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EVS modified Oppo 105D

I sent my Oppo 105D to Ric Schultz of EVS for his all out mod including his basic mod package, new low jitter clocks, an Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX installed on AC input, J-fet buffer output stages installed on balanced and single ended stereo outputs and center channel out and new linear power supply.

The unit was well broken in before sending it to Ric. The modified player I received back is much improved in all areas including sound stage, detail, separation of instruments, etc. Blu ray video is sharper with better color saturation and depth.

I play 2 channel and multichannel SACD and DVD audio disks, red book disks, blu ray audio only and blu ray video. All are improved. I am hearing details in some disks for the first time - fingers sliding on guitar strings, very faint bells and cymbals, etc.

I feed my Epson 8700ub projector directly from the Oppo. Analog audio is fed from the Oppo to the single ended multi channel analog inputs of my modified Onkyo 5508 prepro. All processing is done in the Oppo as the prepro is used only as a multichannel analog preamp. Other digital sources are fed directly to the Oppo through its two HDMI inputs.

I use Dunlavy IVs for left and right front channels with a Dunlavy IVA for the center. All three Dunlavys are driven by Odyssey stratos glass ceiling monoblocks. I consider the Dunlavys to be the weakest link in my audio chain.

Check out Ric's web site at tweakaudio.com or just search for EVS Audio. He is very easy and interesting to talk with. He does custom modifications of Oppo players and other equipment and is developing a line of open baffle planar magnetic speaker kits.
hhop
papaned
17 posts
 
Mribob;
Don't want to beat a dead horse, but if you still have the OPPO cover on, take it off and hear the improvement. Ric does all his testing and listening with the covers off. You can have a Lucite cover made to just sit on top.
keithtexas
352 posts
 
I'm assuming a clear lucite cover provides more of a see through sound quality. :-D
samh
14 posts
 
I have had an EVS modified OPPO 95 for quite a long time, and have been very happy. Mine was a very early all out mod, so he has been very busy since mine was done. I recently sent mine back to get all the latest mods. All the mods that are for the 105 luckily are available for my 95 as well, so I had the fet output stage as well as the linear power supply done. This has turned out to be a pretty major mod. As I expected, there was increased detail across the board, but I did not expect the resolution of all the background instruments and vocals to greatly improve. Everything can be heard much more discretely. Thanks again Ric, for your good work. Keep it up.
papaned
17 posts
 
I probably have more than 500 hours on my EVS Oppo-105D and found that its musicality has improved significantly.I had a friend over today who has critical listening skills and grudgingly gives praise.He was very impressed with the current sound vs. his last session here after only 150 hours.
So it appears that the Fet zero-feedback stage needs plenty of break-in, but it's well worth it.
dusted1's avatar
dusted1
15 posts
 
Ric installed the J-FET output stage on my Oppo BDP-105.Sounds is detailed,quiet with OUTSTANDING imaging.Sound is so good I feel I didn't need the Linear power supply mods and the transport mods although I still might get them done at a later date.
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