Considering Oppo DVD player and checked with them regarding new release that would combine the video of the 971 with the audio (sacd, dvd audio etc) of the 970. They responded with the following....

We are looking into releasing a DVD player that will combine the strengths of both units, but we have no firm release date. All we can
say at this time is "Fall".

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.
453 Ravendale Dr, Suite D
Mountain View, CA 94043
Service@oppodigital.com
Tel: 650-961-1118
Fax: 650-961-1119

There have been some comments off and on since even before the 970HD arrived earlier this year about this player. The info you got from them matches what I've seen batted around at AVS: the 971's replacement will retain the 971's Faroudja processing but move to an HDMI output and add support for SACD along with the DVD-Audio support already offered by the 971. I've been keeping an eye on it since it could potentially replace both my Yamaha universal and my 971 as a single solution for me. If the launch goes anything like the 970HD's did, we'll hear something official about it from Oppo when they have the first batch ready to ship and they add it to their online store.

Unless the price will be cheap, why care since everyone is looking at the Blue Ray or HD DVD Player.

Kwok

Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are still in their teething stages. People are still looking for a budget player that has great video capabilities and can play all of the current audio formats. Besides, it's not like there are soo many HD titles out there that most consumers are going to stop buying regular ole DVDs.

I understand that the Hi-Def players can upsample regular DVDs but I have yet to see one come out that does this, is a universal player, and costs less than $200. When that time comes, and it probably will someday, then we can debate the merits of a Hi-Def player vs. a regular budget player.

Since the player it's intended to replace costs $200, I doubt the new one will be more than about $250 or so - pretty tempting since the 971 scored a 98 on Secrets' shootout and none of the Blu-ray or HD-DVD players support DVD-A and SACD yet. And personally, I'm looking at the new formats from a healthy distance. Neither will be getting my money any time soon.

I agree w/Gonk. Why invest in either of these formats at this time unless you have money to burn to be able to buy both of them. I know I will want to re purchase some of the dvd's I already own (LOTR extended version, Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc). Chances of all these being in the same format is slim and that goes for those that I will want to buy going forward. I'll wait until the war is over or hope for a universal player that supports both formats. I don't mind investing 250 in the short term considering the reputation and customer support of Oppo.

One reason I will wait is for the potential (if it exists) of a "universal" HD player which also does SACD and DVD-A. My 971 doesn't do SACD. My megachanger (Sony) does, but I really plan to sell it, as it is a real pain to use, compared to a single-disc player. So meanwhile for $250 or so I, too, would pull trigger for the new Oppo if it also does SACD. My current one would go to different system in the house.

All above comments make sense and great. I respect all the comments.
In my personal opinion, if buy a new up-conversion dvd player because it plays SACD as well, I rather buy a stand alone SACD player whilst I already have a decent DVD player for DVD upconversion and DVD-A listening. After all, money counts.

Kwok

In other words, there is no single solution that works perfectly for everyone - a mighty fine point. I suspect that Oppo's next player will generate as much buzz as both the 971H and 970HD have, but that doesn't mean any of the Oppo players are the right choice for every user.

Yap, I cannot agree more, Gonk.

Kwok