How competitive are you with your system?

That's the purpose of the "Contour" control if so desired.  The recordings were done in the "20 ohm" position.

I am absolutely non-competitive - not even sure why anyone would be.  It isn't a race, it's a pastime.

Amazing! While people switch DACs few times and pay $$$$$ ($260k for a DAC?), 15 years old Oppo-95 sounds this. Again the separate DACs can’t avoid veils and glare (4 extra connectors on d cable destroy delicate d signals). Cheers! Alex/WTA

toddalin   this is an Oppo-95    https://youtu.be/zSX0HLSauag

@toddalin I agree with Alex that you need to experiment with taming some of the forwardness of the midrange because at least to me the forward presentation would lead to quick listening fatigue.

@mihorn I have a Modwright Dalby Oppo-105D that I use in one of my other systems as a DAC for streaming. The Oppo players are and still sound very nice.

The other thing that I will mention is that to achieve greater inner detail, low level detail, nuance, and resolution you really need to work on the source material itself. You will not increase the inherent resolution downstream of the source. I know that @toddalin does not connect his system to a PC or streamer but he would really enjoy what HQPLAYER would do to the sound of his system.

As I noted, the contour control adjusts the "forwardness" of the midrange. This is not a simple midrange volume control.  As set (20 ohm "default"), I like the vocal detail it affords and when I listen to direct cuts, it sounds similar to me.  I listen to disk after disk with no fatigue.  Often I strive for a more vocal from my seat!

You need to realize that sitting on the couch puts my head back to the cushions and when recording, the mic stands forward of that.  Even a couple inches can have a profound effect when you are dealing with this sort of thing and it is not quite so forward as it sounds in the track.  I can also engage the "Tube Simulator" to take a bit of vocal "edge" out on bad recordings.