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Mods - Odds and Sods???

Hello.

As we all know, here on Audiogon, there has been an increasing number of "modded" components being offered. However, I am wondering about the effectiveness of these mods. Are we often paying more money for equipment that has been modded, but not EFFECTIVELY modded?

I think the trap is to assume that just because something has been modded, it has been improved. Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!

I will not get into the details here yet, because I would like to see how others feel about it.

I will say that I have experience with a product that I have seen an advertisement for, modded. I can tell you that the component has a design flaw from the factory SO egregious that my friend who modded one for himself to correct the situation, feels it had to be intentional. Now, I don't believe that, I don't think a manufacturer would "mess up" a product just so it doesn't outshine their more expensive ones. But, the modded product did not address the issue. In fact, the mod they performed costs much more and is FAR less effective than the mod my friend performed(which happens to be free, outside of the labor involved). And, that is the most telling thing. In my opinion, anyone who performs mods without correcting this problem is not someone I would want to give my money to.

And, I ask, are we now to the point that we are willing to shell out more of our hard earned money for products which do not live up to their hype?
trelja

Showing 2 responses by sean

sean
6,231 posts
 
There is a difference between modifiers and parts swappers. Some of these "tweak guru's" simply swap existing parts whereas others modify ( add / remove ) existing circuitry and upgrade the parts that remain. Some are capable of designing / building / voicing their own circuit and others have to send mass produced units out for repair as needed.

As far as manufacturer's go and "sabotaging" their units, they do it all the time. It is not to ensure that their more expensive units sound better so much as it is poor engineering. This is exactly why many cheaper units can be made to sound just as good or even better than their more expensive units. Most units share the same building blocks, they just impliment those building blocks in a different manner. Sean
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sean
6,231 posts
 
Joe: I went through an identical situation with some of my equipment. That is, i opened up a pair of large high bias monoblocks ( 250 / 500 / 800 wpc ) and found signal cables bundled together with power cables. Needless to say, i started re-arranging things and ended up with over four feet of wire being pulled out of each amp. Not only was the signal path WAY shorter, the whole installation was MUCH cleaner too. The funny thing is that the entire audio path was wired with Cardas cabling from the factory, which meant that the manufacturer was throwing money away by using such a backwards approach to assembly.

I think that if more people knew how poorly their gear was designed and assembled, there would be a lot fewer "audiophile approved" companies in business. Like i said, it's not "sabotage" so much as "idiocy" and lack of engineering / understanding. Sean
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