Are the Denons the Best Universals to Mod?


Hello,
I have been reading alot about all these places that do mods to the Denon DVD-2900, DVD-3910, etc.
I was just wondering if the Denon universal disc players are the preferred players to mod compared to others such as Pioneer, Marantz, Onkyo, etc?
If so, what are the reasons these units are generally preferred over the others for modifications?
After the mods, is the Redbook CD performance as good as the high dollar dedicated CD players?
Is the SACD performance as good as the best dedicated SACD players?
Thanks in advance!
daltonlanny
Tvad,

I agree with you that there is no clear "best." What we need to understand better is what trade-offs the designers made or, more appropriately, how they chose to voice their mods.

I am now getting the impression that the APL and Exemplar are voiced to be "accurate" while the Modwright tends on the side of being "warm" and "lush". Assuming both convey similar levels of musical detail and don't commit obvious sins (like boomy/flabby bass, to pick a random example) then it becomes a matter of choosing the modded player that suits your tastes and systems. This is why these head to head comparisons are so useful.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Exemplar vs APL vs Modwright listening session! I only wish someone out there had a current version of the Reference Audio Mod of the Denon 2900!

Thanks,

- Jay
The Denons seem extremely popular to mod! More than most other players it seems!
Would this be because they use very high grade Burr-Brown DAC's, or do they have extra space on the inside for mods, or both, or is it because of other reasons?
Some insight would be great.
Thanks again.
If you don't want DVD audio capability, the ModWright Signature Truth-modded Sony 999ES is both visually and musically fabulous. I am very happy with mine. It's scary close to my big rig front end which includes an Audio Note DAC4.1x Signature at way more dollars...
Tvad, EVS is also interested in modding the Onkyo, but the thing is, Onkyo sp 1000 owners are in no hurry to have the universal modded as it sounds musical and balanced in stock form.
Suprisingly so imo.

Greg