I saw this on slashdot.com
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/trans...xicon-outside-1

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/01...-Blu-ray-Player

It appears that Lexicon is selling the Oppo BD player as their own, unmodified, for $3000!

We've been discussing it a bit on the BDP-83 thread. It's messy. The really curious thing is that there was also a review earlier this week that is claiming that there are differences. Unfortunately, that reviewer compared the BD-30 to the 83SE (which means the power supply and analog board were different designs) and then hasn't said anything about how the analog sections compared. I've been participating in some discussion in the comments of that review (posting as "Jim"), where the publisher/founder is defending the review.

Looks like Ken has crawled into a hole and is doing the "duck and cover" until this all blows over. The comments have all been removed. LOL

Quote:

Publisher's Note:
Due to unprofessional and non-productive "flames" and or personal attacks comments have been turned off for this review.

Yeah, plenty of rather reasonable questions disappeared along with those "flames." It's a shame. Meanwhile, this debacle has spread all over the place: Slashdot, Engadget, Gizmodo, and large threads at a number of forums (including both AVS and Blu-ray.com). Aside from Audioholics (who is getting plenty of traffic through their site and forum), I don't think anybody is benefiting from this.

I am not sure why anyone should benefit from this except those who helped identify this fraud. IMO this is significantly different from Buick selling a rebadged and slighty upgraded Chevrolet Malibu or Chevrolet reselling a Suzuki as those items are publicized by the press. I especially think the virtual tar and feathering of the on-line reviewer was deserved.

I ,personnaly, believe that the consumer may benifit signifigantly from this. The high end audio market has become replete with snake oil salesmen and brand name acceptance. when one of the big boys attempts to perpetrate a hoax on us, it's incumbent upon all of us to throw the BS flag. I'm pleased that the community in general has rejected this attempted boondoggle.
Now. I understand that the Lexicon player benifits greatly from certain clocks in the system that truly differentiate it from the Oppo BD-83. and for only $3000 I will send you a pair of these along with a super dupper HDMI cable . AND if you act now, I'll through in an amazing power cord and cord risers that will remove the "blankets from around your speakers" and a super conductive USB cable at NO EXTRA CHARGE!
Excuse me if the packaging on these say Monster cable, it's a ploy to keep them from being stolen in-transit.
Please send your check to Koyaan @ hotmail.com.
Thank you for your support.

I was discussing this matter with some people recently and something occurred to me. What we are seeing in the BDP-83 and BD-30 is really two loosely related aspects of the industry. One is the common practice of companies using the same basic platform for different products, with or without changes. (Example of this with substantive changes: the Model 990 uses the R-965 platform but adds XLR outputs, DVI switching, and significantly different firmware that altered the interface, bass management, and a number of other differences.) The other (which both hurts Lexicon and compliments OPPO) is the distribution channel.

When the first batch of BDP-83 beta samples shipped to testers in the fall of 2008, many of us (myself included) guessed that it would sell for $600 to $700. There was some sadness in that - it was a much higher price point than previous offerings - but the total package seemed to deserve it even when you avoid dealer networks. OPPO didn't decide for certain on $500 ($580 with rs232 port) until almost the last minute. I still think it would be a good value at $600. On the other end of the scale, you have Lexicon. They don't have the R&D costs to recoup, they appear to be offering no performance benefits except for perhaps a quieter drive, they are already behind on firmware, and yet they set a list price of $3500. Some of that is due to the demands of a dealer network: guys with rent, utilities, and payroll to meet who want to make a decent profit on each unit even if they offer the buyer a "deal" at some lower price. Some of it is padding for Lexicon's bottom line. If Lexicon were aggressive about hitting a "low" list price for the BD-30, it would probably still be priced around $1200 or $1500. At that price, you get two things for the extra money: a fancier faceplate and a local dealer. The extra $2000 is just a "sucker" tax on top of the previous extra.

I'm glad knowledgeable folks called Lexicon and, in particular, HomeTheaterReview on the carpet. Lexicon's slight of hand shouldn't be perpetuated by the audio/video media but sadly many "professional" reviews are nothing more than advertisements masquerading as journalism. As a matter of fact the guy who started ComputerAudiophile.com recently got in hot water with his readers for just this type of "review". The product cheerleading in the major magazines is useless to me and so like others I have turned to forums such as this one to get the straight facts on products.

On another note, I wonder how OPPO feels about the pricing on their player after it was slipped behind a Lexicon faceplate? I don't think a dealer network and a pretty faceplate should buy OPPO's concurrence with a $3,000 price jump. That said I have no idea how such OEM deals are constructed and it is within reason OPPO didn't have any say in the price of their rebadged product. But now that the story is out OPPO shouldn't expect to sell Lexicon many units.

Technically, I doubt that OPPO is selling players directly to Lexicon. According to someone from Ayre (posting at AVS), Ayre is actually buying BDP-83's from OPPO and dismantling them because it gets them out of DVD Forum and BDA licensing fees (sort of an extreme form of what the modders have been doing), but I am pretty sure that Lexicon has licensed the design alone and is buying parts straight from the factory in China.

Which brings up another question... Quite a few people have a real issue with buying Chinese-made goods like the BDP-83. What about the Ayre (rebuilt in the US from a Chinese-made player) or the Lexicon (which is said to be "made in USA" but uses guts that are imported from China)?

A license arrangement would probably make it even more lucrative for Lexicon! Arrgghhh!! To be truthful Lexicon should say their player is "Assembled in USA" versus "Made in USA" if they are using the exact same Chinese parts used in OPPO's player. However, this would probably be an issue for a lot of products that are supposedly made in the US. Heck, I had a Chevy truck a few years ago that was assembled in Canada and who knows where all its parts were from. Sigh.