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DESIGN
NOTES
By
Steve Deckert
revised
2/4/04
When I
popped the lid off this player I was pleased with
what I found. Selling for around $250.00 I
doubt Sony is making much money on these (if any)
in an effort to promote the SACD format to the masses.
My
first concern was the transport and the fact that
this is a multi-disk player. Upon inspection,
I was no longer concerned. The transport design
appeals to me. The logic that operates it
is quick and to the point. The design of this
transport would be no different for a single drawer.
That said, this unit was a prime candidate
for an affordable SACD player that sounds like a
high dollar SACD player. I say that because
before I lifted the lid, the best I expected to
accomplish was an entry level audiophile
player after our modifications.
The
first player we offered with a tube output stage
was the little Pioneer DVD343. It was a nice
little player that after being modified sounded good
enough to demo our amplifiers with it - without
feeling cheated!
A
fair amount of R&D went into the Pioneer and
the results exceeded all expectations. When
I tried to install the same tube output stage into
this Sony player I found I liked the Pioneer better.
This was once again proof that every CD player
(or audio component) is unique. A circuit
designed for one is not going to be the answer for
all. And of course, there are no short cuts.
To
make a long story short, a fair amount of R&D
ended up going into the Sony too. No free
rides. Another original circuit was developed
especially and only for this player. Like
the Pioneer it has a 12AU7 dual triode output stage
with it's own dedicated power supply but that's
where the similarities end.
THE
MODS
A
stand alone tube output stage completely replaces
the original output stage. It is fed directly
off the DAC chip. No Op amps, or electrolytic's
in the signal path. The
output is high - around 3.5 volts ensuring that the
player has some serious slam when you listen to
it.
As
you can see this was done in the Zen tradition with
no circuit boards and point-to-point wired
for exceptional sound and reliability.
This
is a picture of the stock output section that
our tube stage replaces. I circled it.
The
tube is mounted on the rear along with new output
jacks. The original output stages are all
still functional on the original jacks.
RESULTS
Within
the first hour this player exceeded the fidelity of our
Modified Pioneer. Not likely that another
$700 player would sound this good, plus it plays
SACD. In fact after evaluating it on my Acoustats
in the reference room it became obvious that you
would have to spend a couple grand or more to get
close. On this world class vinyl rig that
I never listen to CD's on, I actually caught myself
starting to get excited when listening to a well
recorded SACD! Something I frankly thought would
never happen.
Anyway,
this modified player now falls into the DECWARE
standard of excellence for 2 channel playback and
most importantly I'm happy with it. Even though
they will come with a 30 day money back trial, I
don't expect to see many returned, it really is that
good.
Steve
Deckert
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