[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly 3) keep the P3A, buy the XA777ES and use it as a transport for redbook and a source for SACD playback (note: this option compared to the modified player would entail buying an extra interconnect and digital cable, with my future cable purchases in mind--an extra $600 or so in cost)

Sorry, I don't have a whole lot to contribute, but I just wanted to point out that this option does not void the warranty.

 

[kelly]

To be certain, any source I am likely to acquire will at some point be decided amongst the consensus of HeadFi to completely suck.

Luckily I'm honestly only chasing a sound and am not in it for competitive reasons.

Dan has described to me personally the XA777ES with full mods including tube stage to be the best sounding source he has ever heard. Let me be clear about this--I have the utmost respect for Dan Wright or I'd not be contemplating any of this at all. However, please bear two things in mind: 1) no matter how unbiased Dan strives to be, this is his baby, 2) his comments are in regards to full mods including tube stage. If I do the tube stage it would be later down the road.

At this moment, I'd be willing to do the Oade XA777ES and get in line for standard mods to it if and only if I decide to return the P3A and have not been convinced to go some other route.

To answer whoever asked, Dan was running a special on the fully modified level II P3A (which now includes Cryo treatment courtsey Jena Labs) for $900 with a 30 day trial/return policy. Despite contemplating something more expensive, I find this price to be an extremely good value and recommend it fully if you're considering going the DAC route (and even if you aren't but are only concerned with redbook and already have a decent transport). Perpetual Technologies will also be doing 85% credit toward future purchases if you decide at some point to trade it in. I'm sorry this sounds like an advertisement but someone asked for the pricing information.

Thanks for your replies so far, guys. As bitter as I can be about a few of my threads going quite awry, there is a reason I keep returning to HeadFi and its nice to be reminded of it. I very much appreciate the help.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by dhwilkin Kelly, take a look at the post by Jay S in this thread. It would also be a good idea to just ask Dan his opinion. BTW, how much did your modded P3A cost, all together? And who did the mods?

I believe the quote to which dhwilkin is referring from Jay S is this one:
Quote:

If you want Dan W to work his magic, consider his modified Sony 9000ES. He says that he prefers the Level III version of the 9000es to his Level II P3-A. The modified Sony is a bit more expensive but you get an awesome transport, plus SACD and DVD capability. And, you don't need a digital cable.

That probably does answer my question. Dan never offered the tube mods on the 9000ES. The 9000ES mods fall far short of the XA777ES and from all reports, the 9000ES itself falls far short of the XA777ES in stock form. To add these things up, I should probably make a safe assumption that the modded XA777ES would surpass the P3A.

My real question still though is... at what? It could be superior in other ways but not match the depth and gradient detail of the P3A. My paranoia about this stems from thinking these qualities belong more to the DACs which Dan doesn't upgrade in his mods. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

[edwinaviles]

Hello, as a current XA777ES owner, I am very interested in your findings.
I was wondering if you could ask Dan Wright specific questions as to which of the 2 sounds better per category, from a small list that you could make.
That list could contain all the most important aspects to you, depth, detail, soundstage, etc...
The list should probably also differentiate between the different level mods, since $3000 for the full mods is pretty steep.
This may be more informative than him telling you that the modded XA777ES is 'the best sounding source he has ever heard.'
I would ask Dan Wright myself but I never heard the P3A nor too many other high end players to make the list specific enough.
Also, you may want to find out what are his most important aspects for good sound, since they could vary HIGHLY from your own.

Good luck with your quest!

 

[kelly]

I believe Dan honestly feels that the fully modified "Absolute Truth mods" XA777ES bests the P3A in *every* category. The reasons I'm not interested in following that sugguestion are:
1. I want opinions from people OTHER THAN the mod designer.
2. I probably won't be getting the full suite of mods in the first round. If there are any out there, I wanted to know what less than full tube mods do for the player. Dan's opinions are only on the fully modded player.

I encourage any of you to contact Dan directly if you have questions of your own. I cannot recommend his business enough for how friendly and responsive he has been and I honestly believe the guy to REALLY know what he's doing. I'd be happy to answer any questions about my subjective experience with his Level II P3A but otherwise, I'd rather let Dan answer than risk misrepresenting him or bombarding him myself (as I've likely already done).

I am now beginning to think the discrepency between my findings P3A vs XA777ES are a result of my P3A being a Level II with Cryo treatment P3A whereas I think everyone claiming the stock XA777ES sounded equal or better on the whole was comparing either a stock P3A or a Level I modified P3A. I think this is as good news for XA777ES owners as it is for potential P3A owners, though, because if this is true it lays the blame for the improvement squarely on Modwright.

It has also been suggested to me that the XA777ES may benefit more from extensive burn-in on the redbook side (dparrish said he has primarily played SACDs in the first few months) and a power cable upgrade. Yeah, I know, I took grains of salt too but you can't dismiss out of hand what multiple people are hearing seperately.