Hi-

Yahoo has a forum for Olive users. One of the members owns an Opus 5 and an Opus3 modded by redwineaudio.com.

He thinks the modded Opus 3 sounds better than the Opus 5.

Since the mod is about $750, it's a very cost effective package. The $500-$1000 you save vs. the Opus 5 can be used to buy external storage for the Opus 3. Also look at the Opus3S, which uses a perpendicular drive and should be more reliable over time.

Good luck.

The Opus No. 3S is going to be my next purchase. My plan is to then pair it with a Benchmark DAC1. What makes the Perpendicular type hard drive better?

The only advantage I know of is the higher information storage density of perpendicular drives. I don't think they are any more reliable or otherwise "better".