Praise for Oppo UDP-205 Tube Mod!

More feedback from happy customers about the UDP-205 Tube Modification!

There are still units out there and Oppo is promising one more production run! We will continue to modify the Oppo 105/105D and 205’s as long as units are available!


I’ve always been in the CD’s can never sound as good as LP’s camp.  There’s just something about that analogue sound.  I’ve been playing my kit extra hard the past few days and have come to a new conclusion.   

I moved my new ModWright Oppo 205 to the serious kit, and my conclusions are disturbing.   Just as a reminder, Thorens Prestige TT with a Koetsu Urushi Vermilion cartridge, Audible Illusions Modulus 3A valve preamp with a John Curl phono stage vs the ModWright and the same preamp.  Same monoblocks, same speakers, same everything but the source.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m no longer sure which source is better.  The sound is marginally different, but the quality between the two is nonexistent.   

The valve output stage is phenomenal!  I am literally stunned at how good CD’s can sound.  My previous CD player was either an Oppo Digital 105D or an Arcam DV-137.   The Arcam is no where close to the new Oppo, the 105 Oppo sounds good, but the ModWright Oppo is clearly better.  Not just a little better, but huge steps forward better.  The placement of instruments and vocals is more defined,  the entire frequency range sounds more accurate and realistic, dynamics have improved, the music sounds like someone has drawn back the curtain.  Listening to Tears For Fears as I type, and this (and every CD so far) is just more musical.   I’m seriously impressed.   The ModWright modified Oppo Digital 205 may be the best CD and universal disc player I’ve ever heard.   Certainly competes with my turntable, which has me equally sad and happy.

– R. Gruber – 4.20.18

“hi Dan,
i just wanted to thank you one more time for the amazing work you do, the sound quality you brought to my home is just unparalleled…! 

the 205 is now broken-in and i’ve rolled in some NOS amperex tubes, swapped the rectifier for the philips you recommend and all i can do now is grin when i listen, and keep turning the volume up. breathtaking, rich, fluid presentation, amazing soundstage and the midrange is just to die for. love every minute of listening…

thank you so very, very much…!”

– D. Vican – 4.24.18

” This dac is an impressive marriage of the best of both worlds:  the newest SABRE dac chip and all its details and clarity, married with easily Dan’s best tube mod to date.  The results are a dac that outperforms anything close to it in price, with musically real images that are saturated in color and texture like never before.  A Martin sounds like a Martin, a Taylor like a Taylor.  That’s what you want in a dac.” 
– T. Brady (10.02.17)

“I’ve had an extended listen to the Modwright-modified OPPO UDP-205 ultra HD Bluray disc player from Amboy, WA that comes with a separate tube power supply and a two-tube addition, etc. to the player itself.  The modifications are cosmetically pleasing, so seamlessly incorporated in the housing that the casual observer will think it is a factory option.

My former disc player was an OPPO BDP-103 that I think has a great sound, and I was reluctant to replace it. That was then.

Let’s cut to the chase: the Modwright OPPO UDP-205 is a phenomenal player that beautifully presents the music as I presume the artist would want. The sound is at once accurate, inviting, rich, warm, spacious, and listenable for extended periods of time.  The sound is so natural and balanced I find myself smiling during certain engaging musical passages.

Treasured discs I haven’t listened to for awhile reveal nuances I don’t recall hearing during their periods of regular playing…..I find myself wanting to listen to everything in my collection again just to see what might be newly revealed.

My audiophile pursuit has been focused entirely on obtaining the best listening experience possible….hopefully recreating what the artist and producer heard when they listened to the final mixes prior to release.  This device has me convinced I’m a major step closer, if not at that goal!

The Modwright OPPO UDP-205 has a permanent place in my stereo cabinet until I can be convinced another player is better, and judging from the extraordinary costs of other audiophile players, I find myself unlikely to change my mind.”
 
– R. Russel (10.09.17)

I’ve done a fair amount of critical listening this afternoon & the 205 is now revealing instruments I have not identified in the music before. Also the music has more presence, not that it seemed to lack presence with the 105. I’ll be doing an ABA comparison in the next few days but the conclusion seems to be pretty clear! There is one problem with it though – a desire to spend too much time listening to the music!

A very satisfied customer.
– P. Bain 7.17.17


It sounds fantastic! (even with the stock tubes!)
Clear powerful improvement in the bass.  Dynamics, which were already good, have improved and resolved considerably.  Detail is greater, but that might be because of the improved dynamics of the inner detail. I am really hearing microdynamics that I have not heard before in oft-listened-to recordings. Soundstage has widened significantly.  And overall clarity and “naturalness” of the music seems to have improved.
 
My previous DAC was a dual-femto-clocked DAC, with a separate external linear power supply.  It is well regarded.  But your 205 upgrade crushes it.
 
I have tried CD’s, SACD’s, high resolution source material via USB, including DSD, and it all sounds incredibly detailed and clear.  And musical.  I have found that some mods can improve this part of the sound, or that part, but the overall musicality goes out of balance.  Your 205 mods keep the music nicely balanced, without any frequency ranges dominating. 

– B.Cesanek, 8.11.17


I am so impressed with your Oppo and I consider it definitely reference grade.… the 205 is everything you said and more……As good as your Sony 5400 is I do not play it much recently………Totally pleased with your mod Dan. 
– S. Blanton 8.25.17

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