Small review on the SACDMODS Denon 2910!

[Chrysanthemum]

SACDMODS DENON 2910

I gave Matt Anker my Denon 2910 to mod at the meet. He is a very nice fellow and is eager to work with you. He does not talk above your level of understanding nor does he insult you by shortchanging you on information. I can do some of this stuff and some I can't. I understand the basic operating premmis on most everything but sometimes get overwhelmed by the details. However Matt will make it simple and understandable for you.

I was able to visit "SACDMODS International LLC. INC.". It was the No.2 site in Columbus, Ohio on seventeen sprawling acres of land with more than nineteen buildings and wharehouses. He has his own Gymnasium and football field for his employees. His personal office is small and contains a bed cause he works such long hours he does not have time to go home. His whole office building smells like pizza.

All in all he did a splendid job which was very craftsman like, being neatly done. The modifications worked very well and I was pleased that he attended to me personally as opposed to one of his many hundreds of talented staff.

Now onto my initial impressions. It was not what I had built myself up to hopeing it could be but was way better than what I feared it would turn out as. That says a lot, don't it? Bottom line is that, indeed it does improve over the stock sound by a very good margine. Personally I feel that the mods put the player at the threshold enterance into the "highend" player room. Now onto nit picking. The sound, IMHO, seems a little cold and dry, more solid stateish in nature. However the pratt is right on. Overall timeing seemed excellent. Detail is very clear and abundant. All this over the stock configuration and parts. Warmth and coziness are lacking. There is no sence into going to any greater detail here as you will understand by the following paragraph.

BUT! This should all be a moit point. As expressed in Matt's parting litureature, there is a break-in time. Yes indeed there is. We have seen countless posts here with equiptment, where Black Gate caps were installed and needed up to 500 hours breakin time. With the SACDmods modification, I had a number of 1000uf BlackGates installed in the power supply along with the other items, LC03 clock, Zapfilter 2nd generation w/dedicated powersupply, 750 CFM Holly carborator, twin turbo's, and an adheasive backed, velvet miniture rendition, of the "Bulldogs playing pool" applied to the top of the inside cover for sound deadining. So breakin is going to be needed, and plenty of it. As you can see, I spared no expense with optional parts.

Yes, I am concerned about the lack of warmth. Yes, I do think that will clear up with breakin as you do usually have that. Do the mods make this player the ultimate player? No, not by a long shot. But it does make the Denon a surpriseing and very worthy contender. There is still too much work, time and money to transform this player into being the best. And frankly, not worth it. But it is more than worth the mods given, and you will be pleased with the results.

Bottom line: YES! I would do it again. And yes it is worth it. And a final YES, to having only SACDMODS do the work, as they are very great at what they do and highly recomended. Thanks; Matt.

[Guest sacd lover]

I am surprised the player lacks warmth so far. My players never sounded cool. This may be the sound signature of the Denon's dac or the players power supply limitatons .... especially if this player has a switching power supply. The sound will improve once those blackgates start to form too. I doubt you will need 500 hours though ... I bet 200 or so will be plenty.

Anyway .... nice review.

[tkam]

Yep all those denon's have switching power supplies and the clock converstion from 24mhz for dvd down to audio levels does cause a bit of glare/sheen in the treble.

[Chrysanthemum]

Yep all those denon's have switching power supplies and the clock converstion from 24mhz for dvd down to audio levels does cause a bit of glare/sheen in the treble.

Gee! I never noticed that before the mods.

[tkam]

Haha yeah the stock output stage actually hides it pretty well because its just not resolving enough

[PsychoZX]

I wonder how these mods would sound on an Eastsound.

[Chrysanthemum]

Just to update. The sound is now opening up a bit with super detail.

[Yikes]

Many of the mods are worthwhile from a price performance standpoint. Where they are not worthwhile is in equipment equity. What do I mean?

Here is an example.

I have a loaded Exemplar 3910 including the Siltech G6 and all other options. My player retails for about $5500. The good: As far as performance goes it is in the same league as the two piece players from DCS and EMM for far less than half the cost. The bad: Resale value. Loaded Exemplars bring between $1500 and $2500.

Now lets look at the Esoteric DV-50 ($5500) retail. A good performer for the price. Used they bring $3000 to $4000.

So if you intend on using the piece until it dies a modified unit makes great sense. However if you enjoy changing equipment every year or so you?ll end up taking a fairly significant monetary hit upon resale of any modified unit.

