Oppo DV-981HD for $50 for 2ch?

I interpret bright as an excessive volume of high frequencies, and this is definitely not that.

Don't know about the transport. The one I heard through it's analogue outputs was HORRIBLY bright; something they thankfully cured with the BDP-95.

I bought the first 970,very reliable and responds well to vibration control under and on top of tray.I used feet from audio advisor under and 3 vibrapods with brass weight on top in cd tray for better overall sound.Can't beat the price.

Congrats!!

Well I got to sit down and do some listening last night finally, with Joe Sample, Alison Kraus, and Pink Floyd(shouldn't have). This dvd player is a big improvement over the Denon. Less harsh and more details show through. I'd have been happy paying 5 times what I did for it. WIN!

Doggitter get it! I replaced my aging Oppo 980H recently with a like new 981H for $70. Did several mods and tweaks and run it through a external dac and am very pleased with it. One mod was installing a Dexa voltage regulator, it reduced noise considerably. Go fer it.

It's in the cabinet. Doing some looking around I see one site that mentions it's retail at $1499? Somethings amiss, as he said he bought it new for about $350. Wierd.

I own one that I bought when it 1st came out. It's a workhorse and it's audio/video is very good. But it was cheap when I bought it, you might want to check Ebay to get an idea what they're going for these days. The display isn't good and the disc tray feels flimsy to the touch. But the performance outshines the build quality by a lot!! Mine's in the bedroom!;)

For SURE, a nice player without a DAC !

I agree with Milpai. If you haven't bought that Oppo yet please do so. I'd buy it for $50 if I had the opportunity. I've purchased $50 DVD players to use as a transport and what you get is quite flimsy to me. That and sometimes there are no LCD display etc.

You will NOT find a better transport for $50. And I am saying this, since I own the Oppo 970 HD. I am sure the 981 is a step up. Go for it!