I have come across cd players that have been modified by companies such as Fidelity Audio, CPT Acoustics and JS Audio Repairs. Does anyone have any experience of this?
BigH said:I have come across cd players that have been modified by companies such as Fidelity Audio, CPT Acoustics and JS Audio Repairs. Does anyone have any experience of this?
12Designs said:Fidelity Audio are currently upgrading my Arcam Alpha 9 CDP and 9 & 9P amps. Will post in a couple of weeks.
BigH said:12Designs said:Fidelity Audio are currently upgrading my Arcam Alpha 9 CDP and 9 & 9P amps. Will post in a couple of weeks.
Great let me know how it sounds. Is that a Level 1 upgrade on the cdp?
The price is not cheap but then DACs can be £500.
BigH said:I have come across cd players that have been modified by companies such as Fidelity Audio, CPT Acoustics and JS Audio Repairs. Does anyone have any experience of this?
Overdose said:BigH said:I have come across cd players that have been modified by companies such as Fidelity Audio, CPT Acoustics and JS Audio Repairs. Does anyone have any experience of this?
Consider the original cost of the equipment and then add the cost of the mod.
A lot of the mods that I have seen advertised, charge exorbitant prices for essentially basic and cheap components.
Would your money not be spent more wisely on better equipment to begin with and still maintain a better residual value and warranty?
BigH said:Overdose said:BigH said:I have come across cd players that have been modified by companies such as Fidelity Audio, CPT Acoustics and JS Audio Repairs. Does anyone have any experience of this?
Consider the original cost of the equipment and then add the cost of the mod.
A lot of the mods that I have seen advertised, charge exorbitant prices for essentially basic and cheap components.
Would your money not be spent more wisely on better equipment to begin with and still maintain a better residual value and warranty?
Maybe thats why I'm asking. However a lot of the new price is going in dealers and tax so I'm not sure say a £1,000 cdp is better than a say a £100 cdp modified one.
12Designs said:BigH said:12Designs said:Fidelity Audio are currently upgrading my Arcam Alpha 9 CDP and 9 & 9P amps. Will post in a couple of weeks.
Great let me know how it sounds. Is that a Level 1 upgrade on the cdp?
The price is not cheap but then DACs can be £500.
Having a level 3 upgrade on the CDP
12Designs said:Great stuff, I look forward to hearing about your upgrade.
matt49 said:12Designs said:Great stuff, I look forward to hearing about your upgrade.
I've been running the modded ZP90 (Fidelity Audio level II) alongside an unmodded one, both going into the optical digital inputs in my MDAC, playing the same music from the same bitperfect source. Using the selector on the MDAC remote I can switch instananeously between the two ZP90s.
The most obvious difference is that the modded ZP90 has a smoother and more 'analogue' presentation. In comparison the unmodded ZP90 sounds grainy and edgy, especially in the high and upper middle frequencies. The modded version also has more space around the music and better separation. Base is a fraction tighter.
But the mod is expensive, and if I was starting with a blank canvas and wasn't already committed to the functionality of Sonos, I'm not sure I'd go down this route. Still, I'm satisfied with what the mod has done for my study system. Job done.
matt49 said:12Designs said:Great stuff, I look forward to hearing about your upgrade.
I've been running the modded ZP90 (Fidelity Audio level II) alongside an unmodded one, both going into the optical digital inputs in my MDAC, playing the same music from the same bitperfect source. Using the selector on the MDAC remote I can switch instananeously between the two ZP90s.
The most obvious difference is that the modded ZP90 has a smoother and more 'analogue' presentation. In comparison the unmodded ZP90 sounds grainy and edgy, especially in the high and upper middle frequencies. The modded version also has more space around the music and better separation. Base is a fraction tighter.
But the mod is expensive, and if I was starting with a blank canvas and wasn't already committed to the functionality of Sonos, I'm not sure I'd go down this route. Still, I'm satisfied with what the mod has done for my study system. Job done.
12Designs said:in the long run the pleasure of better SQ with less chance of listening fatigue over longer peroids can only be a plus.
eggontoast said:What is also frustrating is that manufacturers spend vast amounts of money and development time in their products so they meet safety & EMC standards and test their products to the tenth degree. Yet some cowboy, in his shed, thinks he can improve on their design just by slapping in a couple of boutique capacitors, a vastly over sized transformer etc, yeee haa. Still there is no shortage of people willing to chuck their hard earned cash at him, perhaps not so stupid after all.
matt49 said:Yes, nice rhetoric, but it obscures a couple of important facts.
1. no doubt there are some cowboys in sheds, but there are also respected manufacturers doing these mods. For instance wyred4sound in the US and Fidelity Audio in the UK. Both manufacture their own well designed and well regarded equipment, as well as modding Sonos kit.
matt49 said:2. the argument about R&D expenditure is a non sequitur. Just because something's had a lot of money thrown at it, doesn't mean it can't be improved. This is demonstrated by the fact that some excellent designers offer after-market modifications of their own kit. I'm sure you're aware that John Westlake, who designed your MDAC, is offering after-market upgrades to the MDAC. After-market modifications are an established part of the hi-fi business and have been for some time.
Inter_Voice said:One more example is OPP 83 universal player. OPPO officially allows NuForce to upgrade OPPO 83 to OPPO 83 NuForce Edition by changing some of the components with better quality.
For Marantz CD63, there are three grades of the same model: CD63, CD63 SE (or CD63 MKII) and CD63 MK II KI.
The circuitry of the 3 CD63s are exactly the same, the differences are on the grade of components used.
Actually the DIY modding is to further improve the performance of the CDP by using even better components. I cannot see anything wrong with it.