Exemplar 3910 any good?

[Pars]

Their mods don't look to be a very good value.

* Replace 4 stock diode bridges with Esoteric handmade ultra fast RAM versions

What is this? Replacing monolithic bridges with discrete UF or hexfred diodes? Handmade? They make their own diodes?? right

* Replace over 60 stock electrolytic capacitors with ultra low impedance Rubycon ZL/ZLG caps.

Hopefully they know that most v-regs (LM317s, etc.) don't like low ESR following the regulator... that is a lot of caps however.

* Audiocom Superclock 4-S Master Clock Upgrade ($295 Installed)-

I would use Tent, for far less money and probably better... I don't know what their hard on for Audiocom is.

* Analog Output Stage Rebuild w/Audio Consulting Transformers

Expensive transformers, then they stick with LM4562s for I/V duty... lame. If they are going to stick with an opamp, how about a THS4031/4032? For $1,200 I would expect discrete instead.

So, $1800 for all of this. But wait! The $295 Audiocom doesn't include the power supply... at that price it should. For the PSU, you have to spend $595. Then they start talking about upgrading the transport clock, which is a total waste...

[luvdunhill]

I like the LM4562 for I/V (metal can versions) when biased with 2.5mA or so current (class A)... that being said, I agree the above is pretty lame.

[naamanf]

I don't know if they fixed up their act or not but I wouldn't send anything to them. I fixed a Lite Dac for a member here. The work was a joke. Outputs wired backwards (ground to signal), half the mods were not done (expensive caps not installed), fuse removed from power wiring, source selector switch removed and not reinstalled, blah blah blah.

[4N6]

That's what I love about this site. Calling it like it is. From what I gather, I will not be sending them my 840C.

Other 840C modifiers out there that can actually be recommended? I would send it to ModWright, Exemplar, or Great Northern Sound if I thought they would work on the 840C.

[Augsburger]

Kyle, the remaining partner at RAM, was supposed to perform mods on a piece of equipment of mine and obviously this was not the case. Wires were singed with very sloppy solder job, original parts were missing that he claimed were not on the gear I sent him. To make matters worse he did not take full responsibility for the screw up and admit that he misled me about who would perform the mods. Instead of offering a full refund for the clown act labor he called a RAM mod, he demanded that I send the unit back to him to take a second crack at it. Yeah, right.....

Knowing what I know now, I would say that even if they perform all the work they claim to perform in their mods at the professional level one would expect for the premium they charge, ie no burnt wires or missing parts, you would be way overpaying for the incremental improvements.

And yeah you are right, I am still mighty pissed off at them.

[DigiPete]

FWIW, the Denon 3930CI is very nice sounding, rich, and the SACDmods version just excels. Matt Anker, once he heard it modded, sold his Sony to buy one.

And SACDmods are a hugely better value than RAM or most others in the modding field.

[Augsburger]

That's what I love about this site. Calling it like it is. From what I gather, I will not be sending them my 840C.

Other 840C modifiers out there that can actually be recommended? I would send it to ModWright, Exemplar, or Great Northern Sound if I thought they would work on the 840C.

I spoke to Steve at GNS and found him to be really nice and full of information, a great resource. I only spoke to him about the Opus 21 and the Wadia though so this may not work for you.

FYI, Dan at Modwright intends to send some gear to this Saturday's So Cal meet so you might want to check the meet thread here and at the "other place" to get a feel for impressions of his gear. There will be quite a few members there who have good ears so the impressions should be pretty accurate. Present company excluded.

[Augsburger]

FWIW, the Denon 3930CI is very nice sounding, rich, and the SACDmods version just excels. Matt Anker, once he heard it modded, sold his Sony to buy one.

And SACDmods are a hugely better value than RAM or most others in the modding field.

I agree. I heard DigiPete's 3910 at some minimeets and it was very impressive, and Matt actually performs all the mods you pay for. What a concept!

[4N6]

I have had very good luck with GNS. They modded my EAR 834P phono preamp and it sounds amazing. Perhaps he would be willing to take a look at the 840C.

[guzziguy]

I agree. I heard DigiPete's 3910 at some minimeets and it was very impressive, and Matt actually performs all the mods you pay for. What a concept!

Matt modded my Eastsound E5. He did very nice work. You can see it here and yes, that's my E5 in the picture. The sound was definitely improved. I got my eXemplar Denon 2900 at the same time. The work in it was not as nice as things get really crowded in the chassis. After comparing the two, for me it wasn't close. The eXemplar trounced the modded E5. Since I listen to headphones a lot more than to speakers these days, I've kept the eXemplar in my headphone setup and the E5 is going into my speaker setup.

[purk]

Matt modded my Eastsound E5. He did very nice work. You can see it here and yes, that's my E5 in the picture. The sound was definitely improved. I got my eXemplar Denon 2900 at the same time. The work in it was not as nice as things get really crowded in the chassis. After comparing the two, for me it wasn't close. The eXemplar trounced the modded E5. Since I listen to headphones a lot more than to speakers these days, I've kept the eXemplar in my headphone setup and the E5 is going into my speaker setup.

Yep, that was the case for me after I auditioned modwrights, kern, exemplar gear, after owning my SACDmods C555ES for over 2 years. I went through so many CD players in the past 3 years (probably over 20 CDPs), priced b/w $700 to $3000 used, and the Exemplar Denon 2900, Cary 306 SACD, and my kern/modwright Sony SCD-777ES are my favorites. As far as customer service and timeliness are concern, no one beat Dan wright and Matt Ankers, IMO.