Sony 9000es mods and break-in

Send it out for mods first, you will just have to reproduce the break-in time.

I don't think you need to have your amp on to break in your 9000es. Search old threads, there have been a few about this.

Jph1, if you're going to have your 9000ES modded, there's really no need to break it in before doing so--it'll need to break in again once the new parts are installed. I had the the full blown mods (about $1,900 worth) done to my unit by Dan Wright and I couldn't be happier. The audio is much improved in all three formats. The noise floor is incredibly low, allowing music to become much more involving.

You should contact Dan via his website to review the different level of mods he offers. He's very easy to deal with, but is quite busy at this time. As far as the time he will have the unit, he will work that out with you based on his work schedule. He'll get you on his list and let you know when to send the unit so that turn-around time is kept to a minimum.

My unit is absolutely amazing. My brother has a modified SA-14 AND an unmodified SCD-1 (which Dan will be working on soon), and he believes my 9000ES sounds as good or better than either one (and mine blows away his on DVD ;-)).

A few caveats: to fully realize the benefits of the 9000ES mods, you MUST have comparable quality equipment. Most importantly, you must have a very good preamp (I use a Placette Passive Linestage which is fantastic) as well as cables that don't get in the way of the music (I use Harmonic Tech cables exclusively). Finally, you need speakers that will truthfully reproduce the audio signal coming from the 9000ES (I use Spendor SP-1/2E's coupled with a pair of Velodyne ULD-15 Series II's).

My system is about as transparent as any I've heard, due in large part to the modded 9000. It sounds better as a stand-alone unit than when I was using my Classe' DAC-1 (which is a very nice DAC!).

I highly recommend that you have your 9000 modded by Dan. It'll give you the best of three worlds--all in one box.

Hope this helps. Scuba.

Thanks, Scuba
I am currently using an EVS passive preamp with Stealth M-7 cables through a LLano 200s amp into Thiel cs3.6. I certainly appreciate your comprehensive response, as well as the others. My mod budget will probably be limited to about 1k. Although I searched for info here and on audioasylum regarding break in, I was unable to definitively answer the question of whether the rest of the system needs to be on during break in. Since I have the passive, wouldn't it be the same if I left the amp off and set the passive to the lowest setting (0db), thereby shunting the entire signal to ground? I apologize, in advance if my question betrays a certain lack of knowledge regarding electronic theory. I am, after all primarily a right-brain, hedonistic kind of audiophile wannabe.
thanks, Phil

Jphl, You should be able to break in your unit using a repeat feature on your unit. Use a break-in-track on the purist audio CD, sheffield, reference etc. All that needs to be on is your CD player. Everything downstream only amplifies this signal and isn't needed to be on. Do connect the interconnects to your preamp from CD player however. The ideal way is to have at least your preamp on at the same time, non-muted with amps off. If you don't have a burn-in cd, put on a cd that has a broad range of signal frequency. While this may be bordering on audilphile witchcraft, I will share it with you. I have experienced using different musical discs and had that type of sound or tonal balance imprint on the music of other discs. I will clarify. If you want to tone down a harsh system use a very plush, mellow disc, preferably one with a good analog master (JVC XRCD's are good as are Chesky, Sheffield) and play them for 24 hours. The theory is that there is some atomic/electron realignment going on. Who knows, this may just be placebo working. 30% of people who receive a placebo medication report feeling better. I will not say this is not possible, but I have convinved myself on more than one occasion that the music became brighter or smoother/mellow depending on the disc I used for 24 hours on repeat. Also, many laugh at the notion that things need to be broken in at all. Hope this helps, Happy listening, Jallen