My guess based on my experience with an original unit and then a finely modded unit by Richard Kern, is about 400 - 500 hours. At about 250 hours the thing sounded terrible. I almost wanted to dump it at that point but thanks to fellow users who were further into their experience, I waited it out.
The Audience mod is going to be virtually the same wait. It is much more extensive than the mods I had done. It should be quite enjoyable.
Best Regards! |
Jtinn: To clarify the record. I stated (and I can't remember in what form) that Audiocom mod is the best based solely on reviews posted on AudioAsylum by inmates who had such post as well as from AVSForum, Specual Guest Section. I did not read, as I recall, any Audience mod review, except prelimenary one by Mes. He paid $2,8k for this mod and for this kind of money I, personally, would prefer more testiments. Happy listening. Simon |
SimonTJU: You are only clarifying the fact that you have not been extremely honest with us here. You never mentioned in your earlier posts anything about how you came to your conclusions, or that they were solely based on other's reviews.
I speak from personal experience, I do not make reviewer's judgements my own. I may refer to someone's review, but clearly state whether or not I have heard it for myself.
Happily Listening,
Jonathan |
My stance too Jonathan! I'm still waiting, according to Audience I should have had the unit already, but then on the other hand I am glad, that they will only ship after they have rigorously put everything to the test. Well, after that, a 400 hours burn in....sigh
Happy Listening, |
Has Richard given you any real idea of when you will recieve it? This must be getting stressfull for you. |
Hi, Jtinn, sorry to come back to you so late..... Richard did give two aproximate dates, however couldn't deliver. I'd been forewarned, so I didn't mind and these days, since Sept. 11th, well, there are more important, vital things to occupy my mind.
Cheers |
Well, yesterday was the great day. It was a long wait of about four months, but it certainly was worth it. Right out of the box and unbroken in, my preliminary findings are:
SACD play:
1. Dynamics of quite a new order, punch galore.
2. The grain in the highs and upper mids is gone.
3. Bass seems deeper, cleaner, faster
4. Midrange is more open
5. Soundstage deeper, wider.
6. you can listen deeper into the musical presentation, and with more minute detail revealed. Certainly more PRAT.
Redbook CD:
Quick comparison with ML 30.6/31.5/Purcell upsampler combo:
SONY/Audience mod: Soundpresentation more forward, closer, more direct, (first row instead of about 6th ) more roughshot for the time being, less refined and dissolved, however a tad more dynamic-punchy, highs still a bit etchy. But don't forget, the unit is just out of the box. I may be in for quite a surprise after about 400 hours or so. The unit is on repeat now, breaking it in. Cheers, |
Detlof, How much did that set you back? |
Mike, quite a bit, not counting shipping from Europe to the US and back about 2900 bucks! But it seems to be worth it. If you look at their webside, which shows all that they have done with this mod, it does not seem a rip-off, but fairly reasonable. (audience-av.com) |
Well Detloff, I'm glad to see you got your player back and that the mod seems to be worth the money. Let me know if you agree or disagree with me about how SACD done right stacks up to vinyl. I recently upgraded my Ovation with the Debut platter/bearing/vacuum, and I still think SACD is similar to it in many ways--better in some, not quite as engaging in others, but clearly a level up from even upsampled CD. And something I can listen to in the same listening session as vinyl without a letdown. |
Rcprince, you make a few excellent points. Its a bit early to tell still, but my experience seems to point into the same way as you suggest. Haven't listened to classical music yet, but with the Jazz stuff I listened to, I felt I could get easily drawn into the music, which is always a good sign. I marvel at the dynamics, which seem to better those of vinyl, but I hate the hiss, (mind you, you have that on some of the old Mercury LPs as well, but I hate that there too) which my ELS's and plasma tweeters reveal mercilessly. This is disturbing, especially at pppp levels, which the unit itself seems to disolve very well. |
Congratulations and thanks for the follow up. I would tend to agree that as you found originally with break-in on the SCD-1, it will probably be at least the same with the new mods. Although the $2900 may seem expensive, if it can replace your Levinson Reference gear sonically, it will well be worth it financially.
