1.OPPO 980/981 (SACD is tempting) or Toshiba A30?

OPPO pros that I know of: multi-region (I need PAL), (supposedly) better SD-DVD upconversion, SACD (with 981), cheaper price tag, not subject to HD format wars.

Toshiba pros: HD-DVD, duh. Looks better than upconverted SD-DVD. Is this true?

2. What's the difference between Yamaha RX and HTR families of receivers? Considering the one linked (don't have too much money to spend, unfortunately), but really not sure yet.

TIA!<ul><li><a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DQlRQNTQtPJ/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=022RXV661">http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DQlRQNTQtPJ/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=022RXV661</a</li></ul>

How important is SACD to you? Do you even own a SACD disc? Have you heard one? My feeling is this is yet another format that will fall into a gutter. That's not to say it isn't good, but a format's success isn't always dictated by it's superiority.

HD DVD will look better than SD DVD upconverted. Apples and oranges...only one of the two is HD, the other isn't.

If SACD isn't important to you, the HD player offers you a little more utility...at least for now...until the next format finds it's way to the gutter.

I decided to listen to a CD one day and the Oppo was there, so why not? My iPod was elsewhere.

I was quite surprised at the sound. This is the first time I'd ever noticed a difference in CD players. And this was just an ordinary CD.

Probably not the make or break feature for you, but it's worthy to note that the Oppo handles one more function with grace.

That's why I am also thinking the 980 (and it's much cleaner looking than 981). I'll ponder this some more. $250 difference is also no chump change for me - I'd rather add that to the cost of a receiver.

Their RX series is much more performance oriented gear, where as their HTR gear is more about giving you the features, but cutting corners on the transformer, power supplies and DACs.
The RX line however, gets a lot better (sonically at least) when you hit the RXV-1800. Compared to the models below it, there's a lot more control over how the speakers are driven (unless you are using little, plastic speakers).

although the salesman was a joke (although he had it hooked up to a Denon CD player, they used polk bookshelf speakers, of which only one worked. how are you going to sell anything like that?). The price was good, too - $899, compared to $1,199 at crutchfield and $1,299MSRP.

Hmmm, weird - it shows $1,199 on their website. Maybe I should go steal it before it's too late? Now I am starting to think that they mixed up the price tags...<ul><li><a href="http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4192120">http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4192120</a</li></ul>

Yamaha forbid J&amp;R to sell these over the web, because of such a low price.