Modding Synergistic Research MPC to Galileo status

Just chiming in on this thread and am happy to add my experience. Based on a comment in my system description I sent Michael two of my old dual lead MPCs to mid to Ver.2. They are on my two PowerCells and surplus as I'd already changed them out to Galileo MPCs.

Having gotten them back (super fast by the way!) I am very pleased to say that they represent a nice upgrade even on the Galileo. My system is finely tuned so changes such as the addition or removal of one HFT are pretty apparent. In this context the MPC Ver.2 go a good step towards making the system even more natural and open --  

sounds are more natural and integrated and it is easier to her each instrument in its own acoustic (case in point “All I Want” track 2 on Tierney Sutton “After Blue”, untangling the bass from the vocal is what this track is all about, ideally the bass should be well separated in space from Tierney's vocal, and the vocal itself should have uniform echo into each corner of the room (a really hard trick to pull off if your room treatment is not ideal)) -- the MPC upgrades made a good improvement in this regard

I'll now be sending six more Galileo MPCs to Michael for his work and will report on the cumulative effect

Further to my last post Micheal suggested I try the modded MPCs on my speaker cables rather than the PowerCells -- great suggestion as this placement (with Galileo MPCs back on the two cells) made a nice step up. It also freed a Galileo MPC to go on the Element CTS power cord that powers the quantum strip into which all my other SR power cord MPCs are connected -- another step up

Through all of these changes the effect I hear with each improvement is a lowering of the noise floor which seems at first to sound like a drop in perceived volume -- in fact I think what we often perceive as loudness in audio reproduction is actually the cumulative noise in the system, as the noise is reduced we can open up the volume control and appreciate more of the dynamic range in the recording. A great example of this is using a track from Vienna Teng's live recording "The Moment Always Vanishing". This is the last track on the extended version - "Soon Love Soon" (unfortunately only available as a memory stick live at her concerts in 2010 but there are a bunch of versions on YouTube from other shows so you can get a sense of what I mean). This is a recording of all the concertgoers singing along to a quiet slow song. As you get the noise floor under control it becomes easy to pick out tens of individual singers and hear each part and where in the room they are sitting. This even holds with applause, each clap and each person clapping is an individual -- and to think this is off a 16:44 DAT field recording -- makes me wonder what all the fuss with hi-res is for (ps I tend to do listening for system changes using my DCS stack as it's easier to do A:B comparisons, I also have an OK LP system which is my ultimate preference)

Anyway as I appreciate more of the value of noise control my next step will be to invest in an SR Transporter to power all of my source leads -- I'll report back on that when I get it installed 

Continuing on my tale of SR power I've now received the Transporter Ultra SE and have it hooked up to all my source equipment. It makes another major step up on Michael's MPCs preserving all of the air and detail but adding much more bass depth and overall scale. Recordings sound much more dimensional and rounded with more of an impression of projecting in front of and around the speakers as well as behind. And this is with the transporter only driving half of my CD player power cords and the pre-amp (plus the PowerCell they are all plugged into). I'm waiting on new connectors which will allow me to use the transporter with my speaker cords as well. Anyway I'd strongly recommend that anyone with a reasonable investment in SR Active power kit really spend some time thinking about the best power solution for their devices. 

ps I was advised by my dealer not to use the Transporter on the UEF but instead use the Galileo MPC (dual lead) -- I did the comparison and it's no comparison, the Transporter is much better

Michael modded 9 SR MPCs for me recently, a few weeks ago.  In my system, which is very revealing, after about a week of being just plugged in, and another week or so, the sound is remarkably improved.   The sound stage is much more 3D and wider.  The improvements from the mods even compelled me to adjust my Quatro speakers slightly to get the center and side to side sound stage more accurately set.   The improvement in imaging and transparency allowed me to hear how to focus my speaker setup better.   Michael also was the absolute best in service, shipping very quickly the modded MPCs.   Without any exaggeration, and listening to sound on a very transparent system, the mod is absolutely the smart thing to do.   Happy I did it.