Please keep us updated. |
Jonathan, Robert at Audience actually told me, it would in time be better than the Levinson stuff. Well, I'm sceptical, but we'll see. Its broken in for about 70 hours now and I noticed a great leap forward in transparence , dynamics and general musicality on SACD after about 60 hours. Tried a classical, big orchestral piece, found it far better in every respect to any big orchestral Redbook stuff I'd ever heard, simply because it was closer to the real thing, than any CD I'd ever heard. VERY different from vinyl, which my ears are accustomed to. Need to listen more and do more breaking in , before I can report at depth. |
Detlof, although I know my answer to this question (I haven't sold the Forsell/Purcell/Audio Logic 2400), how does your modded 777 sound on Redbook CD? Are the mods that good that they make regular CDs listenable to you? And I can see you have my reaction to the sound of SACD on the orchestral pieces. |
RCprince, its too early for me to tell, to give you a really well considered answer, but last night a disk refused to play in SACD mode but did in CD and I was quite flabberghasted how good it sounded. In a quick "test", my Purcell, ML rig sounded polite and laid back and somewhat darkish in comparison to the punchy freshness of the Audience/Sony. That was quite a shock. But it was late and then one of my tubes in the 200 went sour, so that was the end of it. Regards, |
Richard Kern has just emailed me that the Audiomod.com parts for the XA777ES are arriving very soon. I've opted for the whole treatment, including Richard's analogue stage mods and the superclock.
With respect to the performance of the stock XA777ES, I've been reluctant to report on the Sony after my original review, as the XA never really had a chance to settle in -- mostly my fault: I changed the preamp to the six-channel TAP9000es in order to accommodate my DVD-A player, and then I changed many of the cables to Stealth PGS and A/B'd with the Cardas Golden Ref. All this, right around 300 hours -- so any review vs. my fully broken-in SCD-1 would have been highly subjective and probably misleading. Hence my silence over the past month or so.
I did however decide to sell my SCD-1 last week, as I felt the XA777Es was close to the two channel SACD performance of the SCD-1, the XA had the multichannel advantage, and clearly the XA had better Redbook. But even using the word "better" is subjective: the sonic signatures were quite different and some may actually prefer the darker, more clinical sound of Redbook on the SCD-1 to the smooth, rounded sonic signature of the XA, depending on system synergy, et al.
As I was able to sell the SCD-1 for $2750 (just $100 less than what Oade will sell you a new SCD-1 for), I can always go back to the big Sony classic without taking a financial bath -- the SCD-1 was a marvel of quality, and I do miss that 10-second sliding top cover orchestra.
To quash those rumors that the XA777 might be better on 2-channel SACD than the SCD-1; in my opinion, it was not -- the slight edge went to the SCD-1, although my XA was never really broken/settled-in to do a real head-to-head. All in all, I am inconclusive as to whether or not the XA's newer technology outweighs the SCD-1's build quality in terms of sonic benefits on SACD -- time will tell.
To sum, both are excellent values, with parallel sonic signatures on two channel SACD, but are totally different sounding when you drop in your favorite Redbook disc. But, neither was a good as an Audio Aero Capitole -- my "reference" for Redbook -- nor should they be, given the street price difference.
Now back to the audiomod.com mods for the XA777es: Hopefully, the audiomod.com parts + superclock + analogue upgrades will bring the XA777es up to a truly world class player that equals or surpasses the Capitole benchmark for Redbook I have artificially set. (SACD performance is already adequate for me - with my unfriendly room limiting the subtle sonic benefits that may be realized in SACD by the modded player)
The deciding factor(s) to go ahead with the mods? I read an earlier post that one of the modifications providers was able to offer better service than Sony and at a reasonable cost when the poster's 777ES broke down independently of the mods, but within the timeframe of the original Sony warranty. So my worry was not so much $200-$300 for a repair that would normally be in-warranty, but rather the fact that I don't want to be without the player for a any length of time -- time is money too. That, and Jim's very detailed account of the benefits of the mods to his Sony, tipped the scales and caused me to chase my early-adopter tail one more time.
In all, I will spend about $3,800 ($2,000 to Oade for the player and $1800 or so for all the mods.) When I look at what Accuphase and Classe want for their premium players, this still seems like a bargain. Finally, keeping the SCD-1 and XA777es and then adding an Audio Aero for Redbook was a foolish, ill-thought-out plan: a rat's nest of cables, not to mention the expense of good cabling for three players (I'm hooked on the Stealth PGS and Cardas Golden Refs). So my immediate goal is: system simplification and the best front end under $5K, used or new. I rationalize this goal is both sonically and financially feasible, and echoes that of many fellow inmates -- hopefully, I 've made a wise choice.
Richard said he would get the modded XA back to me around Christmas. I'll let you know if I've indeed found the Holy Grail or if I'm trapped in a Monty Python-like quest for endless upgrades. --Lorne |
I just got mine Back from audio com uk.in two days the
diferance is day and night.they put a Referance clock in
and stuffed the dacs with Black gates and the power surply
i am having more done soon. |
