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buying modified hi-fi: pros and cons?
Sounds reasonable to me... you can open it up and see if the innards
look clean where the mods were done. Quite often the parts used in otherwise reasonably well designed commercial equipment can be improved upon... _-_-bear razak wrote: What are the pros and cons of buying a modified amplifier? I'm about to acquire a "second edition" Cyrus One integrated amp that has been extensively modified by an owner who has extensive knowledge of electronics. His description of the modifications made are as follows: "Volume control make is Bourn, a lot better than than the original carbon type (made by ALPS). RCA connecters are gold plated (one pair), silver wiring for all inputs. At least six capacitors are bypassed by Phillips Polypropylene Capacitors for faster, wider sound. Another 6-8 capacitors changed to Philips too. Headphone stage is disabled to simplify the circuit and reduce unnecessary noise. Uses the latest super fast recovery diodes. All the modifications were done over the past two years (stage by stage), so there is no need to worry about reliability, lifespan or sound deterioration." According to a review in the Absolute Sound, the Cyrus One excels in detail retrieval, and I wonder if modifying the amp will improve this trait, or change it completely? I've not heard the Cyrus One in its original guise, so I won't be able to make any comparisons. On the other hand, if you wanted to modify any hi-fi hardware, you'd do it to make it sound better, wouldn't you? |
#2
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buying modified hi-fi: pros and cons?
razak wrote:
What are the pros and cons of buying a modified amplifier? I'm about to acquire a "second edition" Cyrus One integrated amp that has been extensively modified by an owner who has extensive knowledge of electronics. His description of the modifications made are as follows: "Volume control make is Bourn, a lot better than than the original carbon type (made by ALPS). RCA connecters are gold plated (one pair), silver wiring for all inputs. At least six capacitors are bypassed by Phillips Polypropylene Capacitors for faster, wider sound. Another 6-8 capacitors changed to Philips too. Headphone stage is disabled to simplify the circuit and reduce unnecessary noise. Uses the latest super fast recovery diodes. All the modifications were done over the past two years (stage by stage), so there is no need to worry about reliability, lifespan or sound deterioration." According to a review in the Absolute Sound, the Cyrus One excels in detail retrieval, and I wonder if modifying the amp will improve this trait, or change it completely? I've not heard the Cyrus One in its original guise, so I won't be able to make any comparisons. On the other hand, if you wanted to modify any hi-fi hardware, you'd do it to make it sound better, wouldn't you? Most of those modifications sound like they would, theoretically at least, improve the sound. If the actual capacitances in the circuit were altered by bypassing and especially by substitution of the Philips capacitors, it is possible, though not very likely, that they could cause some resonances or interactions that would not be immediately apparent without some complex circuit analysis. If the new capacitors are more microphonic or inductive than the originals, this could be a problem, too. The volume control (if the same resistance value is maintained) and connector/wiring improvements would most certainly be positive changes. This all does depend on the quality of the work, though. Substitution of different capacitors which are larger than the originals, by connecting them with long lead wires and putting them somewhere else where space can be found, is undesirable. Hanging them loosely from lead wires is even worse. I once opened up a preamplifier which had been so "modified" and found expensive, high-quality Conrad-Johnson capacitors replacing the much smaller originals; but they had been wired in with some weird "magic wire" and, because the C-J capacitors did not fit, they were just laid on top of the other board components and glued into place with silicone, without regard for what those capacitors might have been coupling with on the circuitry below them. Somebody must have thought the C-J capacitors would "sound better" but what made the owner worry was the BAD sound of one of them after it broke loose from the sloppily applied silicone glue and started to rattle against the inside of the unit's case. -Gene Poon |
#3
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buying modified hi-fi: pros and cons?
"razak" wrote in message
news:qs_bb.560714$uu5.92116@sccrnsc04... What are the pros and cons of buying a modified amplifier? I'm about to acquire a "second edition" Cyrus One integrated amp that has been extensively modified by an owner who has extensive knowledge of electronics. His description of the modifications made are as follows: "Volume control make is Bourn, a lot better than than the original carbon type (made by ALPS). Possibly will last longer than original. RCA connecters are gold plated (one pair), silver wiring for all inputs. At least six capacitors are bypassed by Phillips Polypropylene Capacitors for faster, wider sound. Another 6-8 capacitors changed to Philips too. Headphone stage is disabled to simplify the circuit and reduce unnecessary noise. Uses the latest super fast recovery diodes. All the modifications were done over the past two years (stage by stage), so there is no need to worry about reliability, lifespan or sound deterioration." These all sound like wishful thinking and are not going to improve sound quality in any way I know of. According to a review in the Absolute Sound, the Cyrus One excels in detail retrieval, and I wonder if modifying the amp will improve this trait, or change it completely? Most likely it will make no audible difference at all. I've not heard the Cyrus One in its original guise, so I won't be able to make any comparisons. On the other hand, if you wanted to modify any hi-fi hardware, you'd do it to make it sound better, wouldn't you? When it's possible to do so. I have to wonder why a manufacturer would build something in need of improvement? If we assume that the specs for the unit were honest and it performed with inaudible distortion in the original format, how could it be improved? |
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