Modifiying CD players

[harv]

Recently purchased a Classe CDP, was pretty happy but have a couple issues with the way it sounds as time has progressed. My main gripe is the bass which I find too soft and a little over full. The other is the general lack of drive and impact.

A bit of a cross road... save a few hundred pounds and then sell/trade the Classe & buy an alternative to try or spend the money getting it modified.

My questions highlight my lack of knowledge of the subject

1) How does it all cost? (I realise its a sliding scale but roughly)

2) Is it cost effective?

3) Can you focus on certain parts to improve one aspect of the sound?

4) Can it be done in stages?

5) What sort of improvements should I expect?

6) Do all CDP's respond in the same way? (could I get a shanling

and achieve the same results)

7) How long does it take?

8) General experiences and comments?

Cheers:^

 

[RobHolt]

In my experience, improving the clock of the player with something like the Trichord or PFM Flea units will improve timing and resolution. You notice less background hash and a reduction in the dreaded digital hardness and glare.

Improving the power supply with a better transformer, better regulation and better PSU caps tends to firm up the sound making everything tighter and better defined. Bass articulation benefits greatly from a well sorted PSU - that's why Naim CD players with their typically overspecified and multiple regulated PSUs givetheir trademark drive and pace in the bass IMO.

Naturally there is a degree of cross over but those are my experiences.

 

[meninblack]

Mr Coherent (Tony) is the chap to talk to - I believe he's just done a Classe.

 

[harv]

meninblack wrote:

Mr Coherent (Tony) is the chap to talk to - I believe he's just done a Classe.

Yeah he mentioned itin another thread. He didn't say who though. I'm sure Mr C will contribute and hopefully the Classe owner too.

Hasn't Earl modded his MF player too?

 

[ErikFH]

RobHolt wrote:

In my experience, improving the clock of the player with something like the Trichord or PFM Flea units will improve timing and resolution. You notice less background hash and a reduction in the dreaded digital hardness and glare.Improving the power supply with a better transformer, better regulation and better PSU caps tends to firm up the sound making everything tighter and better defined. Bass articulation benefits greatly from a well sorted PSU....

 

[notaclue]

Of course, bear in mind that resale value will be lowered if you start modding.

I would first compare it to another CD player to make sure it is the CD player that is causing the bass problem you describe.

Is it possible to tweak a CD player to improve bass tightness? Hmmm. A controversial one. Some will no doubt say yes and it will save you buying a nw CD, others will no doubt say no and you will be wasting your money.

 

[Anthony]

notaclue wrote:

Of course, bear in mind that resale value will be lowered if you start modding.

agree, that was going to be my contribution to this thread. you could end up spending e.g. £300 and knocking down the resale value at the same time, and then realise that you still don't like it and want to sell.

maybe you should only mod if you like the overall sound but want more of the same. don't know though, have never gone down this route myself so just ignore me.

 

[Jasper]

notaclue wrote:

Of course, bear in mind that resale value will be lowered if you start modding.

I would say that might depend on to whom you sold it. Someone who appreciated the mods might pay more than for a "standard" model, but I suspect that you're unlikely to get back what you've paid out in mods when it comes to time to sell.

 

[RobHolt]

Jasper wrote:

notaclue wrote:

Of course, bear in mind that resale value will be lowered if you start modding.

I would say that might depend on to whom you sold it. Someone who appreciated the mods might pay more than for a "standard" model, but I suspect that you're unlikely to get back what you've paid out in mods when it comes to time to sell.

Agreed. I did some serious re-work to a Naim CD5i and sold it on for more than it cost

If the work is done to a high standard, you are honest when describing the item, include lots of pics and target your market you can do well with the sale.

 

[harv]

If I do get cdp modded I'd plan on keeping it for a while... the way I look at the time and money spent trying different spinners. Especially as I've tended to buy 2nd hand isn't much less then sticking with one and having it modded. I'd like to think that once I reach a point where I'm happy with the way its sounds then I'll stop box swapping :shock:and buy cds.

The way I'm looking at it, if its not the CDP then a change of amp or speakers is next... but I want to try 1 more CDP, especially as I think an amp or speaker change will be way more expensive...

 

[dudywoxer]

Sorry if this is bit forthright, but why but a copland if you don't like the sound, and then have it modded to sound like something else.

If the CDP spinner was a s/hand purchase then would it be better to sell it on- probably at around what you paid for it, and add the cost of modding to that and look around at other spinners, as i doubt if you could recover the cost of the mods if it still missed the sound that you are looking for. People looking for a copland, are after all looking for the sound you want to change.

 

[harv]

Its a Classe

It was bought 2nd hand, I'm just considering my options, I've seen some people who have been more then happy with modded players. I don't really know very much about it hence the thread... I'm reasonably happy with the Classe (smoothness of the treble and mid range) its just the bass that I'm unhappy with. If that can be improved by modding at a small cost then great, if its tons of cash then a trade or replace spinner will the be route. Just trying to find out more about it.

 

[earl of sodbury]

I would only consider modding if the CDP is already sounding pretty much as you would like to live with for a long time, and you simply want to extract more of what it already does.

I had my MF X-RayV3modded by Coherent systems - reclocked and comprehensive PSU and digital signal path upgrade: result a big step-up in overall performance, and I got the benfit of years and years of experience in the field, a warranty and the fact that professionally executed work of this kind will certainly not degrade the units value. Cost was about £400 and I consider it a bargain: I could never have achieved the same result by upgradingmy CDP to another with same amount of money.

