To mod or not to mod a Sony SCD1

Particularly in relation to Super Clock 4 and power supply upgrade

Super Clock 4 (or any other “super clock”) does not "fix" the nasty PLL clocking of the SCD-1 featuring very high jitter (regardless of the external reference). There is a lot more that need be done, meaning, the entire clocking architecture must be changed/replaced.

Power supply/Black Gate caps upgrade will sure sound "different" but not necessarily "better"; you need to replace the entire analog output stage before doing any “Black Gate upgrade”.

The sad part is that, the SCD-1/SCD-777 is built like a tank and have very nice disc spinning transports, but are flawed by design, IMO! While this is “fixable” to a large extent, it really depends on whether you really want to keep this player or not. If you are listening mostly to CDs, just forget it.

Best,
Alex Peychev

The 5400 is much better than the 777 or scd-1 especially on redbook.

Sure, the inferior 5400 transport gets backed by "superior" Digital Signal Processing (DSP) that is not even Sony! It is Matsushita/Panasonic. Yes, Sony has outsourced this to a larger/cheaper manufacturer (with Burr-Brown DACs)!

While I'd agree that the 5400 is better (stock), it has nowhere near the potential of SCD-1/SCD-777, sorry to say!

IMO, of course, as usual!

Best,
Alex Peychev

That's very good insight, Edorr. Thank you!

Case in point of modding economics. You buy a a "build like a tank" $1500 SCD-1 and do $3000 worth of mods. Your $4500 modded player now has a resale value of $2500.

Alternatively, you can buy a used "build like a tank" Emm labs CDSA se for $5000. In a fire sale, resale value is still $4500. Do the math.

Now, your modder will tell you the modded Sony with "trounce" the EMM labs player - this type of claims are not consistent with my experience. Even if the modded Sony is marginally better, I'd rather have a $500 writeoff on my balance sheet than $2000.

Aplhifi Which Bur -Brown Dacs are in the Sony?
And how many Dacs are in the Sony?
I tried to Google this and could not locate an answer.
Thanks Gary