Lexicon repackages Oppo Blu-Ray player as their own $3500 Blu-Ray player!

[mshan]

"If Lexicon is your favorite brand then here's a shocker, the company figured if it isn't broke, then don't fix it and grabbed an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player and encased it into a high end chassis and listed it for $3500 -- a $3000 case, wow? We know this type of thing goes on all the time in the world of electronics, but wow, this is just unbelievable. The folks at Audioholics didn't believe it either, so they stripped the two players down and did some bench testing to reveal that indeed both were identical -- other than the case that is. Now to be fair, we realize that companies like Lexicon probably sell this to distributors for $1000 and the rest is all retailer markup, and of course Lexicon insists it has made upgrades beyond that of the Oppo, but come on, this is just wrong." http://hd.engadget.com/2010/01/16/lexicon-busted-passing-oppo-off-as-a-3500-blu-ray-player/

"And what's more, it's not just using the same parts - they actually stuck the player inside - chassis and all."

Busted! 🙂

 

[sdifox]

lol

 

[viivo]

I love sites that bust gouging "high-end" audio companies.

I wonder if anybody bought some $10,000 HDMI cables to go with their new uber blu-ray player.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

"Lexicon manufactures high-performance audio/video components, including the flagship MC-12 surround controller, and from the company’s inception in 1971 to the present day, Lexicon has been recognized as a leader in digital audio processing. The company’s ground-breaking multichannel technologies such as LOGIC 7 are found in high-end residential home theaters and automotive systems around the world."
http://www.lexicon.com/


🙄🙄🙄

 

[Kadarin]

As someone on Slashdot said about this, it takes years and years to build an excellent reputation, and just a moment to ruin it forever.

 

[JackBurton]

Yep, this is pretty pathetic.

 

[mmntech]

Just proves how dumb so many of the audio/videophiles are. These are the same people who will pay $2000+ for a 20w tube amplifier.

 

[Apex]

Busted! 🙂

It's pretty common knowledge.

The Ayre DX-5 is also based on the Oppo, with new case & some improved analog section and power supply. It's confirmed by Ayre's owner:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17402589#post17402589

BTW, the Ayre is about 3x the cost of the Lexicon at $10,000.

 

[zerocool84]

It's pretty common knowledge.

The Ayre DX-5 is also based on the Oppo, with new case & some improved analog section and power supply. It's confirmed by Ayre's owner:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17402589#post17402589

BTW, the Ayre is about 3x the cost of the Lexicon at $10,000.

But at least they do something to make it their own and change it. Just stuffing it inside and putting a different badge on it is just downright horrible.

 

[Apex]

But at least they do something to make it their own and change it. Just stuffing it inside and putting a different badge on it is just downright horrible.

True, though to be fair, I'd rather pay $3500 for a great player in a good looking case than $10,000 for a great player with some changes to the analog side. Also, the Lexicon is THX certified and no reports have been documented on the differences made (if any) to meet certification. THX certification may or may not mean anything to me as a consumer, but they do have standards, and the certification process does incur a cost.

It also remains to be seen how different the Ayre is from the Oppo BDP-83SE (which has analog improvements and an improved power supply):

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83SE/

Side note, the $3000 (dropped from $5000) Theta Compli Blu is also a rebadged Oppo:

http://www.soundstage2.com/avtour2009/ced_dly08.html

 

[richardycc]

Lexicon does it all the time, they rebagged Bryston as their amps awhile ago, I think they use Crown amps as their own now. I used to own a CP-3+, msrp was ~$3000, the dealer gave $50 credit when I traded it in for another processor.

 

[biggestmuff]

I just saw this over at Gizmodo. The guys at AVS Forum were on it back in July

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1166176

Hopefully this doesn't affect their Professional division. They've been making well respected and great sounding reverbs and other audio effects for quite a while. I almost bought their MPX G2 years ago, but opted for an Eventide GTR4000. Eventide makes better stuff anyway. 🙂

 

[KeithP]

...THX certification may or may not mean anything to me as a consumer, but they do have standards, and the certification process does incur a cost.

Actually, THX doesn't have clean hands in this matter either. From the original article...

