who does mods for the Sony SCD XA9000-ES?


Hello,
Has anybody had this player modded? By who, and how did it turn out?
Cheers.

Tom
tfkaudio
Well, this is the issue. You know what you have with the stock unit. Can the mod improve it and is the improvement worth the cost? How will you determine it? Unless you pay for the mod and retain a stock unit for comparison with the mod, it's a guess.

Kal (who is not denying the theoretical possibility that the mod is an improvement and a decent value)
I read the thread and it sounded like you had only looked on the site; didn't realize you had actually called them up.
The main challenge modifying that unit is limited real estate to add things like aftermarket clock PCB, discrete dc voltage regulators, or alternative 2-CH output stage. It's really packed inside. But worth a call to Kyle at RAM to see if he has tried.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Sources/Sony_SCD-XA-9000ES/Images/inside_large_2.jpg

BTW, if one were thinking about modding this unit, one of the first things would be to remove six silicon wafer AC rectifier bridges at lower left corner of image, and replace with custom Schottky bridges. Those $1 compromises in the critical power supply circuit are just one example of what afflicts consumer electronics independent of circuit design. The benefit/cost ratio of this replacement is much higher than any exotic power cord.