Resale prices for Oppo Digital Universal Players


May I ask the forum to explain to me the disparity in the asking and bid prices for various preowned and some new Oppo Digital Universal Players for sale on Audiogon and on another well known resale site?  I'm seeing prices all over the scale.  I know they're no longer manufactured but the asking and bid prices don't seem to make any sense.  For example, there's a BDP-93 manufactured in 2011 with an asking price is $250.00, another one built in 2010 at $310.00 and another at $150.00 similar vintage.  There's a BDP-95 Blu-ray Universal Player for sale at $643.00.  There's a UDP-205 for $3,000.00 manufactured in 2017.  There's a BDP-83SE that's 10 years old with an asking price of $433.00. There are three new UDP-205s with asking prices from $3,699.00, $4,999.00 & $5,295.00 !!  The UDP-205s new were $1,299.00 when they became available.  There's a new UDP-203 built in 2016 at $820.00......new they were $549.00.  I own a BDP-103 from 2014 purchased brand new at $500.00 and it's still in excellent condition.  What is that worth should I decide to sell it here may I ask?         
pdn
I purchased a 205 shortly before they were discontinued based upon all the positive reviews and feedback to replace an aging Sony SCD-777ES. This was the first and last time I will ever purchase a component without listening to it first. I was very disappointed with the sound quality. It wasn’t even decent, let alone great, considering all the professional reviews I read. My old Sony (a great sounding player IMO) was significantly better. While I sat back and thought about how best I could get rid of this dramatically overrated black box, a shocking thing started to happen. The prices started going crazy. The higher they went, the more demand there was. I almost sold it too soon. I held off until prices went over 3k and then I quickly listed it and sold it. What a relief. Not only did I get rid of it, I made an impressive profit. For all of you considering purchasing an used Oppo, don’t, unless you just want it for its DVD capabilities.
Although I don’t subscribe to his philosophy, in the words of Gordon Gecko *Wall Street) "Greed is good". 2 more well known, and more applicable quotes are; There’s a sucker born every minute, and A fool and his money are soon parted


That as background: I bought 105 new at least 8 years ago, strictly to play SACDs. My red book player was a Pioneer PD 65 that had Musical Concepts mods, including an outboard power supply. I used it as a transport with various DACs. About 2 years ago, while surfing E-baye I came across a pure silver replacement jumper attached to a Rhodium Furutech IEC that connected to the 105 power supply. It was expensive for what it was, but DAM! I then upgraded the crappy power supply to one on eBay (~$160). Both of these transformed my 105 into a serious red book player, which I really only discovered after my PD 65 finally died. I replaced it with a Marantz HD CD 1, a cd player but with all the newest outputs. I never listened to it as a player, instead connecting it to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5 power supply, and was a very happy camper

One day I decided to listen to it for red book using the variable out volume control. Thanks to the 2 power upgrades, I no longer listen to the Marantz, or use the AA

hth


The Oppo 205 features a very fine DAC chip, the same as used in top ranked DAC's costing many time the Oppo's price. The analog section features a decent sized toroidal transformer that would be comparable to many preamps, and a fully balanced output stage. The transport capabilities are amongst the most generous ever. Input and output options are plentiful for both 2 and multichannel. It is very compatible with many different contemporary and legacy formats. 
Garnering near universal praise from professional reviewers. It is a popular candidate for upgrading options. It punches way above it's weight class.

Is it snobbery or jealousy or what that provokes this contempt? I don't see how anyone can deny the value of these devices. 

Oh yeah, I think it sounds very good indeed. IMHO, better sound comes at a much higher price with more limitations.
Unsound that has been my experience as well with the BDP 83 very fine player/transport for the money and a great picture also. What other products are there that can do so much so well?
Unsound

The Oppo 205, at its original MSRP of $1295.00, could be considered a “reasonable” value I suppose as a mid fi product. However, it certainly is not worthy of the inflated prices it has been going for since it was discontinued. The midrange and high frequencies are very clearly “digital” sounding. That is one of the first things the mod guys work on. Just because it has the Sabre 9038 DACs does not mean it automatically sounds great. I spoke out about this product not because of snobbery or jealousy, but to warn people to not be sheep and pay inflated prices for an extremely overrated product.
Now for the snobbery part. If you are still listening to Thiel speakers, that would explain why you don’t hear the problems with the 205. I worked in high end audio for years and Thiel was one of the speaker lines we carried. I spent a lot of time with equipment and cable pairings trying to tame that tweeter.