Philips 963SA normal characteristics?

I'd give it at least 200 hours before deciding. Mine sounded flat for the 1st 100. Then it opened up a bit but the bass got boomy. Around 200 hours the bass settled down.

The best thing this player has going for it stock is: detail, imaging, midrange clarity, powerful (though not tight) bass.

Weaknesses: high-end is AWOL, sound is dead-center neutral (ok if you like neutral, though I prefer warm). Also seems to be an annoying frequency peak in the lower treble (though this could be aggravated by my system, cabling).

Had mine modded by EVS. Made soundstage deep, wide, and tall. Sound is much smoother, quieter. Treble is very smooth, detailed. Cymbals sound more real than any digital source I've heard. Bass is cleaner.

But, it still retains some characteristics of stock player: still neutral, bass still isn't tight. But man is classical music nice on it; I can hear every musical line clearly.

Still, not sure if I'm 'there' yet.

Philips is Dutch, the 963 I have is made in Hungary. The sound is generally as you describe -- it gets better with time, as all others have noted.
OTOH, this player has a good DVD image and some very good components inside. It's a prime candidate for a good mod to the dac & the PS. Overall, for $~500-600 mod + ~400 for purchase, it's a very good deal.

thanks a lot for the responses, confirms my personal observation and enlightments me on a few other things.

1. Can someone help me out with the details on the $30 mod, the where and how. I think this is a mod I can do myself?

2. I bought this player used, so I think what I'm hearing right now is how thing are supposed to be. Radknee and gregm, I'm tempted to say that "neutral" is a euphemism for this thing. As an analogy, this is like a color TV that's been turned down halfway to black and white; just really low in saturation of tonal colors. Although you're right, it does have detail, midrange, openness...I'm not sure how well I can adjust to listening to near black and white music. My brother has fairly high end equipments (American: Audio Research, Adcom) and those sounds characteristically shallow and low in tonal saturation too. I'd sort of promise myself to stay away from that "neutral" kind of sound.

You know it goes back to the basic philosophy of high-fidelity: the attempt to reproduce real life instrument. Well, there's a guy who lives in my neighborhood who occasionally plays his saxophone in a nearby garden, and when I walked past him, I had to tell myself, man, this (real life) is really nice and warm, full bodied... that this is the reason why I like music.

3 So, for the sub $400 range, what would be a nice, warm player? I heard a used Rega Planet is a good buy at this range. With it being British made, I think it should be warm, yes?

The mod's about replacing the PS caps with blackgates. IMO, before you do anything, check out diyaudio.com on the 963 and/or contact Guido Tent -- an engineer who works for Philips & also devises mods (site). Cheers

The capacitor upgrade is a single capacitor that is easy to change if you can solder and unsolder.

Get a Blackgate VK 150uf/350V. I got mine from www.referenceaudiomods.com. Replace the only large cap on the power supply board. It's easy to find. Make sure you keep the polarity the same. It's not hard at all. You will need a torx screwdriver to get into the unit. Those are the 5 pointed ones.

I heard immediate improvement, though the cap took at least 100 hours to break in. Had much tighter, richer bass and a much more natural overall presentation. Like it didn't have to work so hard.