2. digital
  3. 1084403350

Philips 963SA normal characteristics?

I just got a Philips 963SA. stock player

1. I think it sounds rather flat, like most Japanese equipments (think Philips is Japanese?). Even with the 192K upsampling it's flat, uninvolving, and not that much better than without upsampling. I'm a bit disappointed, especially with all the praises I've heard for this thing and the SACD 1000. Does this sound about right to others, comments, opinions please.

2. Is it normal for the disc loading to be so noisy. It makes some weird robotic cartoon-like noises be4 opening up and while loading
fireflydl

Showing 2 responses by mmrog

mmrog
101 posts
 
Mine took quite a bit of time to break in. Maybe 100 hours.
Sounded a whole lot better after upgrading one capacitor for about $30 not including labor.

Mine has started to make a fluttering noise on some discs. Particularly discs that may be warped. Happened to a friend's too. Hope it doesn't get any worse.
mmrog
101 posts
 
The capacitor upgrade is a single capacitor that is easy to change if you can solder and unsolder.

Get a Blackgate VK 150uf/350V. I got mine from www.referenceaudiomods.com. Replace the only large cap on the power supply board. It's easy to find. Make sure you keep the polarity the same. It's not hard at all. You will need a torx screwdriver to get into the unit. Those are the 5 pointed ones.

I heard immediate improvement, though the cap took at least 100 hours to break in. Had much tighter, richer bass and a much more natural overall presentation. Like it didn't have to work so hard.
More to discover