Doug_D

Tinkerer put his SRA-12S up for sale over the holidays, and I was thrilled to be able to buy it. I'm sure I my ears are more pyrite than gold, but this is a big step up from the SRD-7 I've been using up to now. Since this SRA-12S has one pro bias output, I now have an amp that opens up a path to upgrades too. And until I saw this unit listed and was reminded of its existence, I really didn't really realize how badly I needed a "control center" for my headphone/2-channel gear. Just a great fortuitous fit for my needs. One giant step for a man, one profound "ehh" for mankind. Now I have to sift through all the voices and decide what Lambda should be the next one to get. What fun ! (Now listening to: The Best of the Chesterfields.)

The Oppo 105's major advertised difference over the Oppo 103 is that it offers "audiophile-grade fidelity." Quote: "The BDP-105 features a dedicated 2-channel analog output with specially optimized ES9018 DAC and output driving stages. The stereo output offers both XLR balanced and RCA single-ended connectors. The balanced output features a true differential signal path all the way from the DAC to the 3-pin XLR connector. By transmitting a pair of differential signals, the balanced output provides better common-mode noise rejection and improves signal quality." (In contrast, the 103's single DAC is presumably optimized for multi-channel output for BluRay and DVD movies.) If the Yamaha CD-S2000 at approx $2000 is in the mix, and you're primarily interested in (?2 channel) audio, then the Oppo-105 at $1199 USD is probably a better candidate than the Oppo-103 at $599 USD. But I like Blessingx's comment a lot: If you don't already have an investment in SACD discs, why spend money on buying hardware at this point ? ? ?