Posted Mon Jan 18, 2010 at 10:45 AM PST by Mike Attebery
The Lexicon BD-30 is a $3,500 Blu-ray player, but some disassembly reveals that it may be nothing more than an Oppo BDP-83 with a shiny new case.
The front panel may say Lexicon, but it’s got Oppo guts. Those familiar with the much beloved Oppo BDP-83 may notice that the back panel of the Lexicon BD-30 uses the exact same layout. The buttons on the front panel are in the same configuration as well.
It’s not entirely uncommon for players to look the same, but the good folks over at Audioholics opened the units up side by side and took a look. The two players are almost completely identical. In fact, the only real difference found was in the color of the caps on the power supply board.
Looking at the base of the BD-30, you can see vent holes that were cut out to make room for the vents of the BDP-83. From what it looks like, Lexicon took a BDP-83, put it in a Lexicon chassis and sold it. The going price of a BDP-83 is around $500, but the BD-30 runs $3,500.
The BD-30 is THX certified, but benchmarks reveal the same crossovers, frequency response and distortion amounts as the non THX certified BDP-83. THX has responded to questions of the legitimacy by stating that the BD-30 was thoroughly tested. Strangely though, you’ll no longer find reference to THX anywhere on Lexicon’s page.
Home Theater Review has a different take on the player, stating that “there is no comparison between the build quality of the two players,” and that “the Lexicon had a more natural contrast and color palette than the Oppo.” It was also noted that Lexicon’s player was much quieter than the BDP-83 when loading discs.
This is a development sure to raise a lot of questions, not only for Lexicon, but for Oppo and THX as well. We expect to hear more in the coming weeks.
Source: Audioholics
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