Can better parts.....


Can better parts really translate into better sound quality? Thinking of having my Arcam FMJ23T modded by a respected modder, to include master clock, resistors, op amp, power supply, RCA connectors, etc and possibly the addition of a tube stage. Can I really expect an improvement in sound quality?
rockyboy
If you know what you are doing, and correctly replace specific parts with other "Higher quality" equivalent parts electronically (like a capacitor of equivalent specification), I would expect only positive results. That's always how good things might become even better.

The question will always be how much and is the investment a good one.

That's not always a question that is easily answered, but if one can answer it with confidence, and not put things at risk otherwise, for example by voiding a manufacturer's warranty in the process, have at it.

When one party modifies another's device, that always leads to questions regarding whose problem it is if something goes wrong. ie who ends up paying to get things fixed.

Then there is always the resale value aspect of things as mentioned. Modified devices can be hard to categorize and resale value can be nebulous and even negatively affected accordingly compared to more "known quantity" type items.

Personally, I shy away from buying most anything that has been modified by a third party used, especially if pricey. I prefer to invest in more known quantities that have been positively received by many. In other words, the maker got it right for my purposes right out of the box.

I'm not saying don't do it, rather just be aware of what one might be getting into before pulling the trigger, especially with a third party mod as opposed to doing it yourself and knowing what you are doing.
You can generally get improvements upgrading series signal coupling caps, like VCaps or Dueland. Other caps like powr decoupling may be hit and miss or have little effect unless you know what you are doing. Having modded lots of components over the last 13 years, I have reverse-engineered many of them. Sometimes this is what it takes to get significant improvements. Another thing you can do is replace the bass inductor in the speaker crossover with a good air-core ribbon inductor like the Jensen.

Modders that can rverse-engineer a component and do the right mods with good rework quality are scarce. Pne good thing about usingma modder is they have done the footwork of identifyingmthe best part to use in a given situation.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Yes better/different parts will change the sound. But parts swapping is not the only answer. Adding a filter choke to lower ac noise or making changes that use a more direct route can have offer better sonic improvements versus just part swapping. Simply resistor changes can make improvement at a much reduced cost. Experimenting with part swapping can get expensive especially the higher priced capacitors. You may get different sound but how much better will it be for the price? All caps have a sound and none of the ones that I have tried are perfect, I seem to always give up something.

Happy Listening.