companies that modify equipment...opinions

"I agree totally with audioengr in that it CAN be a great way to go but you better do your homework."

Amen to that!

TO do the homework, one best be sure they are qualified or able to do it correctly as well!

I have no doubt Audioengr is qualified and knows not only what to do to do it right but what to do if something should go wrong. After, all, I believe that is his job.
You better be willing to invest the time needed to accomplish all this properly.

How many of us not in the home audio design and engineering business, like myself, can say the same thing? Are we better qualified than the engineers at say Audio Research to make these decisions regarding their products and do it right?

If so, maybe a particular companies products aren't all that great to start with and another should be considered.

I might consider letting a third party do such modifications, if they are currently endorsed or supported by the original makers to the extent of making certain mods without invalidating the warranty policy. Otherwise, I feel I might be wading into waters too deep for me personally to assess properly, especially if things head south.

"So I suppose if you built your own components from scratch then stock would just not be good enough."

Like I sad, I dont mod anymore. But I do build all of my own components now, because my customers bugged me for years to do this. See my website.

And I do mod my own components. They change and upgrade often, and I offer new upgrades frequently. It's not like other companies that market a product assembled in the thousands in China that cannot be changed for the life of the product. I build in 100 qty typically and make my products modular so the modules can be improved or updated to keep up with the moving technology. This makes it so I can react to improved parts, technologies and mods to keep my products at the top of my game.

Some of my customers have had three generations or more of my products and never had to replace them, just update them with newer modules and tweaks. This saves them money, and gives them confidence that the new version will actually be better than what they had before. Lower risk.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"it is a leap of faith for sure"

Not really, if you do your homework and read the reviews from the customers and reviewers. Make sure that you select a reputable, experienced modder. You should see the quality of the workmanship first before committing.

When I used to mod, I did mods on components from customers world-wide, not just in the US and Canada. They trusted me.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Mapman - you talk like the engineers at the larger high-end audio companies are gods and somehow know all. Could not be further from the truth. If these guys were really that good, particularly with digital design, they would have much better jobs in the computer industry and get stock options from Apple etc.. They would not be at small companies doing low-volume consumer audio.

Even companies like Sony that do high-volume mass-marketed consumer products have issues here. When I modded, I had to fix problems in one Sony DVD/CD player S/PDIF output. On another Sony transport, they actually used the stamped steel chassis as a current return path for a digital signal. It worked, but sounded for s**t. Experienced designers dont make these kinds of mistakes. Large companies often promote their best designers to managers and then the junior designers get to design then products. I've been there. Big mistake IMO.

This perception that the manufacturers know what they are doing in every aspect of the design is a myth. There are a few really good designers out there however, but even they are not good at everything.

I admit that even I am not the best designer at every aspect of the design. This is why I sometimes call on outside experts for consulting and licensing of their designs. This is one way for a small company to achieve world-class designs.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"Mapman - you talk like the engineers at the larger high-end audio companies are gods and somehow know all"

Well, I had a SOny CD player once and it was fair at best.

Don't care for proprietary expensive Apple stuff much either.

The mhdt DACs I use are pretty decent sounding though and appear to have pretty good build quality for reasonable cost.

I know mods can be made to improve but as source only to external DACs Squeezebox Touch punches way above what its modest cost might indicate. Of course, that line has been discontinued. Probably too good to make a profit on as it was. I hope someone else picks up the technology and goes with it. How about you Steve? A lot of people like the Squeeze gadgets! THough a pretty good performer, I suspect a lot of the underlying software may have accumulated a lot of unwanted baggage though over the years and may need to start over. That's a software development task that I would personally find fascinating to undertake!

I have a Denon player/recorder that makes pretty good recordings though I have not used it in over a year to play back since going with music server. No doubt that can be bettered, in that it is not even top of Denon line I suppose.

Its hard to generalize. I do think engineers at certain modest sized specialty companies like AUdio Research and Bel Canto for example do know what they are doing and why they do it the way they do in an attempt to offer quality and value. Obviously, no large company selling to the masses is likely to make the absolute best anything and prefer to leave that niche market to more niche vendors.

THere is always good better, and best. By what margin does the best digital outperform other very good products? For how much more cost? Who will see the value?

ALl these things matter.