Pioneer DV 05 Mods and Tweaks

I don't own any movies so I can't comment on improvements to video performance, but the audio performance on my DVD player (not a Pioneer) was improved immensely by the following. Take off the lid and fasten industrial floor tile (80 cents each at Home Depot-the heavy stuff-not peel and stick) to as much of the lid and sides as you can without blocking ventilation holes or interfering with parts of the player. Instead of adhesive, I used heavy duty outdoor carpet tape (two sided-black and very tacky-3M) to attach the tile. It was quick and easy. Also, change your power cord. If you have that weird 2 pin connection on the player, Harmonic Technology is now selling a 2 pin to male iec adapter (available for around $45) to allow any aftermarket cord with a female iec end to be used with the player. I use this with an ultra cheap power cord you can put together for about $20-$25. Do an online search for Volex and buy a Volex 17604 cord for about $7-$10. Then buy a quality Hubbell male end (about $8-$10) and a quality IEC (about $5)and cut off the molded male plug and iec on the Volex and replace with the quality ends. You now have a $20 power cord that will not be shamed by cords costing up to $200 or $300 (I own a Cardas Golden and a Blue Circle BC62). These two tweaks will make a very big improvement to audio and the guy who recommended the HT adapter told me video performance was greatly improved as well.

Thanks HDM for your reply, I am going to try both, I think I will go ahead and use a chasis mount male connector instead of the adapter from HT though, this should make for a stronger connection by going direct instead of through an adapter, at least I hope. Thanks again.

Rick: Forgot to mention in my first post, my player also responded very well to isolation-I use vibrapods and sandbag the top of the player-there are more sophisticated (and expensive) alternatives, but this type of isolation works well for me. I also switched the Blue Circle cord onto my player yesterday after hearing something I didn't really like with the Volex (which I switched to the line conditioner where the Blue Circle was). The Volex is definitely a great improvement over the stock cord and a great deal for $20-$25, but even with the HT adapter, it's clear to me the BC is on another level and my system sounds much better that way. If you go to the chassis mount, it's one less connection and should be even better-I'm not very handy and try not to tackle mods like that but if you feel comfortable, it's definitely the way to go. In any event, the power cord upgrade should work wonders for you. Regards.

I recently picked up a used DV-05 that I intend to modify. I found a couple of websites that you might find interesting. Rick Shultz's EVS Tweaked high-end audio (www.tweakaudio.com/index.html), avsforum.com ($8 and $200 DIY tweaks for DVD players), Alan M's website (www.community-2.webtv.net/audionutAK/DIYProjects), and Dan Wright's www.themorgue.com website for Pioneer 525 mods. Good Luck, Kurt These might be good places to start.

Thanks to all you guys for the suggestions so far. Rick