The same thing holds true with my other hobby, Motorcycles. My 2000 Hayabusa has about $4000 in modifications, but used it might bring $200 to $500 more than a completely stock model. At some point the modifications will actually begin to make the bike worth less than a stock model.

Ethan

[hirsch]

I have a loaded Exemplar 3910 including the Siltech G6 and all other options. My player retails for about $5500. The good: As far as performance goes it is in the same league as the two piece players from DCS and EMM for far less than half the cost. The bad: Resale value. Loaded Exemplars bring between $1500 and $2500.

Now lets look at the Esoteric DV-50 ($5500) retail. A good performer for the price. Used they bring $3000 to $4000.

So if you intend on using the piece until it dies a modified unit makes great sense. However if you enjoy changing equipment every year or so you?ll end up taking a fairly significant monetary hit upon resale of any modified unit.

However, that resale value can also work in your favor. I recently got a loaded Exemplar 2900, including Siltech wire, at a very reasonable price on the used market. While I don't have dCS or EMMLabs gear to compare it to, it smokes the Wadia 301 in direct comparions, single-ended (the 2900 is not balanced, so the Wadia still has its place running balanced amps). I have not yet done a direct comparison to Meridian G08, but can say that in the system where my G08 used to be, I'm liking the Exemplar a lot better so far. It's clean, clear, and fast, with excellent extension. Detail and staging without a trace of grain or digititis. Heaven into Black-Gated SDS and R10, where it pushes the stage out far past the headphones. I've heard the Esoteric DV-50 a couple of times, but it didn't push my buttons the way the Exemplar does. Not really enough time with the unit to know for sure. There's also an upgraded version, IIRC (DV-50S) that I haven't heard.

Ethan, try the pinch-waist E180CC (7062) in the Exemplar, if you haven't already. It's the best sound I've gotten out of mine. If you've heard anything better, please let me know.

[Yikes]

John Tucker sent me a bunch of tubes to try. I put a set in and if it sounds good I go with them. I?m not into swapping tubes, especially when it involves unhooking the gear and removing covers.

I used the Esoteric as an example, because of its price. Not because it is a comparable performer.

FYI Apparently there are some heat issues with the Exemplar modded Denons. Several 2900?s have had transport failures, and my 3910 has also had a transport fail (It?s at the repair shop as I type this ). I have sourced an ultra quiet 12v-cooling fan (40mm) that I am going to mount in the unit. Very low volume (about 1.2 cfm), but it should be enough to exchange the air in the chassis every minute or so. The important thing is that it will be very quiet .

[mjg]

yikes/hirsch,

I think i might get a modded denon as my next source.

Can you guys compare the modded 2900 to other players in it's price range new/used and modded. I'm looking to drop around 2 grand +/- 500 this summer probablly on a player.

What's the good news for me?? Any advice appreciated.

[tkam]

If you can spring it definetly go for a modded 3910 over 2900. The 3910 uses a slighty better transport and a better dac. Oh and its video quality is better too

[Chrysanthemum]

Oh! Bad and good news to report. I sold the Denon 2910. As stated above, I paid $850 a year ago for it. Than this Feb. I spent $715 with a complete SACDmods. After break-in it was still way to bright/solid stateish. So I sold it for $960.

Now for the good news. Uh, hmmmm uh lets see now. OH YEA! I bought a second stage HRAM modded Denon 3910 (no tubes) for $1500. Ah, much much much better. The following is a reprint from HRAM:

We are a partner of APL Hi-Fi and are the solution for those of you that do not want to spend $5,000 or wait for the time it takes Alex to complete his incredible mods. Our turnaround is within 5 days if you send us your unit, and within 24 hours to buy a modded unit direct from us (if we are not sold-out!).

The APL Hi-Fi Master Clock Generator upgrade replaces the entire clock circuit, not just the crystal oscillator part of the circuit like the other "Super Clock" types. The APL Clock reclocks Redbook, SACD, AND VIDEO. This affects both the analog outputs as well as the digital output. If you are simply using the 3910 as a transport then a Stage I upgrade is all you will need. The difference this upgrade makes is utterly STUNNING. The soundstage opens, widens, and becomes 3 dimensional. The sound is absolutely addicting, and you will find yourself reaching for different recordings just to experience them like they were new. This upgrade made our 3910 test model floor the competing high end CD player. This upgrade is included in all our Denon multi format players.

