VINCULUM  103D  PLUS  REVIEW      Miquel  Figuerola,    Palma  de  Mallorca  ,  March  2014                                    

     I  would  like  to  begin  by  welcoming  the  entire  forum.      I  recognize  awkward  for  anything  having  to  do  with  electronics  ...    In  short,  anything  that  has  to  do  with  electricity.      I  get  cramps  when  I  touch  a  broom.      I   intend   only   to   share   with   the   forum   our   lived   experience   in   Palma   de  Mallorca,   with   the  child's   father,   Miguel,   lovable   person   who   made   it   possible   that   we   could   test   the   Oppo  Vinculum  103d  premium  (PLUS)  (cinephile  audiophile  version).      The  tests  were  performed  in  5  different  rooms,  one  dedicated  solely  to  audio.      I  have  to  admit  that  all  we  shared    unanimously  an  skeptical  position  .  That  was  ...  let's  see  ...  let's   listen  ...  A  bluray  that  does   it  all   ..?    An  all   in  one  which  plays  with  high   level?    That  can  stand  up  in  analog  audio  against  authentic  recognized  high  level  audio  machines    ...?    Bad  start  ...    Anyway,  Miguel  ,  the  Vinculum´s  father,  in  all  humility,  simply  put  the  machine  to  our  service  without  advancing  anything  ...  remaining  silent  in  every  one  of  the  tests.    

   

       In  my  case  ..    my  modest  equipment  :  Dedicated   room   ,   bat   cave,   with   a   display   screen   Elite   Lunette   Curve   2.35,   138   inch,   about  3.23m  base.  JVC  DLA  RS45  projector.    I  must  say,  I  was  groping  changing  my  projector  and  had  interest  in  the  new  JVC  500R  in  its  pro  version.    Yamaha  AV  Receiver  Z11    Bower  5.1  series  of  CM9    Oppo  103d  unmodified   ,  which   i   use   for  home   cinema  and   to   listen  my   cd  using   the   analog  output  in  this  case.      

                                 

           I'll  start  with  testing  the    unmodified  Oppo  103D    vs.  Vinculum  premium  (PLUS).    I  have  clear  references  about    the  unmodified  oppo  103d    in  my  room,  both  in  audio  and  video.  Using  reference  movies  to  test  the  machines.  The  usual   ...  Dark  Knight,  Oblivion,  Pacific  Rim,  etc...  and    cd  discs    I've  heard  many  times,  for  testing  the  analog  audio.                                                  

     Tried  the  video  section  first.    Miguel  suggested  to  set  everything  to  zero.    Everything   is   everything   ...   sharpness   out,   Darbee   out,   color,   contrast,   brightness,   several  enhancements  ...    Well,  my  RS45  was  left  without  makeup.    I  thought  to  myself:  God  caught  us  confessed.      Sets   the  Vinculum   in   direct   source  mode   and     start   playing  with   the  Dark   Knight   in   the  disc  transport.    And...    the  Show  starts.    I  dont  know  what  is  happening  but  what  I  see  is  CINEMA.        

                               These  are  my  feelings.  The  difference  is  clear.  It  was  not  an  illusion.  There  was  not  any  need  to  say  ...  "wait  ...  shall  we  try  the  103d  unmodified  again?"  .    Was  not  necessary.  The  difference  in  favor  of  Vinculum  was  very  clear.      Putting  the  Darbee  to  what  I  was  seeing  would  have  been  like  putting  soda  to  a  good  reserve  wine.    All  had  perfect  balance.    I  was  watching  the  native  media  information.      Blacks   achieved   a   terrific   level.   All   grayscale   appears   inexplicably.   White   is   white   white   ...  perfect  colorimetry,  the  movement  was  extremely  good  without  interpolating  ,  no  camcorder  effect  at  all,  all  very  cinematographic.      I  have  changed  the  projector  ...  it  was  my  first  feeling.  For  the  first  time  in  my  humble  room  i  was  enjoying  what  I  had  been  missing:  Much  information  from  the    1080p  suppport.      At  the  same  time  ...  The  Yamaha  Z11  sounded  overwhelming.  I  had  to  lower  the  volume  of  the  AV.    Vinculum  handled  the  job  masterfully  ,  dynamic  was  present  ..      The   soundtrack,   detail,   immersion   in   the   scene   ..   effects   sounded   with   definition   in   those  scenes  where   the   information   involved   is   so   great   ..   what  was   a   NOISE   became   a   powerful  controlled  bass  with  such    definition  and  detail  unexplainable  for  me.      These  were  my  feelings   ..   I  also  had  changed  my  AV  amp.  Miraculously,   the  AV  receiver  was  cold.  There  was  another  kind  of  audio  management  through    hdmi.  I  was  in  a  CINEMA.              