You can undertake this work yourself if you are careful, meticulous, prepared to do a lot of background research, can deal with the occasional frustratingly intractable problem and are willing to keep the kit for some years. It can still be expensive - and the more expensive the base unit the more you will have to spend on components to upgrade it. With all that in mind, it's a Very rewarding and empowering thing to do.

churz, eofs

 

[harv]

earl of sodbury wrote:

I would only consider modding if the CDP is already sounding pretty much as you would like to live with for a long time, and you simply want to extract more of what it already does.I had my MF X-RayV3modded by Coherent systems - reclocked and comprehensive PSU and digital signal path upgrade: result a big step-up in overall performance, and I got the benfit of years and years of experience in the field, a warranty and the fact that professionally executed work of this kind will certainly not degrade the units value. Cost was about £400 and I consider it a bargain: I could never have achieved the same result by upgradingmy CDP to another with same amount of money.

You can undertake this work yourself if you are careful, meticulous, prepared to do a lot of background research, can deal with the occasional frustratingly intractable problem and are willing to keep the kit for some years. It can still be expensive - and the more expensive the base unit the more you will have to spend on components to upgrade it. With all that in mind, it's a Very rewarding and empowering thing to do.

churz, eofs

Would never do it myself... not equipped with the right skills... Earl was it all done in one go and how long did it take ?

 

[Davewhityetagain]

RobHolt wrote:

Jasper wrote:

notaclue wrote:

Of course, bear in mind that resale value will be lowered if you start modding.

I would say that might depend on to whom you sold it. Someone who appreciated the mods might pay more than for a "standard" model, but I suspect that you're unlikely to get back what you've paid out in mods when it comes to time to sell.

Agreed. I did some serious re-work to a Naim CD5i and sold it on for more than it cost

If the work is done to a high standard, you are honest when describing the item, include lots of pics and target your market you can do well with the sale.

Is your handy work this ?

if not what did you do interested

 

[earl of sodbury]

harv wrote:

Earl was it all done in one go and how long did it take ?

The CDP mods plus complete rebuild of my speaker crossovers involved Tony having them with him for about a week. The mods reflected the fact that I was using the player as a transport only, so there was no work on the analogue output - that would presumably take a little longer and cost more.

I had all the work done in one fell swoop, butit can be undertaken in stages,though you've then got the cost and risk of courier/post. And in the interest of fairness there are other modifers out there - Trichord will do the clock mods for instance, if you happen to choose their clock.But there are none I happen to know who I would personally trust to do as good a job at as fair a price nor who understood what I wanted better than I did! Follow-up is first rate too, and Coherent's rep makes the stuff salable ifI change kit in the future.

Blimey, I should be on a retainer!

 

[alex]

harv wrote:

Recently purchased a Classe CDP, was pretty happy but have a couple issues with the way it sounds as time has progressed. My main gripe is the bass which I find too soft and a little over full. The other is the general lack of drive and impact. A bit of a cross road... save a few hundred pounds and then sell/trade the Classe & buy an alternative to try or spend the money getting it modified.

My questions highlight my lack of knowledge of the subject

1) How does it all cost? (I realise its a sliding scale but roughly)

2) Is it cost effective?

3) Can you focus on certain parts to improve one aspect of the sound?

4) Can it be done in stages?

5) What sort of improvements should I expect?

6) Do all CDP's respond in the same way? (could I get a shanling

and achieve the same results)

7) How long does it take?

8) General experiences and comments?

Cheers:^

hi harv, it's my classe player tony modified, cost is on a sliding scale depending on how much you can afford, contact tony and he will advise you on the best way forward. it cost me £320 for what i consider to be a very worthwhile upgrade, the player will be going back for the next stage very shortly i can't say more than that. tony is a very good guy to deal with and will awnser all your questions honestly. alex.

 

[RobHolt]

earl of sodbury wrote:

harv wrote:

Earl was it all done in one go and how long did it take ?

The CDP mods plus complete rebuild of my speaker crossovers involved Tony having them with him for about a week. The mods reflected the fact that I was using the player as a transport only, so there was no work on the analogue output - that would presumably take a little longer and cost more.

I had all the work done in one fell swoop, butit can be undertaken in stages,though you've then got the cost and risk of courier/post. And in the interest of fairness there are other modifers out there - Trichord will do the clock mods for instance, if you happen to choose their clock.But there are none I happen to know who I would personally trust to do as good a job at as fair a price nor who understood what I wanted better than I did! Follow-up is first rate too, and Coherent's rep makes the stuff salable ifI change kit in the future.

Blimey, I should be on a retainer!

Yes, that's my handywork - additional transformer for the analogue circuits + a pair of ALW Srper Regs added (top left):

 

[Davewhityetagain]

RobHolt wrote:

earl of sodbury wrote:

harv wrote:

Earl was it all done in one go and how long did it take ?

The CDP mods plus complete rebuild of my speaker crossovers involved Tony having them with him for about a week. The mods reflected the fact that I was using the player as a transport only, so there was no work on the analogue output - that would presumably take a little longer and cost more.

I had all the work done in one fell swoop, butit can be undertaken in stages,though you've then got the cost and risk of courier/post. And in the interest of fairness there are other modifers out there - Trichord will do the clock mods for instance, if you happen to choose their clock.But there are none I happen to know who I would personally trust to do as good a job at as fair a price nor who understood what I wanted better than I did! Follow-up is first rate too, and Coherent's rep makes the stuff salable ifI change kit in the future.

Blimey, I should be on a retainer!

Yes, that's my handywork - additional transformer for the analogue circuits + a pair of ALW Srper Regs added (top left):

Very nice whats the total cost of that then ?