ModWright Transporter

Stay tuned.. just dropped mine off there and will pick up modded unit probably Wednesday. I've had mine a month or so and I'll have a good perspective on the stock vs modded since I'll only be a couple days without it.

Well, I can say with complete confidence the Modwright is in a completely different league than the stock. I had the stock over a month before I had it modded. There was a 2 day turnaround dropping it off and picking it up, so I'm very familiar with the differences.

The stock is nice, but nothing special. Yes, it's really a great way to listen to music. I much preferred my Sony XA777ES, which was also modded by both Modwright and Richard Kern (parts only.. not tube stage). But I found myself preferring vinyl to the point that I was listening to records 90% of the time. The TP did have less of the digital glare, but tonally paled in comparison to the Sony. For me, there was still a fatigue factor I don't have with vinyl.

The modded is substantially better than stock. Tonally more resolving, better detail without the hard edges. More air around the instruments, which is what I really cherish in vinyl. Bass is well defined.. listening to Bill Evans Sunday at the Village Vanguard now. Instead of just throwing out all the usual audiophile phrases, I'll just say I feel a lot closer to the actual performance than ever before. This is very much like the best of vinyl.

I frankly can't imagine anyone hearing the stock vs Modwright preferring the stock.. no way, not even close. I could hear it the moment I fired it up. After about 2 hrs of warm up, seemed to really start revealing it's pedigree. I've only had it for a day now, and from past experience, I know the caps will need time to fully break in. I expect it to get even better. I won't be retiring my vinyl, but it won't be pulling double duty anymore. I'm even considering buying cd's again, which I haven't done the last couple of years.

I don't have any connection to Modwright other than living near him and being a repeat customer, in case anybody wonders.

Shazam.. I'm running it through my Modwright SWLP preamp. I may try it direct, but it would have to be quite a bit better to go through the hassle of switching since I'm spinning vinyl. But for the sake of the hobby, once it's broken in, I'll try it that way and let you know. That would sure simplify things if you only have one source.
Kck.. I totally understand your perspective. It wasn't an easy decision for me either even though I was familiar with Modwright's philosophy. My first foray was a simple parts upgrade on the XA777ES. I was very happy with that but stopped short of the full tube stage. Then when he came out with his first preamp, I was able to borrow it from a local dealer and audition it, comparing it to my Audible Illusions Modulas 3A, which I immediately bought. While I was confident I'd get a quality product again from them, this time it was more about salvaging a collection of music I'd built up for years. It just had lost appeal compared to vinyl.Budget wise, I came out about even after selling a few other things I wasn't using enough. Time will tell how much of my listening shifts back to the digital spectrum. At this point, overwhelming positive reaction.
While I agree in principal that what works for one won't necessarily work for another, quality issues are quantifiable. Meaning, I can say confidently that a Daiwoo/Sharp/Panasonic/whatever piece of crap will not be better or equal to the Modwright for anyone. It's not a matter of taste or system dependent components. While the stock Transporter is a quality product, it just can't compete in a qualitative sense. There's no area that I'd prefer the stock over the modded. It's not a simple tonal shift, or just more detail,etc, with other compromises. More like an overhaul. Personally, I put sources (CDP's, turntables) in a different category than cables, amps, speakers, tweaks, etc. You can say with some degree of confidence what will work. It's what follows that shape the sound, what's 'not limited to: budget, tastes, room, gear, WAF, hearing acuity, type of music preferred, type of presentation preferred, and so on' in our personal environments, as you said. I know it sounds dogmatic and opinionated. I really don't mean to be. I have bought things that really didn't work for me, and I don't presume my amps or speakers will work for everyone.. I know they won't and I hesitate to add them into the equation.
Anyway.. really good points, Kck.

I'm using flac. It's lossless and I can't tell a difference from cd's. Wav's are fine but take a lot more memory and can't accomodate song info and album art. I've read Apple's lossless is good too. Mp3's are a definite step down. I'm using this program from http://www.poikosoft.com/download.html (hope it's ok to post the link) It's really easy, and very worth the money for me just in time saved.

I just kept it at default. The amount of compression will vary the speed, which I set to 5. I just don't have the time to wait for higher compression but the file space saved is significant. I read a lot of people set compression to 8. Compression in this case is good. Doesn't affect sound, but does affect time it takes to rip. If it's at default, you'll see the speed go up and down, and on some slow way down and reread a section. I was able to rip a cd that I'd bought used but was never able to play in any of my various CDP's because it was so scratched up. Really surprised me.
I have the same version as you, and I don't think there's a way to get it to automatically rip. Also, if you want the album art, you have to ask for it.