Are DACs superior to top-graded regular CD Players

Doug, I live in Australia so I only know one or two high end AE's locally. I have spoken to and like and respect Dan Wright at Modwright, however I believe he only does set mods such as his famous Oppo & Sony mods, though you might want to check that out.

I used to own an XL-Z1050 & wouldn'd advocate doing too much to it. In stock form it is a very good sounding player. Any competent high end AE should be able to open up the player & suggest some good replacement caps & do the IEC mod for you as it's not rocket science.

I'd look close to home as its always better to deal with your AE face to face.

11-17-15: Doug99
Melbguy1, do you know anyone that still modifies the
JVC XL-Z1050 cd player?
Terrence Robinson used to do but he doesn't anymore.
Stan Warren did, but his number has been out of order for a few years.
Doug99

Doug, if it's working fine, and you want to do a real great mod.
It has great R2R Multibit PCM56 dac chips in it, and will benefit greatly with a new I/V and buffer stages after the dac's.
Get a tech that's good, and replace them with a 3 stack of this zero feedback I/V and buffer, I show how to do it, and it will sing after this mod.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/227677-using-ad844-i-v.html

It should take a tech around 1-2hrs and the parts will be around $30.
Forget doing caps/spikes and such if it's working fine, as these will do nothing at all.

Cheers George

There are of course MANY variables that can enter into ANY such comparison.
What I am able to offer is that I've heard NO CD player sound as good or better than what I'm getting out of my digital front end, particular when playing well done high resolution music files.

George, I disagree with your view that newer, much better caps such as
Jupiter, Deulund or Mundorf would not improve the sound. Besides that, the
original caps would be 25 years old now & would have degraded, so it is
sensible maintenance to carry out given the vintage of the player & its price
point. As for dismissing isolation feet. Stillpoints Ultra Mini's work very well
& atleast you can still keep them or easily sell them if the player was later
sold.

I would be happy to replace the caps & do the IEC mod on an XL-Z1050
because they're not mucking around with the original circuit design of the
player. I'm not saying the mods you suggested wouldn't improve the sound,
but the moment you start modifying the player's basic design, in a player
this old and cheap, it would be hard to sell. If you want a Lexus, just buy
Lexus.

It's always better to be a Aussie as well , beats everything
but being a Kiwi in Finland .