it to CD's as well (or for that matter letting coaxial handle it). I don't know that it's necessary to commit to a course of action now, but I'd be curious to hear how you think the two stack up for standard CD performance. Personally, I'm about to remove my HD-A2 from the rack and am trying to decide where the 983H will live once testing is done, since my plan is to let the BDP-83 handle all of my disc playing duties.