Sadly they paid for THX certification and THX happily took their money to allow Lexicon to slap their badge on the front panel - apparently without actually testing to see if it met the core requirements of which we would suppose any THX Blu-ray player would have to adhere. If THX is doing this with Blu-ray players, it makes you wonder what they are doing with A/V receivers and other THX certified products. Has the THX badge, for select existing clients, simply degraded into a marketable commodity with no real backing or validity?

The full article can be read here:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/...-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

-KeithP

 

[Apex]

Lexicon does it all the time, they rebagged Bryston as their amps awhile ago, I think they use Crown amps as their own now. I used to own a CP-3+, msrp was ~$3000, the dealer gave $50 credit when I traded it in for another processor.

They used ATI for a time as well.

Actually, THX doesn't have clean hands in this matter either. From the original article...


The full article can be read here:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/...-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

-KeithP

Interesting. I wonder how this will pan out, with THX certification in general, as more info comes out on their "testing."

 

[Fox5]

Lol, I'd even consider that $500 oppo to be way overpriced.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Lol, I'd even consider that $500 oppo to be way overpriced.

There's a difference between 'overpriced' and 'out of your price range'.

It's too much money for me, too.

 

[manimal]

Lol, I'd even consider that $500 oppo to be way overpriced.

The oppo may be a tad expensive but its a stellar player. 3k markup for a shiny case is hilarious.

This is what happens when marketing teams get too close to the design teams... Eroding your reputation for short term gain is something many mfgs are doing because of the current market conditions.

Look at this years Yamaha line up and compare the quality of last year, look at Panasonics offerings at CES this year. Look at Samsung edge lit LEDs-backlight bleed much?

I dont blame companies that try to make some margin but 3k is too funny.

 

[vshah]

does it come bundled with monster hdmi cables?

 

[3chordcharlie]

does it come bundled with monster hdmi cables?

I think it comes with a 10% off coupon if you spend at least $1k on Monster cables.

Which wouldn't be very hard.

 

[ancient hippy]

Love the sarcasm on this thread. lexicon branded brystons were actually built by bryston just wondering if the lexicon bluray player is being built by oppo.

 

[sdifox]

Love the sarcasm on this thread. lexicon branded brystons were actually built by bryston just wondering if the lexicon bluray player is being built by oppo.

Didn't read huh? Lexicon bought oppo players, take out top cover and stuck the whole thing into a Lexicon case.

 

[ancient hippy]

the article never excluded oppo from being involved. if there wasnt at least an agreement between the two wouldnt oppo have cause for litigation. also think of the cost savings if re casing was done at the same site

 

[simonizor]

True, though to be fair, I'd rather pay $3500 for a great player in a good looking case than $10,000 for a great player with some changes to the analog side. Also, the Lexicon is THX certified and no reports have been documented on the differences made (if any) to meet certification. THX certification may or may not mean anything to me as a consumer, but they do have standards, and the certification process does incur a cost.

It also remains to be seen how different the Ayre is from the Oppo BDP-83SE (which has analog improvements and an improved power supply):

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83SE/

Side note, the $3000 (dropped from $5000) Theta Compli Blu is also a rebadged Oppo:

http://www.soundstage2.com/avtour2009/ced_dly08.html

The article said that the Lexicon and the Oppo performed almost exactly the same in their THX testing, both of them failing.

One of the staples behind THX certification has always been to maintain an 80Hz crossover point on all THX certified electronics. As we measured prior, the Oppo BDP-83 did not meet this requirement which wasn't really a huge deal since it wasn't THX certified. We were interested however in measuring the Lexicon BD-30 which was THX certified to see if Lexicon fixed this design deficiency and if THX even tested for it.

An ideal THX certified product should exhibit a -3dB rolloff at 80Hz with a 12dB/octave slope for the High Pass Filter (HPF) and a -6dB rolloff at 80Hz with a 24dB/octave slope on the Low Pass Filter (LPF). As you can see, neither the Oppo NOR the Lexicon players meet this requirement and they actually measure identically to each other. The slight tabulated variance is a function of cursor interpretation error on the graphs combined with measurement variances caused by component tolerances. Based on our findings we can unofficially (but in practicality) state that the Oppo BDP-83 is (or might as well be) THX certified despite the bass management doesn't meet their 80Hz 12 dB/octave HPF and 24dB/octave LPF requirements.