Oppo 105D with Modwright Modification

Hi mate.

Dan said to run the stock tubes in for 300 hours then switch them up. So first week of June I'll be changing to the Philips 5R4GYS rectifier and the Sophia 6sn7 tubes.

It sounds so good with the stock tubes tho..

 

Rectifier tubes change alternating current from the wall to direct current for your electronics.

This leaves a sonic signature on your sound.

That's why a lot of people do tube rolling, as you can completely change the sound of your setups by replacing different tubes.

I'm running stock tubes now but will change mine in a month.

 

For those asking here are some pics

 

I'll sell my lightly used Sophias ($200 new) for half price that if anyone is interested. They have about 300 hours on them.

 

I didn't speak to Dan personally, but Kristin at Modwright asked if I wanted them to install the Philips 5R4Gys and Sophia 6sn7 tubes, for extra charge of course. I declined because stock tubes are included with the price and I wanted to hear what they sounded like.

I am wondering why Dan wants you to run stock tubes for 300 hours and yet they would have installed the replacement tubes with only bench break-in. Probably because the other parts should be broken. I replaced my tubes after running the stock tubes for 20 hours. I was told my unit would sound better with replacement tubes, but they never mentioned running my Oppo for 300 hours.

It took awhile for my Oppo to settle in, but now it sounds amazing. I was listening to the Original mix of "In The Court of The Crimson King" on the Wilson DVD and it was the best I ever heard this album.

 

Not a bad deal.

 

They havent installed the new tubes in mine yet. He had to ship mine all the way to Dubai so the sophias and the philips are still in their boxes.

Ive put the stock tubes in on Dan's advice as he said not to waste the hours on the more expensive tubes - considering the internal tubes need to run in as well.

Ive got time. It will also allow me to get used to the sound of my system. At about 50 hours now, so i think 1st week of June ill put the new tubes in.

 

That makes sense. The new tubes sound much fuller, IMO.

 

Thats so cool looking. Did you have your Oppo 105 for awhile before you had it moded? If so, can you describe in detail how it sounds now compared to before.

To me, if this really does improve the quality of sound on the multiple formats that an Oppo will play, then 4 grand isnt crazy. Expensive? To me, yes. But also seems like exactly what Id be happy with IF it really does make cds/sacd/dvd-a/BR sound much more realistic and alive sonically.

Im in the process of deciding what cd and sacd player Id want. With this I could basically get it all in one package and probably spend less on the total. So, when Ithink of it that way it may not be as expensive as it could get buying a lot of other components.

One last stupid question: Are there any visual upgrades that come with this fellas modifications he does? Or is it all sonic upgrades.

Im very close to doing this. But its a lot of money. Any and all input would be most welcome.

Thanks!

 

Dan actually bought the oppo 105D for me from oppo directly and then modified it. So I didn't own the oppo before that, but i have heard one before.

The upgrades are only to the stereo channels and sound only.

The sound is incredible. It's like the thickness and warmth of vinyl with the lower noise floor of digital/cd.

Just check the modwright website and you can see all the upgrades he does.

Dealing with Dan and Kristin was an absolute pleasure and I really recommend it.

If you are going to get one, get the bybee rail and audio magic pulse mods along with the upgraded tubes.

It's worth saving up a bit and getting everything all at once and having a top of the line front end setup.

 

Whats the life expectancy of Oppo products?

 

My old Modwright 83SE is still working like a champ for the second owner some 4 years on.

 

I know of some owners who are still using their pre-BD SACD/DVD-A players

 

What is the advantage of having the Oppo modded as opposed to playing the stock unit through a quality stand-alone tube-rectified NOS DAC?

I have a shelfful of CDs and a stock BDP95 that I never listen to, but if I could get decent SQ through it, I'd likely would. The only thing I can think of is that DSD would would probably have to be set to convert to PCM for a DAC, but I'm not that concerned about that.

 

I wouldn't expect the Oppo transport to last any longer than other players. The other parts should last pretty long. The good thing about the having the Modwright mod is that Dan and company have a good relationship with Oppo and Modwright will service the modded units.

 

I can think of few things, but there may be more as I am no expert.

1. Modwright makes great tube power supplies, I doubt many DACs have a monster power supply that the Oppo comes with.
2. As I understand it, the clocking/jitter is better in a one chassis unit. Again, I am no expert.
3. The Bybee rail and the Audio Magic Pulse, which create a lower noise floor.

 

My suggestion is to wait until the next gen Oppo gets released (I've heard later this year?). This will give you more time to save up and will future proof it a bit from a video perspective as the new Oppos will be 4K UHD.

 

This is probably good advice but there is always something new and improved coming down the road, you gotta jump in sometime.

 

The only good way to play SACD's and Bluray with an Oppo is through the player's own DAC and electronics (or modifications to them). Unless you buy and install something like an aftermarket circuit board to convert, an Oppo won't output DSD or hi-rez PCM from SACD or hi-rez PCM from Bluray over coax, only HDMI

 

Wait. I was thinking on buying an Oppo 105d (not a modded one) and running the rca cables directly into my McIntosh MC30 tube amps, and just control volume over the oppo remote. Are you saying I will not get high res sound or pure DSD by doing this? My thought was to run the HDMI to my Pioneer Elite vsx 45 reciever for blue ray movies on the TV but the sound would go directly to the tube amps with nothing in between.

 

Your idea will work exactly as you expect it to. He was talking about getting an SACD digital output out of an Oppo, not an analog output like you are.

 

Unless you have one of these....

Everything Audio Network: Audiophile Review!HDMI De-Embedder OffersHigh-Res Conduit For Universal Players »

Audio De-Embedder with 3D Support »

........and don't have an issue with DSD being converted to 88.2 PCM in the Oppo.........( still sounds great to me!!)

 

I've tried a couple of HDMI de-embedders. Like most others who have, I didn't care for the sound quality, which is why I went with Modwright. IMHO, the HDMI interface is not yet compatible with high-quality audio (it wasn't really designed to be); jitter is typically a couple of orders of magnitude greater than what we have become accustomed to.

 

A HDMI de-embedder doesn't HAVE a "sound quality"

Well my Kanexpro sure doesn't.

It's simply HDMI in.......SPDIF out to a DAC.........

Anyway.......Hooked it up in tandem with my Oppo's SPDIF out using both coax inputs of a Benchmark DAC2 HGC (and SAME Cardas digital cables) then switched between them whilst several friends listened.

EVERYONE couldn't pick the slightest difference and had absolutely NO IDEA which input was which!!!
So I'm sorry but............... based on MY experiences.............I must strongly disagree.

Enjoy your Modwright OPPO

 

It's not the de-embedder, it's the HDMI interface, which has jitter measurements in the thousands of picoseconds, rather than single or low double digits for S/PDIF, AES/EBU, and even some better USB connections. I have the Monoprice and the older Axlona; the sound quality just wasn't quite there, for me and for many others over at Audio Circle, but if you are happy then great!