Woohoo!!! The 93 arrived this evening. I'm eager to rip my HT apart and get her installed but I'm gonna wait until tomorrow. Let the games (posts) begin. Woohoo!!!

Ok round 1....

I was impressed with the BDP-93 from opening the box. I know you all may be saying, "this guy is not the sharpest pencil in the box" but let me tell you...first impressions mean a lot once you cross a certain price point. For me at least. Got up this morning, had my coffee like always, then started into this mission. After opening the box, my first words were, WOW...!!! Even if this player did none of the things so many raved about, they at least got the presentation right. Very tightly packaged. A large quality printed invitation card immediately showing off all you are in store for. Removed the card and there she was...beautifully packaged in a black nylon type package with high glossed silver writing..OPPO BDP-93 Blu-Ray...or something like that. I was really out done when I removed the package and the dang thing had a handle on it like a satchel. All the years of buying electronics and stuff, I have never seen anything like it. OK enough of that.

I will definitely make more posts about this as the weeks go by but let me share what I've experienced so far. So I waist no time dismantling the Pioneer Elite DV-79A. I'm big time nervous because this has been my staple player for the better of 5 years and now she's history. So I'm thinking, the 93 had better be good!!! In one hand I have the printed instructions Gonk has on his site and perfectly assembled users guide that came with the player in the other. Assembling my HT nearly 5 years ago was nearly harder than building my house; and I'm a techie...but with the trusty support of my man Gonk....got'er done. Adding the BDP-93 was the easiest thing I'd ever done to my HT. This was the first electronics I ever added that worked the first time and I didn't have to bother Gonk. :-) So far I followed all of Gonk's instructions and a few from the manual. I'm connected wireless and ready to do all the stuff that comes with that. I'm big on music so that was the first thing she played. But before I go off the deep end with that, I want to do a little more then watch some movies. However I can say, the BDP-93 sounds really really good through the Martin Logans. I mean really SWEET with hardly any tweaking. Check back in a couple days....more to follow...

Glad to hear that the setup went smoothly! The setup wizard does help a good bit with that. Have fun with it...

Round 2....

Audio

I'm more of a music dude so I've filter a lot of different music through the 93 over the last few days and here's my simple thoughts. This puppy REALLY sounds GREAT through my system. I can't speak in all those fancy terms like Gonk and others but I know good sound when I hear it. I was already somewhat happy with my systems audio performance with the Pioneer DV-79 but it is no match for the BDP-93. My system almost sounds like I bought new speakers and electronics....and I only replaced one piece. AMAZING! The detail in the music is so much more defined. The sound stage is tighter but widens at the right time when listening to Diana Krall. Each musician is placed where they suppose to be. The ML Descent i is already a beast but the 93 has now turned her into a monster. Faster! Tighter! Sexier! The bass now quickly removes all the air from the room and fills in where the bass traps await, so much where I had to adjust the volume down from previous settings. Heck, two subs may be too much now. SIKE!! Simply beautiful! Great job OPPP!

Video

Along with purchasing the BDP-93 I also sweet talked the CFO (wife) into getting the new Panasonic PT-AE7000U 3D Projector. Another diamond in the rough. Ok so after running out and dropping a few dollars ($150) on some new BD, it was now time to see what these two champions can do together. Again, I'm not going fill you will a bunch of tech-jargon but let me tell you, my HT has been born again. WOW! The video these two girls produce together is like eating a Philly Cheesesteak for the first time and there's no one around to ask for a bit. Fullfilling! I did not imaging getting nearly the same sharp quality image from a projector like an LCD or Plasma panel but how surprise was I. When the CFO (wife) first watch her response was, "the image is so real, it makes my eyes water". I knew then my crappy ROI pitch was successful. :-) Simply beautiful! Great job OPPO and Panasonic!

Ok now for the minor techie stuff for Gonk...my system is pretty much configured the same except for adding the BDP93 and AE7000. This may be a grade school question that I've asked before but with the 990 when watching a BD, does it auto-magically assign the audio output based on the format of the disk? I ask because with each disk I played, the 990 only allows me to choose select audio formats.

When using the digital output, the BDP-93 should be set to output a bitstream. If you have it set to LPCM output, all you'll get is stereo. Either way, the Model 990 does have a limited set of options available to choose from depending on the input signal format. Dolby Digital 5.1 must be decoded as Dolby Digital, and in a 5.1 system there's nothing more really to do. DTS 5.1 must be decoded as DTS, again with no additional processing options because all speakers are already active. If you have a stereo sources (Dolby 2.0 or PCM stereo), then you may have the option of using Pro Logic II or DTS Neo:6 or 5 Stereo to expand that to 5.1 (which ones are available will depend on the format of the stereo source).

When using the analog output and the Model 990's 7.1 channel analog input, the Model 990 doesn't have any processing to do. The BDP-93 will decode and send the audio out in whatever number of channels are available. For a 5.1 system, you'd want to set the downmix to 5.1 for those times that you run into a 6.1 or 7.1 Blu-ray disc.