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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
 
I've been experimenting with a bunch of BlackDiscus samples on my EVS OPPO-105D for the past few months and thought I'd pass my results on to those of you who have this player.
Ric suggested a BD over the 2-channel DAC, but I didn't get any perceived improvement and it got hot trapping heat unnecessarily over the DAC.
I got noticeable clarity and imaging improvement in the following areas:
-two single[half] BD's over the 4 horizontal caps in the right rear [analog board]
-two single BD's over the 2 vertical can caps in the right front
- a trio of 3 sample sets [6 singles] under the disc tray centered 3 -1/2 inches from the front face
- a double stack of BD's [4 singles] centered on my wood cover over Ric's transformer, left rear.
the_rang
41 posts
 
Am intrigued by the sonic benefits users are describing with EVS mods, but to my admittedly untrained eye the pictures of these mods look pretty scary.
agisthos
506 posts
 
Yes his mod pictures look like a dogs breakfast. But I guess it's the performance that counts.

I think his issue is he uses copper wire sheathed in cotton as the connecting links. So it does not look very clean.
thankful
223 posts
 
I agree that the Oppo 105 if upgraded properly is a world class piece of gear. I had John Tucker of Exemplar Audio upgrade mine and it is simply stunning. I would place it in "up to 15K" comparison. No edge, brightness, no sterile sound just gorgeous sounding. It is very MUSICAL, quite analogue sounding.
papaned
17 posts
 
$4750. for a tubed modified OPPO !! Wow! What all did he do for that price? I thought that Modwright was the primo tube -modified OPPO-105 with a separate tube power supply.
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