It won't affect your hearing and; that's all that matters. Happy listening!
Alert, Warning, and Caution about Modified Components
This information has previously been provided to the group under a previous, pre-existing thread and is beyond dispute, argumentation, or refutation however the thread was deleted because of improper, abusive, antagonistic behavior by one of the participants which while it was a correct, justified, and measured response by the moderators it had the unfortunate, unintended, unnecessary consequence, result, and effect of removing this information that will be of value to some although of course many of the knowledgeable experts here will already know this.
There are some dealers who sell new equipment that they have modified, altered, or customized by some method, fashion, or design and I am not talking hear about professionals who are often degreed engineers who are fully educated, skilled, and qualified to make such alterations to components intended for use in a Music Reproduction System. I am talking about dealers some of which are actually "part time" as can be shown by they're store hours and these retailers, merchandisers, and salesman do not have the prerequisite qualifications to perform this type of work. Without expressing any opinion, judgement, or assessment of these "modifications" I offer to the group these agreed upon details of which those considering such action should be consciuous:
1.) Any modification of an electrical component carries with it a potential hazard of fire and/or electrical shock and as such can be lethal and this risk should be considered against the potential value of any "improvement" promised as a result of the modification.
2.) Any modification is certain to render invalid, void, and unenforceable any manufacturer's guarantee, warrantee, promise, or assurance regarding safety, reliability, and performance of the equipment subjected to the alteration.
3.) Because of as stated in item 2 above, the manufacturer of such modified equipment is certain to decline, refuse, and reject any request to service, repair, or even inspect such a unit that has been altered contrary to or in in conflict or defiance of it's original design.
4.) Because the altered unit is now something unique unto itself and familiar only with the person who did the modification it is likely if not certain that no one will be willing to service or repair the unit other than the modifyer himself which as we know may be fully unqualified to perform any such work.
5.) You should also be cynical, suspicous and doubtful of anyone who asserts, insists, or represents in any way that his modified component is superior in performance, specification, or result from a factory original unit which has been fully tested and verified before even entering into production.
I will add to these facts that those who are unqualified to make such expensive modifications refuse to provide specific information, detail, and explanation of the work that they perform while those who are expert, qualified, and capable to do such work will explain the exact work that they perform.
This thread is limited, restricted, and reserved for discussion of equipment component modification and off topic response will be reported to the appropriate Audiogon authorities for deletion.
There are some dealers who sell new equipment that they have modified, altered, or customized by some method, fashion, or design and I am not talking hear about professionals who are often degreed engineers who are fully educated, skilled, and qualified to make such alterations to components intended for use in a Music Reproduction System. I am talking about dealers some of which are actually "part time" as can be shown by they're store hours and these retailers, merchandisers, and salesman do not have the prerequisite qualifications to perform this type of work. Without expressing any opinion, judgement, or assessment of these "modifications" I offer to the group these agreed upon details of which those considering such action should be consciuous:
1.) Any modification of an electrical component carries with it a potential hazard of fire and/or electrical shock and as such can be lethal and this risk should be considered against the potential value of any "improvement" promised as a result of the modification.
2.) Any modification is certain to render invalid, void, and unenforceable any manufacturer's guarantee, warrantee, promise, or assurance regarding safety, reliability, and performance of the equipment subjected to the alteration.
3.) Because of as stated in item 2 above, the manufacturer of such modified equipment is certain to decline, refuse, and reject any request to service, repair, or even inspect such a unit that has been altered contrary to or in in conflict or defiance of it's original design.
4.) Because the altered unit is now something unique unto itself and familiar only with the person who did the modification it is likely if not certain that no one will be willing to service or repair the unit other than the modifyer himself which as we know may be fully unqualified to perform any such work.
5.) You should also be cynical, suspicous and doubtful of anyone who asserts, insists, or represents in any way that his modified component is superior in performance, specification, or result from a factory original unit which has been fully tested and verified before even entering into production.
I will add to these facts that those who are unqualified to make such expensive modifications refuse to provide specific information, detail, and explanation of the work that they perform while those who are expert, qualified, and capable to do such work will explain the exact work that they perform.
This thread is limited, restricted, and reserved for discussion of equipment component modification and off topic response will be reported to the appropriate Audiogon authorities for deletion.
