Yah, I remember seeing that Cam. It seems to distort when the gain is turned up but not if you leave the gain set at one particular level as I understand it.

Here again, no doubt, because of the weakening of the US dollar related to other currencies and the Behringer stuff is made in the Far East, thus, it is costing them more money to import the equipment. Even despite this, I would gather because of the weak economy a lot of these sellers "bit the bullet" attempting to hold prices down, in turn, eating a significant part of their margins along the way. I guess they just can't do it anymore and the recent price increases show it.

The professional audio crowd love to hate Behringer.

Wow, 2/π zero-cross distortion in a solid state AB amp these days? That's not confidence inspiring.

I thought this chip was the bestest of the best. If they change it, does this mean that the DVD up-conversion will now be inferior?

It was the best at the time. People are preferring the Qdeo chips from Marvell now.

Guess what the 93 has in it?

Some wonderful, high end speakers (Thiel, Focal) can be had at 50% off. Look around for bargains, you'll find them.

Pricing is not a function of a recovering economy. It's not recovering. It is a function of the devaluation of the dollar, and the relative rising costs of imports and commodities.

It takes more cheap dollars to buy a dollar's worth of foreign made product. The US is threatening a trade war against PR China because of their currency manipulations. China will strengthen the Yuan and make Chinese imports more expensive.

On the other hand, manufacturers are getting pretty squeezed and are cutting deeply into their margins so they can move product and stay alive.

Seek a bargain and you will find.

I can't say if it will be as good or not, but Audioholics lists "increased performance and improved build quality" in their first look, and they note that the unit is the same height, same width, half the depth, yet has a bit more heft to it.

Needs more piano black, but I do think it is a step up in looks over the first BDP. http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-93/images/BDP-93.jpg