STAGE I

* Power supply upgrade which includes replacing almost all power supply caps with larger capacitance, lower noise caps. We also upgrade the diode bridge with high speed, fast-recovery diodes. This step quiets the AC and gives better bass response with quicker transients.

* APL Hi-Fi Master Clock Generator. The clock times the "1"s and "0"s of the digital data. The more accurate the timing is, the more accurate your sound reproduction will be.

* Analog Devices opamp upgrade on the 2-channel output for lower noise and greater detail.

* Complete chassis damping/shielding with copper Starrdamp CS. This reduces internal vibration of the chassis and the transport mechanism to reduce microvibration, restoring low-level detail.

* 4 KTS Isodamp discs are included for vibration isolation underneath the unit.

* $599 if you send us your unit.

* $1,899 with a brand new Denon DVD-3910 included.

STAGE II

* All Stage I upgrades.

* Parallel DAC modification. To fully understand the benefits of the parallel DAC mod please read the above description.

* Complete replacement of all capacitors in the analog output path. This further enhances the parallel DAC mod for clarity and detail.

* Re-bias analog output stage into "Class A" operation. This helps achieve the truly analog sound of the player.

* $999 if you send us your unit.

* $2,399 with a brand new Denon DVD-3910 included.

To understand what we do in the STAGE II you must first know a little about the 3910. First off, this player (as well as the 2910, and 5910) has a separate 2-channel output. These outputs contain the "audiophile" circuit path behind them. The downfall of this circuit is that it employs "mix-down" signal processing for listening to multi channel material on a 2-channel system. Not only that, but Denon's idea of "audiophile" opamps and capacitors are much different than ours. In order for the 3910 to output twin sets of front left and right outputs it uses two stereo DAC's. The first thing we do is sacrifice the front left and right output of the 5.1 analog outputs to utilize that DAC for the left channel of the 2-channel output. We then disable the "mix-down" processing and use the other DAC for the right channel of the 2-channel output. This now runs the DAC's in parallel where a discreet DAC is used for each channel. This is the digital equivalent of using monoblock amplifiers. Not only does it totally improve efficiency and gain but it improves channel separation and signal to noise ratio. The audible results of this modification are nothing short of astounding. It gives a much fuller sound with a liquid midrange for a truly analog experience. Instrument placement is unbelievably accurate. Vocals have a spooky presence. With this modification the player truly competes with ultra-high-end CD players.

STAGE III

* All Stage I & Stage II upgrades.

* Upgrade output jacks to WBT NexGen pure silver RCA jacks.

* Rewire outputs with pure silver / Teflon? output wire.

* Upgrade output coupling caps to Telfon? film and foil.

* Upgrade key signal path resistors to audio-grade non-magnetic type.

* Upgrade power supply voltage regulator to audio-quality TentLabs? shunt regulator.

* $1,499 if you send us your unit.

Your thoughts please.

[hungrych]

Good to know you can get apl-ish mods from places other than apl, they don't seem very reliable...

[Chrysanthemum]

Yea, and I don't nessessarily agree with all APL does to a Denon. Kinda like loving something to death. They mod it to death.

[Chrysanthemum]

To make more clear, the mods were almost $1500 plus $1400 for the cost of the Denon. Buy used if you can find one. Good luck. I wish I had gotten stage three but did not have enough money for it. So it will go back sometime in the future.

[Dusty Chalk]

First off, this player (as well as the 2910, and 5910) has a separate 2-channel output. These outputs contain the "audiophile" circuit path behind them. The downfall of this circuit is that it employs "mix-down" signal processing for listening to multi channel material on a 2-channel system. Not only that, but Denon's idea of "audiophile" opamps and capacitors are much different than ours. In order for the 3910 to output twin sets of front left and right outputs it uses two stereo DAC's. The first thing we do is sacrifice the front left and right output of the 5.1 analog outputs to utilize that DAC for the left channel of the 2-channel output. We then disable the "mix-down" processing and use the other DAC for the right channel of the 2-channel output. This now runs the DAC's in parallel where a discreet DAC is used for each channel. This is the digital equivalent of using monoblock amplifiers.

I could be wrong, but this sounds like "dual differential DACs" to me. Yeah, it'll make a difference, but I don't know how much.

[Chrysanthemum]

Well you have to realize that the 3910 modded sounds as good as the sum of it's modded parts plus it's original goodness. The DAC is just one modded area but adds to the completness.