91 responses Add your response
My $0.02... 1) If something is half-decent, why modify it? 2) If something isn't half-decent, then why spending $$$$$$ to modify it? It's like spending $50k to model a kitchen inside a house with termite issue. 3) Audiophile 101: There is no cheap lunch. Giant Killer = Giant Sucker. Case studies: Any Oppo, Counterpoint, Sony CD/DVD player; most Modwrights. Of course, an $2000 premium mod on something is relatively a bargain, when comparing to the $10000 power cord that some obsolete manufacturer comes up with. But then again, in our age, when most of us moan about $14.95 Netflex monthly membership, $2000 is crap load of money to donate without tax deduction! (In case you don't know: $2000 is like 11+ years of Netflix membership) |
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bo1972, "When you have done thousands of test in over 20 years of time, you know what is possible and what is not."No doubt that there are patterns in everything. However, implying foolishness in someone who has actually done something, while you watch the pictures, seems a bit odd. A little restraint may be much wiser approach. If it is so predictable from pictures, why did you need thousands of tests and a couple of decades to get it right? Maybe, if you have another decade to spare, you would find out that some of those pictures were right. Maybe they are simply a decade ahead of you. |
Hahahaha......yeah right. People have no idea how the acoustic influences the sound, but also the stage. They choose placements what influences both sound and stage negatively. They do not understand how low, mid and high frequencies response on sound and stage. For placement subwoofers, they make similar mistakes due to the unknown. First, you need to understand the working of low frequencies. But the photos prove that most have no idea. When you have done thousands of test in over 20 years of time, you know what is possible and what is not. |
bo1972, "The photos show how little they all know. They have no idea what they do wrong, due to the fact that they never tested it."How do you know it is wrong? How do you know how it sounds based on the picture? The person who placed it on that picture actually tested it and is likely even using it. You only saw the picture. There is something wrong with that approach. |
I will never share details because you want them to stay as limited as possible. I can give you a few examples: - the most time and effort I spend on the influences of the acoustic in the last 9 years. When you see the photos of Facebook and the internet it proves how limited they all know about the placement of loudspeakers and audio components. I tested many different positions of loudspeakers and components. And also about audio furniture. The photos show how little they all know. They have no idea what they do wrong, due to the fact that they never tested it. - Almost all produced audio products cannot reveal all the aspects of sound. When I see them using brands and products who are incomplete again it shows their limitation in the choices they made. - They all have done very little regarding electro-smog, high-frequent noise and magnetism. Most brands in cables cannot reveal all aspects of sound. They use these brands and products all the time. I have done thousands of tests of products. Most are useless, but others still use these products. Next week the High-End show in Munich will start again. They can better change the time in Hi-Fi stereo show Munich. Over 90% is 2-dimensional and even miss more aspects of sound. These are 100% facts. You only can use the word High-End when your system can reveal all the aspects of sound. It all other options it is just a hi-fi stereo system. Based on the fact that audio is not using parameters, it is a Wild West world. People like to be fooled, they will easily believe that a product is high-end when a person says it is. |
Audio is done by a shootout. So you can compare a standard version vs a modified version. But.....we go a lot further. First, we send new clients to shops to listen to the normal version. And we let them hear the normal version first as well. So they already understand that even with a normal version we can get a much higher result out of it. Audio for us is like a competition, it is all about overruling and outperforming. Selling just a box can be done by children as well. I will repeat it again, we work together with different specialists all the time. Beside modification, the whole audio world loses even more regarding; the acoustics, electro-smog, high-frequency noise, and magnetism. The photos of all systems on Facebook and the internet show the same limitations over and over again. The sleepers think and even believe that they can understand audio just by trial&error. It proves how easy it is to make people believe whatever you want them to believe. When people are not able to face the truth, they limit themselves over and over again. And the crying and weeping will start again. And they will make it personal again. And they all forget the truth. People prove themselves how inferior and limited they all are. It is so predictable, they all forget the essential part of audio. |
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Well,, that’s not really true either. Mods encompass a wide range of things, from power supply mods to Super Clocks to RFI/EMI filters to aftermarket fuses to WA Quantum Chips to damping the chassis, damping the transport mechanism, damping the transformer, shielding the transformers with low frequency high permeability alloy, isolating the circuit boards, and a great many other things. |
Gentleman, Clearthink's point is not directed at the specific class of modifiers who generally subtitute one higher quality part for another. The modifications done by the person in question is more of a redesign, by adding a new board that may or may not improve the performance of the older series streamers. Clearthink is raising a very valid point that modifications of certain products as done by this particular modifier may not be the most intelligent way of upgrading a product and could be dangerous in terms of fire hazard or may effect the long term reliablity of the unit. |
I object, dissent and protest the recent, current, and ongoing departure, change, and divergence this thread, subject, and post is, has and might take away from three, triple, and tri-dundant locutions to this new, current and present habit, tendency or mode of poetic, rapthetic or consonantic whatever. We should all support, honor and follow the original, early and first subject, whatever that was, might have or could have been, if we can ever figure, divine or conjure that out, and not let, allow or permit it to go off topic, subject, or you know, whatever. |
