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www.hifichoice.co.uk  Issue No. 436 May 2018

Few consumer electronics companies manage to be successful in both audiophile and home theatre markets as effectively as Oppo Digital has been. Known in hi-fi circles for its high-end headphone designs (like the PM-1 flagship), headphone preamps with built-in DACs (see its acclaimed HA-2SE portable DAC in The Knowledge), along with market-leading universal disc players that are just as happy spinning SACDs as they are delivering UHD Blu-ray images to 4K TV screens, the company has announced that it will be calling it a day.

On the 2 April, the surprise announcement from the Californian-based company informed us that it would be winding down its manufacturing facility. In a statement it noted: “Existing products will continue to be supported, warranties will still be valid, and warrantee repair services will continue to be available. For disc players that rely on the latest firmware, updates will be released from time to time with on going customer support.”

It’s not known exactly why Oppo has chosen to close its audio and disc playback part of the business, but falling demand in physical media sales is a likely contributor. Oppo’s mobile business is a separate company with strong markets in China and South East Asia, and looks to be unaffected. Oppo Digital UK told us that it will continue to trade while stocks last, but it expects to close its doors later this summer.

Lee Dunkley, editor

Inside the May issue we take an Exclusive In-depth look at Gold Note’s IS-1000 super integrated amp/streamer, while Exotica features ATC’s CDA2 Mk2 CD player/USB DAC/preamp and regular reviews looks at Chord Electronics’ Qutest DAC based on Hugo 2 tech, Scansonic’s M-6 floorstanding loudspeaker, ELAC’s Miracord 70 turntable as well as Cambridge’s Duo MM/MC phono stage. Plus, Music Legends bows down to the High Priestess of Soul Nina Simone and our Group Test looks at six standmount loudspeakers from DALI, Dynaudio, Elipson, Epos, Klipsch and Mission.