upgrade analog components in SACD players?

[csuzor]

I hear a lot of people are modifying the analog components on their CD or SACD players, to turn a mid-range player into a true HiFi player...
I have a simple Denon 2200, not reknown for high quality audio, so I am wondering if there are any guides / sites / experts on audio tuning, with information on what I could do to upgrade some components...
Thanks
Christophe

[georgev]

Check out the APL site in the states.
They do a range of modifications to a lot of Denon players. Bit pricey though.
Also Underwood hifi in the states.
You will get more info from their websites.
George.

[JonMarsh]

That only works if the analog components are the limiting factor in the player performance. In many instances, it's not the case. If the digital section has issues with signal integrety and jitter, no amout of gilding the sows ear will turn it into a silk purse.

Usually the engineering in these consumer products is pretty consistent- the low buck ones' use lower buck digital filter chips and lower buck D/A converters, and may not have the power supply bypassing and PCB layout and quality necessary to achieve good signal integrity (I've can't recall ever seeing a four layer board on a consumer player under $1K, but that kind of construction and attention to integrity IS used in standalone products like the Benchmark DAC1.

I would be careful about investing 1K in mods to a $1K player- but I've seen those kinds of offerings. My inclination would be to recommend either a more expensive player, or one which has a high enough quality of transport and digital electronics that it responds more notably to analog massaging (the early top of the line Sony SACD players come to mind, for mod worthy) (midrange Maranantz players currently offer good value if your'e into SACD and CD (think Marantz SA8260 (Stereophile Class A rated; ~ $1K) or Marantz SA-11 (wouldn't mind having one of these myself).















Just my 0.02.

[csuzor]

Well I got a reply from parts connexion, $699 for L/R or $999 for L/C/R, they propose quite a few changes, and claim a significant improvement in sound.
However, I am having 2nd thoughts, because this unit does not have audio delay compensation for SACD, and my center channel speaker is 40cm further than the other channels... there is a nice review where this type of misalignement is very audible, and compensating for it is necessary.
I might just have to wait for Rotel to release their SACD player, hopefully with all the right features and sound quality, otherwise I would then go elsewhere.
Thanks
Christophe