Is Anyone Using The Oppo 105 As A Preamp?

I just purchased two weeks ago an OPPO 105 to replace my OPPO BD83 SE. There is no comparison to my ears right out of the box between the two units. The 105 is very close to the $10K Ayre DX5 that I owned for 6 months and sold, has usb HD and internet streaming and balanced outputs. I do not think OPPO recommends direct connection to an amplifier for optimum sound. I am using HDMI in from the satellite receiver,(wow, tv programing and streaming internet music never sounded better!) and wow what a great picture on my Panasonic HD flat panel; balanced Audience Au24e interconnects to a Ayre K5XEmp preamp same balanced cables to a Sanders Magtech amp and Au24e cables to MG1.7s with a Velodyne DDS12sub, Audience power cables and conditioner(amp is directly plugged into PS Audio outlet on a dedicated 20amp circuit. Holographic you are there sound! the OPPO 105, like the Magtech amp, are absolute audio bargains. Before you send the Oppo back, try out a high quality preamp first, like a Bryston or Ayre, and I am pretty confident you will be totally satisfied. Happy Listening!

See my experience using a bdp-105 as a preamp to my MC-2100 at audiophile-musings.blogspot.com. All in all I agree that it needs a bit of taming down and sounds too sterile. Running through my Dared MC-7P sounds much more natural but straight to the amp via RCA cables "works" and is how my wife prefers to listen to it. She likes its ability to instantly mute commercials that the Dared cannot do.

.
Phil, I saw your comments regarding the 105 as a preamp. I also saw your comments regarding the unit break-in period. I wonder if the preamp section may need more time to break in time before it settles down. Just a thought.

Thanks for sharing.

Nice blog.
.

The volume control in the Oppo is done in the digital domain, which means that you start cutting bits to reduce the volume. The Oppo is great at many things, but being a pre-amp is not one of them.

I'm expecting the 105 tomorrow, and will be using it straight to my amps, at least initially.

Audiojan and others, check this from ESS about cutting bits to reduce volume:

http://www.esstech.com/PDF/digital-vs-analog-volume-control.pdf