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Any electronic modders here at Audiogon?

I'm wondering if there are any electronics modders in here like myself. I would like to hear what you've modified and any good related stories.

I'll start it off with a recent example of a project I just finished a few weeks ago:

First: A little background - I had a PS Audio GCC-100 I had bought off of Audiogon several years ago, but it "died", so I put it in storage where it stayed until about a month ago. Then another amp (a Jungson DA-200IA) I bought here also went bad. 

Shortly after the Jungson died, I saw an ad here on the 'Gon for a PS Audio like my old one that said "just returned from PS Audio with new Gain Cells". This caused me to think that maybe the 2 ICEPower modules inside mine might still be good. Sure enough, they were perfectly fine.

So I set about making what I jokingly call a Jungson ICE amp, where I strip the Jungson innards clean, but save the front panel with the large VU meters, and use the ICE modules and turn the unit into a power amp. Works great, even though the power lever is much lower than the old Jungson. But not a problem, as I don't play it that loud anyway.

Anyone else here have any other good modding stories like that?
joeylawn36111
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I could write pages of info on what I’ve modified. I have both a full home theater system and a computer audio system. In both systems, there are only a couple items I have not "touched"/modified in some way. I have not touched my DirectTV satellite receiver - because of voiding warranty and I don’t actually "own" the receiver (lease). I have not touched my Lumagen video processor, though I have ran it through the freezer for a couple horus (for a pseudo cryo treatment -- this solidifies the SMD solder points to be just a bit denser). In my computer audio system, I have an Emotiva DAC and a Rane stereo line mixer that I have pretty much rebuilt internally to be Class-A based giant killers. I’ve gone through a LOT of testing using different components (capacitors, etc.) to see how different types of caps affect things.  I hand make all my own power and interconnect cables.  Even treating speakers in some way.
4krow
80 posts
 
  And, in spite of what modifications can be made, so many times it ends up being the total synergy of the system that wins. Seemingly, some just shouldn't go together, yet, the outcome is unbeatable. Having said that, I rarely have been stopped at good enough. 
joeylawn36111 OP
574 posts
 
Thanks for everyone's input.

Auxinput - I had a kind of similar situation with my Linn Kremlin tuner (and my Linn Klassic for that matter) - They were just too "nice" to mess with (modify) because they're rather expensive, and I don't want to mess them up. BUT the backup battery in the Kremlin 'took a dump' on it's circuit board, so I had to try and fix it, and I did. While having it apart, I also changed the LED display from green to Blue, as I do all my equipment with LED displays - but not the Kremlin until it messed up. 

Similar story with the Klassic - it gave an error message that was fixed with Recapping. So I also went ahead and put the blue 7-segments in.
joeylawn36111 OP
574 posts
 
Here's another thing I'd like to share - IF you do any amount of, say, Recapping or anything that has to to with Desoldering a component from a circuit board - IMO a Must Have is a Hakko Electric Desoldering Vacuum tool (current model is the FR-300 - the 808 I use has been discontinued).

But only if you do a lot of desoldering OR you want to protect your investment (don't DARE use a mechanical solder sucker to recap, say, an old Mark Levinson preamp) ;) ,as they're at least ~$265 not including supplies like filters and the proper size nozzles.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I’ve isolated circuit boards from vibration, mechanically isolated transformers from the component electronics, shielded electronics and wiring and fuse from the transformer’s magnetic field, damped capacitors, damped the fuse holder, absorbed background scattered laser light in CD players, damped the CD transport, oh, and of course seismic vibration isolation.
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