Modded CD Player or Stock CD Player?
I am starting this thread in the hope of starting an active and productive discussion on recent experiences folks have had with regard to trying modded digital front ends versus stock front ends. I suggest the criteria for comparison include such things as:
1. Price Performance – “bang for the buck”
2. Reliability,
3. Other factors people use to assess each option,
[So you have a reference point on my system it now consists of all solid state electronics and very revealing speakers as follows...
1. Modded Denon 3910 (Hot Rod Audio Mods) and Stock Cambridge 840C front ends,
2. Soundstring interconnects,
3. Classe CP-60
4. Classe CAM 200 monoblocks
5. Soundstring speaker cables
6. Dynaudio C1 speakers on Dynaudio stands]
My own digital front end experience is likely similar to many others as I first encountered CD players in 1984 (a college friend had a NAD player and we were all a bit envious and in awe of him and his pop and hiss free format playing a rather expensive Police Synchronicity CD). After graduating I bought a near first generation Rotel player in 1986, followed by a used Sonographe that I kept until it died in 2001. I had a Rotel 971 for a while that was replaced by a better sounding (the technology keeps improving) Cambridge 840C that is now sonically upstaged by a modded Denon 3910. The move to a modded player was brought on by an interest in DVD-Audio and SACDs. I have a revealing enough system that the stock Denon was hard to listen to on Hi Rez recordings. The Denon used to sound awful on redbook also, but the modded Denon has a sound that is more detailed than the Cambridge AND a lot smoother like a very good analogue.
I am holding off completing my assessment on reliability as it has only been a few months, but so far so good. The performance has been outstanding and the price comparable (I got my stock Denon player at a discount) to the stock Cambridge CD player. The Cambridge is no slouch – I am keeping it as a back up and also would likely have it modded at a later date.
What are other people’s experiences with modded units versus stock?
1. Price Performance – “bang for the buck”
2. Reliability,
3. Other factors people use to assess each option,
[So you have a reference point on my system it now consists of all solid state electronics and very revealing speakers as follows...
1. Modded Denon 3910 (Hot Rod Audio Mods) and Stock Cambridge 840C front ends,
2. Soundstring interconnects,
3. Classe CP-60
4. Classe CAM 200 monoblocks
5. Soundstring speaker cables
6. Dynaudio C1 speakers on Dynaudio stands]
My own digital front end experience is likely similar to many others as I first encountered CD players in 1984 (a college friend had a NAD player and we were all a bit envious and in awe of him and his pop and hiss free format playing a rather expensive Police Synchronicity CD). After graduating I bought a near first generation Rotel player in 1986, followed by a used Sonographe that I kept until it died in 2001. I had a Rotel 971 for a while that was replaced by a better sounding (the technology keeps improving) Cambridge 840C that is now sonically upstaged by a modded Denon 3910. The move to a modded player was brought on by an interest in DVD-Audio and SACDs. I have a revealing enough system that the stock Denon was hard to listen to on Hi Rez recordings. The Denon used to sound awful on redbook also, but the modded Denon has a sound that is more detailed than the Cambridge AND a lot smoother like a very good analogue.
I am holding off completing my assessment on reliability as it has only been a few months, but so far so good. The performance has been outstanding and the price comparable (I got my stock Denon player at a discount) to the stock Cambridge CD player. The Cambridge is no slouch – I am keeping it as a back up and also would likely have it modded at a later date.
What are other people’s experiences with modded units versus stock?