[tourmaline]

Hi,

just wondering wich mod will give the biggest improvement overall. I allready did a passive filter mod.

Now, i still can do 3 mods;

digital section,
powersupply,
tentlabs xo clock + powersupply.

I know all will lift the performance of the cdplayer. i tend to think reclocking is more important.

 

[tom hankins]

Super clock 4 and SC4 power supply.
Power supply.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins /img/forum/go_quote.gif Super clock 4 and SC4 power supply. Power supply.

Hi, thanks for your answers.

Is the superclock 4 and psu 4 better then the tentlabs psu and xo clock 2.2 and 3.2?! I thought the tentlabs was best in the field.

I allready figured that modding the psu will give more value for money then the digital section. I can probably do that myself by unsoldering the chips and resoldering in the new dac chips.

 

[tom hankins]

Not sure which is better. But I think the clock (any?)and clock PSU followed by PSU upgrades would be your best bet.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not sure which is better. But I think the clock (any?)and clock PSU followed by PSU upgrades would be your best bet.

Thanks, i am convinced now that a new clock with psu and the powersection are more important then the digital section, where the changes will be very small indeed.

I'll go for the tentlabs clock and psu and the powersection first.

 

[Pars]

I would use Tent personally. And use a good PSU for it. Of course there's always the Kwak clock as well, which seems to be highly thought of.

The biggest bang for the buck though is the output stage. You mentioned a passive filter mod? What DAC chip is this?

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pars /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would use Tent personally. And use a good PSU for it. Of course there's always the Kwak clock as well, which seems to be highly thought of. The biggest bang for the buck though is the output stage. You mentioned a passive filter mod? What DAC chip is this?

Well, i didn't do the mod personally, a professional shop did the mod for me. The cdplayer uses 4 pcm 1702j chips, 2 for each channel. They took out 36 caps, 7 chips (probably opamps) and some resistors and stuff. The cdplayer is sounding much better now but it still can be much better.

I know i can change the pcm1702j chips for the pcm 1702k chips, wich suppose to sound slightly better. But i bet bang for the buck the reclocking and the powersections will gain most from modding.

Those pcm1702k chips almost cost as much as the tentlabs and the psu! And i think the difference between the k and the j version will be much smaller then the improvements from the psu and the tentlabs reclocking system with psu.

By the way, does anyone know if i can change the pcm1702 for the pcm 1704k version? I know the pcm1704k even sound better then the pcm 1702k.

 

[panda]

modding cdp's are a waste of money unless it's already a very nice one. your best bet is to sell it and save for a better unit. if you have to go through with it, psu and output stage will make most impact. forget about the clock and digital section.

 

[AudioCats]

Among the listed mods, the power supply upgrade can bring quite a bit of a SQ improvement (seperating the digital power and analog power, and upgrade analog power filtering). For output stage mods, the output cap replacement makes a lot more difference than swapping the op-amps.

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif modding cdp's are a waste of money unless it's already a very nice one. your best bet is to sell it and save for a better unit. if you have to go through with it, psu and output stage will make most impact. forget about the clock and digital section.

Really...

 

[Morph201]

Really.. unless you plan on keeping it until it melts.. otherwise you're not going to get a good return on investment should you decide to sale and upgrade.

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morph201 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really.. unless you plan on keeping it until it melts.. otherwise you're not going to get a good return on investment should you decide to sale and upgrade.

Really. I guess it depends on who does the work. If you do it yourself, most mods can be done pretty inexpensively.

I would agree however if you have to send it out...

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioCats /img/forum/go_quote.gif Among the listed mods, the power supply upgrade can bring quite a bit of a SQ improvement (seperating the digital power and analog power, and upgrade analog power filtering). For output stage mods, the output cap replacement makes a lot more difference than swapping the op-amps.

They didn't swap the opamps but left them out in the signal path completely.
Hence the term "passive" filter. No amplification is needed.

I think for the price of the total mods and the price i got the player for, you don't get a player that will sound as good as this one when i am finished.

Yes, i plan on keeping it. If you want a better player, you've gotta spend at least 1500-2000 euro's to get a player that sounds good and then you still need to do some mods to make it sound best. Most sacd players in the region of 1500-2000 don't sound as good at cdplayback.

You know what, some older chipsets like the pcm1702, 1704 ,pcm 63 and the philips tda 1541a still sound darn good, better then most newer chipsets.

 

[Know Talent]

STOP!!!!

you're about to flush a decent chunk of cash down the toilet IMO. I know as I did the same thing to an old FMJ CD23...against warnings given by an audio tech friend... and the results were anticlimatic to say the least.

any modern clock has jitter WAY below the threshold of human hearing so why dump money into an even lower number???

I downloaded a set of CDP reviews from Hi-Fi+ and the MBL Noble Series 1531 was one of the highest resolving, ruthless revealing players reviewed...and it also had one of the highest measured levels of jitter.

IMO, If your looking for "better" or "new" sound you're much better off saving your cash toward a "better" player vs. sinking money in modifications.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Know Talent /img/forum/go_quote.gif STOP!!!! you're about to flush a decent chunk of cash down the toilet IMO. I know as I did the same thing to an old FMJ CD23...against warnings given by an audio tech friend... and the results were anticlimatic to say the least. any modern clock has jitter WAY below the threshold of human hearing so why dump money into an even lower number??? I downloaded a set of CDP reviews from Hi-Fi+ and the MBL Noble Series 1531 was one of the highest resolving, ruthless revealing players reviewed...and it also had one of the highest measured levels of jitter. IMO, If your looking for "better" or "new" sound you're much better off saving your cash toward a "better" player vs. sinking money in modifications.

This player is still worth it!

And for the money i put in, i cannot get a cdplayer that will sound as good as this one when i am finished!