Stan Warren mod of 9000es and 333es


Yesterday, I spoke with Stan Warren, he finished upgrade to my 9000es and send it to me. In about a month, I will post my listening experience, now since many people were interested in this (or similar 333es) mod I briefly report that Stan told me: Most of parts ate surface mounted and therefore due to their small size substitution is difficult. He installed Black Gate capacitors in power supply as well as in signal path, exchanged op-amp from poorly sounding to nuch better sounding (surpisingly not more expensive, I think Sony people simply did not perform listening tests if specs are OK), changed wiring, reduce output impedance to about 100 ohms and few other things. His sonic expression was that it became spacier and airy (exactly what doctor order). Of course, after break-in (3-4 weeks, usually) sound will be even better. Price is $250 plus shipping. He can be reached at 541/344 - 3696 PST time zone. Simon
simontju
Simon,

Was wondering what wire did Stan use as a replacement and which wires (all internal, power supply, analog output). I think the rcas are directly soldered to the analog board like in the 777ES. Was also wondering what Stan did to reduce the output impedance. Can you ask Stan what op amps he used? Regards, Mike
Hello Mike:
My computer crushed and I could not read your message until now. My e-mail is SimonTJU@aol.com. I am afraid to confuse in relaying messages. I feel that it would be much better if you cll Stan direct (541/344 - 3696, EST). He is extremely nice guy and he will help you with advise even if you will not give him job at the moment. I will receive my 9000es only today. In a few days/weeks I will post my observations of this mod. ALSO, I lost phone number of MagiCoat you gave me due to the computer crush. If you can please e-mail me this info. Thanks. Simon
From everything I have heard of about Stan Warren, his reputation is impeccable. However, the cost of the mods to these players seems excessive. The modifications seem to be minimal; most of the benefit will be brought about by the insertion of the Black Gate capacitors. While I am sure there will be an improvement, I am left wondering... Not trying to ruffle any feathers, just questioning the answers. To accept things without questioning eventually leads to being taken advantage of. I do not mind at all in being proven wrong here.
In response to Trelja's question of value on Stan Warren's mods; Lets think about what Simontju got for $250:
An improved output stage, improved wiring, an output impedence reduction and modifications to the power supply and signal path using Black Gate capacitors. All of this for $250? Trelja wonders if this is a good value? Are you kidding? Its a steal...Not so sure?... lets look and compare the topologies of some of the big names in digital; Does Theta use the expensive Black Gate Caps?....nope. What about Levinson and Krell?...no, no , no. (Surprisingly, the Gates are either too expensive - or these companies are just too damn arrogant to do the research about the sonic improvements which are yielded by the implementation of Black Gates). Please note that none of these companies uses capacitors as expensive as Black Gate caps in their units, so I suspect that my first statement is probably the more accurate. The use of Black Gate capacitors by Stan Warren is proof enough that he is offering an INCREDIBLE bang for the buck. I wish we had MORE people like Stan in this business. Trelja was right about questioning the value of modification guys. More than a couple of the mod guys out there are not qualified to be modding anyone's digital unit. How many of these guys have the vast experience and backround of Stan Warren? None that I know of. And guess what, almost all charge much more for their so called mods, yet they give us far, far less. I have nothing but praise for Stan Warren. Because of him, I have an extremely refined-world class sounding digital front end for peanuts!.