CD Player Modifications. Is it worth the ?

CORRECTION TO SEAN'S LAST POST. He is taking words completely out of context regarding Stan Warren's statements. I speak to Stan over 40 times a year, and he has never made a statement like: " the modified Pioneer will not have the bass impact, body, pace, tempo or warmth of a good cd player that is considered musical". NEVER, NEVER, NEVER DID HE MAKE THIS STATEMENT!

The only thing that Stan has ever said about the Pioneer is that it is slightly lacking in bass impact and dynamics as compared to his other more expensive outboard d/a's and transports, and some of his other modified cd player variants. To be specific: some cd players, which Stan used to mod (namely the Teac), had a slight edge in its bass and dynamics, but the Teac is not nearly as musical, nor as refined as the latest Pioneer, that Stan now recommends modifying. I know this personally, because I still have one of the Teac's too!

The modified Pioneer is a wonderful unit for anyone looking for a cd player under the $1000 mark. It is sonically refined, and does not have any of the typical sonic anomalies that are so characteristic of virtually every other "budget" high end (read under $1200) cd player.

If the Pioneer had such "bass, impact and pace problems" that Sean claims Stan had stated , then why does he have so many satisfied customers ? Is Stan a hypnotist? Perhaps a cult leader? Maybe he uses drugs his customers? I know, he's an alien from the constellation Virgo, with the intent of controlling his customer's minds and ears! That's it, I'm in his control..... All of his customers are in his control! That's why we love his modified digital products so much. Invasion of the body snatchers is for real!

Sean I really think you should avoid making such statements like: "Stan will tell you himself.......". You are not his spokes person, and more importantly, you are speaking in regard to another persons conversation, that you did not participate in yourself.

Please speak for yourself Eric and don't put words in my mouth. I stand by my statements.

The person that told me this has a Stan Warren modified Pioneer DVD player. He also has a very good quality redbook cd player from a "mass production" manufacturer. Stan told him that the modified Pioneer DVD would NOT match the low frequency qualities or capabilities of his stock CD player. Stan clearly stated this before he had begun to modify the Pioneer, so he did "flat out" say such a thing. He was being as up-front as he could be with the customer and for that, i applaud his honesty.

As such, my statements are not "corrupt", second hand "bullshit" or relying on "special circumstances" such as someone comparing the modified Pioneer DVD to a much more expensive outboard DAC, etc... The person that told me this still has the Pioneer player and i communicate with them on an almost daily basis. He has NO reason to "BS" me nor would i want or expect him to. I told him up front that i didn't think that the DVD player would match his CD player in bottom end warmth or body. My exact words were that they sound "crisp, clean and open but are somewhat lean". Stan basically confirmed those thoughts over the phone with him, but the owner still went ahead with the modifications anyhow. To be quite frank, he received the player back after having it modified and was not overly excited about it. The player has been relegated to his bedroom system.

I was informed by another Audiogon member that the "lack of performance" on some newer Pioneer DVD players is due to a production change. Pioneer has decided to change the internal DAC's and the units don't perform as well. For all that i know, the above mentioned Pioneer DVD may be one of these models and why Stan mentioned what he did to the customer.

For the sake of clarity, the information regarding the Pioneer DAC change was divulged directly by Stan Warren to this A-gon member TODAY while Stan was at his house. I spent quite a bit of time talking to this gentleman last night arranging a business deal. Everything went as smoothly as possible and it was as pleasant as could be. Given previous correspondance with him, i have no reason to doubt these statements or his integrity in passing them on.

As i have stated before, i only post information that i have experienced first hand or has been passed on to me by what i would deem a reliable source. Like anything else though, it is up to you as an individual to believe who and what you want to. Sean
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I floated my old Rotel on a Neuance iso-shelf and was amazed at the improvement in coherence and reduced fatigue.
$150 experiment that is instantly reversible...and reuasable with any upgrade later. Ern

When you speak about the value of modifying Pioneer DVD's, you need to speak of those models that are worth modifying. I have a Pioneer 503C carousel, which while working quite well overall as a transport, has developed a number of frustrating mechanical problems over its short life, and would likely not be a good candidate for several hundred dollars worth of mods. I really only expect to get a year or two of service out of this unit and don't see it as a long term purchase. To its credit, it was inexpensive and does a decent job as both a DVD player and an audio transport. However, there are likely higher quality Pioneer units that would certainly provide better value when modified.

I have spoken to Stan Warren on a number of occassions and he believes in his work. You need to have a Pioneer or Onkyo DVD player with the Burr Brown 24/96 or higher DAC. I cannot believe he would downplay what he does. If Stan did say something similar to what Sean is relating, he may have been comparing his modded Pioneer against a $2500+ player. (He has said such to me, but did not feel they were much better). So you can spend $450 for a Pioneer DVD player modded by Stan or spend $2500+ for something better; it is your money.

I have both a Pioneer DV333 in one system and a MSB Link DAC modded by Stan in another. If was worth more than every penny.

"Mods" very much understates what Stan really does. He redesigns large portions of the original circuit, removing bugs and design oversights, and upgrades the parts quality of the most
important components. He can be reached at (541)344-3696

Dan Wright at www.modwright.com does similar work.

The following is a link of a comparison of Stan's DVD player and a Camelot Morganna player. There is also lots of comments on Stan at the Chicago Audio Society website archives of meetings, etc. A Stan modded MSB Link DAC is their reference player.

http://decware.com/forums/General/posts/2403.html

http://www.chicagoaudio.org/