Mods : Fools Gold or the Real Thing

Look at it this way: every $1 that a manufacturer puts into a product drives the suggested retail price up by $4 - $8. Since most products are built to a price point that most consumers can afford, they can all be improved by substitution of higher grade parts and / or circuit design changes. Doing such things on a mass production basis would be both cost prohibitive and alienate potential customers. This is not to mention that many products are built with features and reliability in mind with overall performance considered further down the line. After all, most consumers are attracted to something that looks fancy and has a lot of "bells & whistles", works "okay" and costs as little as possible. That is why both "rack" and "mini" systems are so popular. They give you a lot of "junk" for your money but perform quite poorly overall. Sean
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Other than cost versus price points; another reason manufacturers do not perform many of these mods themselves, is the simple fact that many of those high grade parts are not available in large enough quantities to make enough units, or the supply is unreliable. I can remember a conversation with Stan Warren, where he commented he was backed up because he was having trouble getting some Black Gate caps. If Stan can't get a couple dozen quickly, imagine Sony's problem.
Also in many cases it may take too long to manufacture the unit in that way, so labor cost would be too high.

If you want a YBA made in France, you have to pay up; or settle for the cheaper Audio Refinement made in China. Same for the Creek designed gear for Cambridge Audio.

I can understand why manufacturers don't use the higher quality parts -- the public, including many who purchase higher priced transports, are satisfied with the sound. My take is that the after-market modding in transports is no different than automobiles or even homes. You can buy a new BMW and still change the chips, wheels, tires, exhaust systems, and even crankshafts. The same applies to homes. You can purchase a newly constructed house and then put in custome kitchens, bathrooms and the like. The key is whether your investment in the aftermarket costs show up in the performance department

Sugarbrie, actually Sony would probably have a far easier time getting the Black Gate caps than Stan. I am an electronics engineer and have always worked for small companies. One of the most frustrating things working for a small company is you have no clout with the parts manufacturers. A lot of the time if you aren't going to buy many thousands of something (sometime millions) they don't even want to talk to you. A lot of the stuff is made to order. They aren't going to fire up a production line to make a few hundred of something. The small company pretty much has to rely on distributors which only stock the most common parts. I think it's fair to say that most, if not all, specialty audio companies are pretty small, so their engineers have the same problems I do.

For large consumer companies like Sony, I'm sure the parts are chosen with cost as a primary consideration, so finding better parts for more money is pretty easy. For higher-end companies I'd bet it is a lot more difficult to find better parts than are used in the production units simply because cost is not as much of a factor. You don't see many people offering Levinson or Rowland mods do you?

I'd just like to add John Hillig (www.musicalconcepts.com) to the list of recommended modifiers. He's been in business for a long time (late 70s?) and works his magic on a broad range of brands. He modded my Pioneer 4l4 into something very special, both as a transport and a CD player.