                           Turning  to  my  experience  in  analog  audio  ...      The  experience  was  more  of  the  same  ..  everything  sounded  much  more  balanced  ,  bass  was    extremely   tight   ,   great   mids     which   sounded   natural,   treble   in   place   and   the   dynamics  spectacular.      We   listened   some   cuts   of   A   Charlie   Haden   Quartet   West   album   with   chamber   orchestra,  specifically   The   Art   of   Song   that   I   have   very   controlled   and   recommend   for   Jazz   lovers...  Speechless  ...  so  my  modest  equipment  became  another  thing.    The   digital   edge,     as   a   friend   of   ours   says,   dissapeared.   I   listened    MUSIC   with  my   humble  equipment.  With  terrific  naturalness...  Speechless...  I  repeat:  these  are  my  modest  sensations.      To  all   this   ..  Miguel   ..  Father  of    the  creature,    sitting  to  my  right  without  a  word  throughout  the   test   ..  When   I  expose  my   feelings   to  him..  With  all  humility  answered:   "Well   ,...   it  was  a  hard  work".                  

   

   Collect  the  Vinculum,  accompanied  him  to  the  hotel  and  were  waiting  for  the  next  day.    More  surprises  awaited  to  me...      Returning  home  ..  of  course  ..  I  should  not  have  done  ..  reconnected  wires  ,  I  launch  it  all..  and  again  ...  I  put  The  Dark  Knight  ..  being  everything  to  zero  ..  that  image  was  nude  of  everything...    I  said  myself..."  i  will  arrange  this  pulling  Darbee,  gammas,  calibrating  again  "...  going  to  be  that  No..  NOTHING  ..    I  spent  a  good  time  messing  controls,  both  on  my  projector  and  my    unmodified  Oppo103d  .  NOTHING  .  .  .    THOSE  were  not   the  blacks,  were  not   the  grayscale,     the  motion,   the  colorimetry,   sharpness  was  not  natural  as  it  was  before,  ...I  missed  the  good  taste  of  the  Vinculum  ...      About  the    sound  in  the  Dark  Knight  ...  better  not  to  talk.      I  saved  to  put  Charlie  Haden,  of  course.  Who  sent  me  to  complicate  my  life?                      

         With   those   feelings   ...   I   called  my   friend  Arsenio,   from  Audio   Lux   ,   recognized  HI   END   store  with  a  great  audiophile  customers  agenda.      How  would  i  say  it  him  ..?        Someone    has  modified  a  blu-­‐ray  that  does  it  all?    Knowing  he  only  handles  Hi-­‐end  audio,    a  bluray  ?   ...  knowing  him...  he  would  have   thought  that  I  had  a  slight  fever,  a  spring  flu.      I  call  him,  I  explain  it...    in  the  other  side:    A  BLURAY  ??    Shown  skeptical,  it  was  normal  ..  who  does  not?.      Knowing  the  brand  unmodified  ,  he  gave  me  appointment  for  the  next  day.    I,  of  course,  wanted  to  try  the  Vinculum  with  another  league  machines.      Arrived  the  next  day,  we  went  to  his  listening  room.      He  was  testing  a  dedicated  cd  Esoteric,  costing  around  €  5000   ,  Dali  Mentor  6   loudspeakers  with    a  Leben  CS600  Class  A  amplifier.  He  suggested  us  something  else  to  try,  valves  and  other  speakers,  but  did  not  have  much  time.                  As  described,  we  started  listening  his  cd  discs,  used  as  demo    for  his  customers                                                                                            

                                             The  Esoteric  was  sounding  great.  A  percussion  with  dynamic    bass  in  some  parts  of  the  cut.    We    connected  the  Vinculum  ..  we  go  to  the  same  cut.      And  I  stay  ...  Speechless  !..        Arsenio  serious  ...  and  Miguel  said  nothing.    The  Vinculum  pushed  the  Esoteric  in  embarrassing  situation,  it  was  not  a  hallucination.    Appeared  strong  bass  content,  the  dynamic  was  a  blast,  absolute  balance,  mids  turned  those  percussions  in  real  wood.      The  Vinculum  was  giving  us  high  level  analog  sound.  Naturalness  appeared  .  That  was  sounding  glorious.  We  listen  more  cuts,..  the  same.      Arsenio  look  at  me  ...  knowing  him  ..  extremely  critical  and  very  experienced  in  listening  to  all  kinds  of  machines  at  the  highest  level  ..    He  tells  me  ...  "That  sounds  different",    coming  from  Arsenio    this  is  like  saying:  "That  sounds  terrific".      He  was  touched  in  the  flotation  waterline.  So  much,  that  he  has  requested  another  test  with  more  time.    The  Vinculum  was  MUSIC.                                              Miquel  Figuerola  ,  Palma  de  Mallorca  ,  Mars  2014    

 

Miquel Figuerola is a musician who has worked all his life behind record productions, in collaboration with many other international musics, directing the recording with MIDAS and SOLID STATE mixing consoles, of the real instruments and voices of talented artists. He has collaborated in productions from, among others, Kevin Ayers, Donovan, Andy Summers (Police), John Cale (Velvet Underground, Lou Reed), Jorge Pardo (Paco de Lucía), Paquito de Rivera, Joan Bibiloni, Molly Dincan (Dire Straits, Average White Band, Tom Petty), Larry Coryell,... and many more. He has worked also for TV and Films productions, including some works nominated to the Music Awards and the Goya Award to the best film Original Soundtrack.