In Holland we have an exellent mod for the 963 SA, done by Audioart, the producer of the (high end) Van Meedevoort audio products.
They replace about a 100 electronic parts and dampen the lid with bitumen for 200 euro's. I have had the original 963 for about a year and I have listened to the modified version for about 4 months now.
The differences are subtle and that's no disgrace because the original 963 is (judged by the sacd soundquality) a very good machine.
What do I hear? More fine details, more definition. For instance, in Ana Caram's "Blue Bossa", I couldn't identify a certain complex sound in a certain track, and only after the mod I clearly heard that the sound consisted of two instruments playing exactly the same notes. Also, Ana Caram's voice was a lot clearer after the mod. Another highlight: all Chesky recordings done in e certain church in New York couldn't grab my attention before the mod. I found the praise for Chesky highly overrated. After the mod, I wasn't standing all the way back in the church, but found myself in the front and the musicians were placed further apart and the "airy" accoustics were certainly not lost.
Worth the money? Absolutely!
greetings from Zwolle,
Thomas
ivoria@hotmail.com
p.s. The aforementioned Ana Caram is the SACD version. The mentioned Chesky discs are both SACD and cd. Yes, the quality of the cd reproduction also greatly improved. Cd reproduction quality was not really good before the mod. A bit flat and uninspiring, but after the mod certainly comparable to the better mid class cd-players!
