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What Is The

I am in a situation right now that it is quite confusing and I think some of us have been there before. I currently own a Musical Fidelity Trivista SACD Player. Excellent Sounding Player and it has been my Reference Player for quite some time. Now I want to try a Different SACD Player and my choices are , Cary Audio 306,Esoteric X-03SE,SA-60 and a stock DV-50s and here is where my dilemma is. I am considering purchasing an Esoteric DV50S and have it Modified since many people have claimed that these modifed units are by far much better sounding than their 4 times more costly stock players.

Many Audiophiles claim that many "MODIFIED/UPGRADED" CD players sound much better than many $10+ stock units. I onced purchased a TRL Modifdied Marantz SA-14 VER2 and even though this unit sounded very good it was no competition to my Stock Musical Fidelity Trivista.

Now with so many Companies "Claiming" that their Modifications/Upgrades are the best! How is it possible for anyone to know which is the "BEST" or "RIGHT" Modification for your unit?

In one end you have a company charging you $600 for their "BEST" modification, another charging $1299 for their "Signature Modification," another one charging $2900 for their "Reference Modification" and so on. The question is: Does the most Expensive Modification makes the best Modification? Or can you get the same exact results from a $600 Modification compare to a $2900 mod?
Let's also remember that ---> THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME CLAIM, "OUR MODIFICATION WILL MAKE YOUR UNIT SOUND MUCH BETTER THAN THOSE COSTING 3 or 4 TIMES MORE"

Now I know that this is a Topic that will elaborate a lot of discussions since many Audiophiles have had their units modified or Upgraded by different companies but I will appreciate if anyone can share their experiences not just with me but with many other Audiogon members that may be in the same situation as I am right now. I know that your comments or opinions will be helpfull to all.

My Best Regards,

Carlos
nypr2003
jsadurni
210 posts
 
Get the Esoteric X-03 SE from your list, It has the VRDS NEO transport that will make a big diference in sound.
It will be hard for any mod with a cheap transport to beat the diference a great transport makes!
nypr2003 OP
23 posts
 
Jsadurni

Actually if I have decided that if i choose to go with a player without doing any mods my two choices are the Cary Audio 306 SACD or the Esoteric X-03 SACD Players. But if I decide to send a unit to be modified my choice is the Esoteric DV-50S. Also thanks to the Advice of many Fellow Audiogners who have answer this thread I am also considering the fact of purchasing a Modded Unit but the fact is that these Mods units are selling for almost $4K and up. The advantage of purchasing a unit like this that it is already broken-in so you don't have to spend hundreds of hours doing the break-in and also you don't have to pay full price for the Mods.
jsadurni
210 posts
 
Nypr2003, I have gone the modded way with cheap DVDs and came back. Yes any player will sound better modded, but I dont think top of the line players will gain a lot more from mods, probably just a flavor change. I have a Forsell transport and EAD DAC I would mod the DAC but I dont think anyone can do a better job than Forsell himself on the transport...but I can tell you the transport is way more important than shotkys, clocks, BlackGates etc.
The XO3 with the NEO transport seems as good as anything out there, a simple mod will probably just change the flavor...a full expensive mod makes the Best available in some peoples opinion...
This level mods will take a long time to come out used...

PS: Have you seen the pics of the VRDS-NEO transport next to mostly all other transports out there...its humbling!
(No relationship with Esoteric..I wish..just seems a good choice)
cibr
11 posts
 
But why?
Just like buying Honda Civic and mod upto 275hp and end up with almost same money as buying BMW 328i. It's fun for step-by-step experience. But at the end, is still Honda Civic.
Sorry..... just my personal opinion.
jack_dotson
210 posts
 
Try a Sony 999ES without mods and see what you think. There's a reason this unit is a good one to mod.

The SACD performance even without the mods is very good. It has a feature they call sharp/slow which modifies the sound (not sure how) and is very useful.

And, they can be had for change used. BTW, video performance is very good as well.

Can't really go wrong at this price point.
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