Frankenstein players

Hi,

It surprised me that I couldn't find many threads on 'modifying' DVD/CD players. Have many people here done things like clock/op amp/capacitor upgrades, changed captive mains cables for upgraded ones, installed dampening materials, changed feet etc etc? Personally I had a Superclock put in my Arcam Alpha 8 CD player. The change was fantastic; loads more detail and more tuneful bass.

Actually for my next source upgrade, I'm considering buying something like a Pioneer 747 (for universal compatibility) and having Audiocom do their worst. So rather than spending all that money on a new player and paying larger dealer/maufacturer bunce for a stock machine, I'd start with something that has already been well rated and turn it into a giant killer.

Whaddya reckon?

[Gliese 581c]

Let me get this right...

You want a HC Enthusiast, for example, to buy a TAG McLaren dvd player at £4k...open it up invalidating the warranty....remove a couple of caps to install bigger ones to remove a little more noise from the AC lines with the chance of lifting a couple of tracks for the sake of a miniscule amount of improvement ?

Your off your head dbier, if thats your thing then good luck to you.

[roversd1]

Modifying the DVD32R wouldnt make any improvements.

Use it with the AV32R and connect the 'T2L Sync Link' to make the audio better.

[Gliese 581c]

roversd1...please note the TAG player was an example. I couldnt care less if modifying the TAG would make any improvements or not. Its a mental idea in the first place. I aint heard anything like it...yeah, lets pull a few tranny's, caps and resistors off our expensive equipment....deary me

anyone else think the same ?

[Mylo]

I've modified amplifiers for my car before but they didn't cost a lot. Besides I'm a professional in the manufacturing industry. I think it would be mental to invalidate a warranty on expensive AV kit, especially without professional training. Too much risk for results the human ear may not notice.
I'm with Arcam on this one.

No no you've totally misunderstood. Believe me, if I could afford the likes of the Tag player I wouldn't go near the insides! It just makes sense to me that when equipment designers have to churn out mass market players with immovable price constraints, they have to cut corners that Tag designers don't..and that is bound to mean cheaper components.

My point was that by starting with a relatively inexpensive player (I mentioned the Pioneer) and modifying it with a few hundred quid's worth of electronics, you could end with with a fairly seriously high quality machine for a lot less than the Tags and Lexicons.

And by the way...when I had the superclock fitted to my CD player, the difference was very very audible. Honestly. The girlfriend thought it was superb.

[clayts450]

Well, us Sampo DVD player owners have made a habit of hardware modifications over the last few years - see here.

May only be a budget brand, but man have we hacked these units to bits

[gringottsdirect]

Originally posted by dbier
My point was that by starting with a relatively inexpensive player (I mentioned the Pioneer) and modifying it with a few hundred quid's worth of electronics, you could end with .....

A Lexicon RT-10.

[paulcollins14]

Would have to agree, I sent my Denon 3910 off to Audiocom a few months back, spent £1,100.00 and this placed it on another audio planet!

Superclock 3 master clock
Superclock 3 PSU mk2
3x Invisus PPR2/NPR2 for the audio stages.
DVD-3910 main PSU mods.
DVD-3910 analogue stage mods including I/V converters, buffers, de-coupling and coupling.
Sontech resonance control.

It took 500 hours to run in but now sounds astounding, although the main focus was to improve 2 channel performance all areas have improved.

Paul

[Nic Rhodes]

I have modified a fair few players in my time and can see some sense in clocking mods for PCM CD players, however I have never been convinced of the case for DVD players unless there is major drive for PCM compatibility, it is just not cost effecive imho. The players are just too complex, changing one thing generally effects others. SDI mods however is a very different kettle of fish. £1100 for mods on a £900 player seems too much money for to justify for me.

[Timbo21]

I just can't help thinking that if you spend £1100 to modify a £720 machine you have probably bought the wrong player in the first place; better to cut your losses & get something else IMO.