There has been a bit of chatter about high-end clones of the BDP-83 ever since at least CEDIA last September. One of the first to market has been the Lexicon BD-30, which lists for $3,500. Theta has a clone coming, as well, and there's at least one other that I'm forgetting. The internal pictures of the BD-30 at CEDIA had some rather substantial similarities - at least from a distance - to the BDP-83's internals, but Lexicon said that they had made refinements. There are now two reviews of the BD-30 online, and they make for interesting reading.

First is a review Home Theater Review that was posted on 1/11, which briefly compares the build quality of the BD-30 to that of the BDP-83SE but then doesn't say much more. All in all, it felt a bit sketchy as far as comparisons went and the reviewer had no prior experience with the 83. I'd be curious to have read a comparison of the analog sections, especially considering the next review.

The second review was posted this afternoon by Audioholics. I don't read many of their reviews, but this one caught my attention. It's not so much a review as an electronics autopsy comparing the BD-30 to a stock BDP-83 (not the more expensive SE).