Replace HDD in Sony HAP Z1ES with an SSD

The HAP-Z1ES factory service manual can be downloaded from https://elektrotanya.com/sony_hap-z1es.pdf/download.html.  HDD removal procedure is detailed on page 15.

I completed SSD installation in about 20 minutes. Five screws to remove the HAP's top cover. The HDD is in the front R/H corner, mounted to a metal bracket with a cooling fan attached. Detach 2 connectors on the HDD and 1 on the cooling fan. Four screws detach the HDD mounting bracket from the main chassis, and the sub-assembly extracts easily. Four screws detach the HDD from the bracket.  SSD installation is this process reversed. Elsewhere in this thread and in service manual are instructions to format and factory reset the HAP. File transfer is faster when HAP is connected to network via cable instead of wi-fi. Drag-n-drop files to "HAP_Internal" directory is faster than using Sony's music transfer app. Also used app "freac" (www.freac.org) to rip CDs into *.wav format -- easy, fast, & free.

Just checked back in on this thread.  Thanks so much streborx2---this is exactly the info I was looking for.

Many, many thanks, Streborx2.  Got the job done with your helpful instructions, but I forgot to take photos as I did the 'operation.'  The HAP-Z1 works flawlessly, and I didn't even lose the sample music that came installed on the HDD (making me wonder: there must be some internal memory somewhere that can hold firmware + some music!). Anyway, I'm beginning the LONG project of ripping about 1300 CDs into FLAC files using DB Poweramp version 16.  So far, album art and cataloging have gone great; it's preselected settings make sense for classical music collectors, of which I am one.  So, multiple recordings of the same symphony, or collections spanning several discs, are no problem with default settings.  whew!

(ouch with grammar mistake: that should be "ITS preselected settings..."