Here is my cautionary tale on modifications. I bought a Denon 3520 CD player years ago. A friend offered to modify/update everything under the hood for $350. It made sense, so I agreed. After modification, it sounded wonderful. A couple months later, the laser failed. If I could find one, a new laser (plus installation) would cost more than than the unit would ever be worth, so now it is simply an expensive doorstop. Lesson learned. I’m not saying mods are a mistake but once you make (and pay for) them, you have a higher cost basis and you have to hope nothing fails because buyers are skeptical about buying modded gear. |
The Big Secret nobody wants you to know about. The big secret - problems caused by the stray laser light AND the fluttering and vibratory nature of the CD. The degradation to the sound can never NEVER be restored no matter what you do upstream of the CD because the degradation occurs right when the laser reads the data. No matter how expensive, elaborate or hi tech the amps, DAC, preamp, the cables, speakers, room treatment, the sound will ALWAYS be in a degraded state relative to what’s on the disc. It’s as if a ton of information is MIA. And it can’t be recovered no matter what you do upstream. It doesn’t magically heal itself. There’s a whole lot you haven’t been hearing, folks. Sorry to be the bearer of bad Gnus. 🐂 🐂 🐂 Someone asked Bob Dylan how come his latest few CDs didn’t sound very good. He replied, well, they sounded good when we were playing them. An ordinary man has no means of deliverance. |
Here’s something else(downloadable PDF), from those two, that some may find interesting/informative, on choosing capacitors for your projects: https://vdocuments.net/picking-capacitors.html One CAN largely change/improve the DNA(sound and staging) of the typical electronic component, with the judicious application of high(er) quality parts. |
The limitation of products can be found in the DNA of it. Sound and stage prove that most audio products cannot reveal all the aspects of sound. Even a modification cannot add the missing aspects of sound what a product cannot reveal. You only can improve those aspects/properties each individual product already owns. Ask people who create and manufacture audio products about the aspects/properties of sound? And aks them which aspects influence sound and stage. And what their limitations are on the sound and stage. Then you will understand why so many products are still incomplete regarding aspects/properties of sound which are missing. Use real instruments and voices and compare them with audio products. The sound and stage will prove how different they all sound compared to the real world. |
Here’s a great resource, for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge, regarding this most enjoyable facet of the audio electronics hobby: https://www.powells.com/book/audio-electronics-the-pooge-chronicles-9781882580149 It’s dated, and may be hard to find, but still very informative and worth the search. Anyone that’s had an audio addiction for very long, should recognize the names, Walt Jung and Richard Marsh(the primary contributors). |
The thing I don’t understand is why some people over here make it so personal all the time. And put the focus on a person instead of the reply of a person. People are often a lot different compared to each other. Just let them be who they are. For me, audio is like a competition and being superior to the rest. Other companies have the same changes as we have. And they need to show that they can create the same quality or even a better level. I don’t believe in compromises. Limitations are only for the born losers in this world. We feel very responsible for all our clients. It is our task and goal to give them a superior level in quality no other company can achieve and create. This is a choice we make because it is the only way we can do our job. Why you would want to do something that is the same level or even less than other ones do. It doesn’t make sense at all. Selling a box can even be done by a child. Like trial&error is doing audio at the level of a child. These days people do most things without any kind of foundation. When you are still not aware that audio by trial&error is pure gambling, your system will always be limited. It can never reveal all the aspects of sound. People need to learn what sound is and on which parts it is being built. And which aspects influence sound and stage negatively. |
I owned the World’s Most Extensively Modded OPPO 103 several years ago. I’m not interested too much what others do or don’t do. I broke the OPPO warranty the very first day. There was so much stuff in there at the end the cover would no longer fit. The OPPOMODS Linear PS, Audio Magic, PWB, WA Quantum Chips, Machina Dynamica, etc. I’m pretty sure I broke a whole bunch of electrical codes in the process, who the hell knows? No, I don’t want to come over and see how good your unmodified, untreated system sounds. |
Everyone has the right to have his own opinion, even clearthink. Even if we are not friends. It doesn’t matter at all. Let him say whatever he wants to say. We live in a free world. I said it many times; audio will always be chosen by what people prefer and love most. I speak the owner of AudioService about 3 times each week. He owns the biggest company in technical support in audio in the Benelux. (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) He does the technical support for: -Lumin, Pass Labs, Mark Levinson, Marantz, Accuphase, Anthem, Arcam, Quad, Avalon, Chord, Classe, DCS, Denon, Esoteric, Onkyo, TEAC, JL Audio, Hegel, Luxman, Meridian, McIntosh, Moon, NAD, Primare, Paradigm, Parasound, Spectral, T+A, Theta, Velodyne and many more. All manufacturers have one thing in common according to AudioService, they use cheaper parts after time goes on. We talk a lot about the parts these brands use. The audio market is a decreasing market. This is why they all use cheaper parts these days. This makes it for us so easy to do modifications. The results prove the effectiveness of it. AudioService does also different modifications for us. And this year we will make all our modifications free for all brands. We always work with different specialists who have a lot of experiences with audio and also modifications. We share a lot of ideas with different specialists. We will make soon many professional videos of our clients. We will let them speak of their own experiences with Tru-Fi and our modifications. |
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