[johnmatrix]

If you are going to replace the opa, I would recommend the dual opa smd packages only like the 8620, LM4562, and 8599. Don't try to jam two single channels together; the browndog adaptor will not fit. For the Caps, I am sure the auricaps are fine. If you are doing the swenson mod, you are bypassing the opa and will not need to replace the stock ones.

 

[Gross]

as johnmatrix just said, the swenson mod bypasses the opamps completely, and earlier in this thread it sounded like the conclusion was don't bother swapping the opamps, just do the swenson mod. Also, I am sure the Auricaps will be great, I actually just used Kimber Kaps, and my friend is more than happy. I have to admit, it sounded very good.

 

[mrclarkie2]

Thanks for the encouragement and advice I will let you know how it goes. It does look like a gnats ...

 

[gates_2]

i successfully changed the OPA on my ce595 with just plain old snip and pull- i lifted one lead, but was able to repair it relatively easily

after putting a 4562 in, the sound was literally night-and day different- I was blown away

 

[mrclarkie2]

Is there a brand on the op amp is it AD? Is this a place for Burr Browns? If you can point me in right direction, Thanks. Also has anyone ever trued one of the cool touch soldering irons, it is like a mini welder.

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

In all honesty, both mods don't seem too....veritable, but they don't seem to do anything disastrous to the sound. The transformer caps were hard to discern from stock no caps.

Taking the voltage from the dac to the new jacks with the cap on the other hand, with volume corrected for, did eliminate excess grain- but at a very high cost. What was gained was a seemingly blacker background with more focus at the heart of the midrange, and a slightly more natural bass-mids integration.
I did not like the slight loss of spacial cues though. The width suffered a bit- what once extended enjoyably past the ears now feel constricted. Nuance and microdetail suffered though not as much by themselves as the impact on soundstage.

For someone of my tastes the losses outweigh whatever was gained, but since I use the K501/K701 for a majority of my listening, this does not keep me from enjoying the modified source. People who use HD580/600/650 may find the soundstage too much confined for their tastes. I would not recommend this particular mod for grado owners.

Before settling on the Sprague Vitamin Q's- which are my favorite capacitor, I used .47 Hovland Musicap and Auricaps. I found the Auricap (my third favorite behind the Musicap and Vit Q) had the most potential. I did not want to "waste it" in my opinion on the power transformer because it gave great results with it on the signal bypass.

The Auricap did introduce a sense (not actually lower noise) of blacker blacks like the Vit Q did and also hurt the width of the soundstage too. What differed (the Auricap is well burned in from other use) was that the microdetail loss was not as drastic but at the expense of an overall lack of sweetness the Vit Q had over the stock and Auricap version.

The Hovland Musicap fared a bit better. It was almost exactly like the Auricap's signature- but even less loss of soundstage than both Auricap and Vit Q. They are sweeter than the Auricap but took away too much detail over the whole spectrum. Bass was touter with the Musicap too, but even though it fared better than the Auricap, it did not synergize with the machine's sound enough for me to keep it in.

I suggest potential modders to try out paper in oil caps in this machine because I feel their flavor fits perfectly. You trade off a bit of soundstage for a more musical midrange, nothing detrimental done to the bass, and highs that are more in line with analog sources

The amp of choice for this unit for me is the Millet Max.
Mine is configured with Vit Q, Nichicon Muse ES, and a mix of boutique resistors. The bias is 230mv which is more than double the max suggested but I have adequate cooling for this beast.

I used three recordings for the impressions-

Beethoven's 9th Symphony (SACD)
Herbert von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic
DG 471 640-2

Beethoven's 5th/7th (SACD)
Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic
DG 471 630-2

The Politics of Dancing (CD 2)
2001, Paul van Dyk
Ministry of Sound

Yep. A great "toy" rig for me to play with at night while reading. For ~150 + cost of parts + a little sweat, squinting, and soldering- you get loads of modding fun and sound that doesn't suck

 

[BIG POPPA]

I have one on the way. What about V-Caps in this thing? Just a crazy question for a tweak?

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

If you will be spending that amount of money, I suggest replacing the opamp or investing in other sources. I thought about giving Mundorf Silver and Oil caps a try but based on what I hear so far, they are better used in other equipment.

If the active stage (opamp) in the player is not for you, then vibration dampening will probably be your best bet on taking this thing anywhere beyond the Musicap/Auricap/other caps because these are already very expensive and resolving capacitors.

My main use of this unit is still for occasional sacd playback and most of the time, as a transport. Optical only isn't too bad for me because it feeds into my Audio Alchemy DTI v2.0 digital processor for killing the jitter

 

[BIG POPPA]

To me this is a toy to play with. Just trying to have some fun with it. This is not going to be my main source. I may just use this at meets. Want to have fun with some crazy esoteric parts. If it sounds great at the end of tweaking, BONUS!

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

That's why my caps still have long ugly winding leads- I may one day retrieve the beloved Vit Q's for other things.

 

[GZeus]

Thanks for a great thread. I ordered a refrub from Sony just for the modding fun and practice. This does look like a bit of a challenge but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Ash]

Challenging for sure!
I havent done this level of modding before...
I wonder what would be the simplest of all these mods?

 

[AudioCats]

does any of you guys ever regret modding, or even buying the CE595?

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

No. It makes a great transport, the remote is nice, the stock sound is (in my tastes) very good, and the Swenson mod (even though it's not wholly my cup of tea) is probably a nice DIY exercise with a noticeable impact on sound (probably detrimental from an engineering standpoint).

The unit is great for "rolling" capacitors, but otherwise the stock unit is a steal at the new/used prices. I have not spent a better 150 dollars on a source before. The next best deal would be the Philips mini system with large high quality speakers with ribbon tweeter, and an integrated tube preamp / class D amp with dvd player.

I saw your posts audiocats, and I believe this unit will be a great toy for you

You can always reverse the swenson and the auricap mods. The build quality is great, and even though mostly plastic- is very robust feeling. I would try more vibration dampening if that's your thing.

 

[Pacific Microsonics]

If you add extra rca jacks and connect the capacitor to the jacks, then the mod is reversible, and if your amp has two inputs you can a/b the differences.

A very knowledgeable friend of mine showed me the flaws of these mods. The gist of it was, to forget the Auricap tweak (my impressions agree because I could discern no difference after a/b testing with two and then four caps in parallel on the transformer pcb). He suggested a better method over the Swenson mod by de-soldering the coupling caps following the dac and then soldering the replacement film caps(the Auricaps that would have been used for the transformer pcb) from the positive hole to the new rca jacks.

This method is much more sound because it ACTUALLY bypasses the active opamp stage, because if you think about it, the Swenson mod takes the voltage from the dac yet the dac is still connected to the active stage on the pcb. By intercepting the signal at the coupling cap on the pcb after the dac, you are actually disconnecting the dac output from the rest of the electronics and then the path to the rca jacks will be the only connection.