Review of the modded Sony 9100ES and the Denon 3910

[Chrysanthemum]

Sony 9100ES and Denon 3910 mods.

Disclaimer:

To start with, I am NO WAY affiliated with APL, HRAM, or SACDmods, All mods done were at full retail price. Sorry about the ?fan boyishness toward some modding retailers. It is all there to see you get the biggest bang for the buck and not get burned.

About the owner:

I have and can mod my own equipment to some degree as well as build my own equipment as I have done so to many ?Amateur Ham Radio? pieces over the years as well as licensed to do so. However at age 56 my hand is shaky and the expensive items are left to the ?so called pros?. The ?so called pros? we will attempt to ferret out for you here in limited quantities.

Some background:

The two units I have modded are the Denon 3910 and the Sony 9100 ES. Both are top nominees for modding and the choice for top modders everywhere. Both of these units can yield exciting results and turn a so-so everyday player into a real high-end player. I am happy to report excellent results were realized from both units.

The modded parts for both units share a common thread and are the same for some items replaced but not all. The Denon has a more extensive mod. So please stay alert while reading this. Before the 3910/9100 I tried the Denon 2910. The 2910 is a good ?first? universal player for somebody going from the small portable items to house bound offerings when money is a consideration. The sound is wholly adequate for the intended purpose. However I would not use this unit as an item for modding consideration as it yielded less than expected better results. The Sony 9100 ES stock sound I was not at all amused with as a stock Denon 2910 sounded better. The Denon 3910 stock sound was better than the 2910 and quite a bit better than the stock Sony IMHO. The Denon 3910 and Sony 9100 ES are in a whole league higher than the 2910 when it comes to the basic components needed to give very good modding results with moderate cost involved. Ah, yes you can spend a bundle and achieve very great ?the best of the best? results if you desire. But in this case I am a cheapskate and wanting to drive a REAL bargain that sounds to good to believe for the dollar spent.

I need to preface the internal details by saying that both units are solid-state from start to finish. That?s right, NO TUBES. As some of you may know of me and may ask ?Mikey you are all about tubes with all your tube amps, including the Zana Duex and all, WHAT?S SUP?? With all the CDP?s, that are tube, that I listened to, only the modded ($2500 to $3500 mod cost) units sounded good enough to want and ?that? I could not justify at this time. So I set my sights on as close to analogue a mod that I could get at a more satisfying price.

Mod prices:

The Sony 9100ES mod was under $780 at SACDmods. The Denon mods were $457 from SACDmods, $450 from APL and $535 from HRAM. I must note here that HRAM did a dack realignment and op amp change. They ground off the tops of the op amps so you could not tell which ones they were using. They tell you that they are special made for HRAM?yeah, right. Some ?missed the mark placement of wiring and cold solder joints were also evident as well as no-name caps and resistors. Draw your own conclusions from all of that. Lets go on with the internal details now.

The Sony 9100ES:

This is going to be short and simple. The Sony 9100ES received the standard SACDmods modification. The player originally used Burr Brown OPA2132 opamps in the analog output stage, with film bypassed electrolytic coupling capacitors between the opamps and the outputs. LC Audio LClock XO3, LC Audio ZapFilter, Mk II Harris/Fairchild HEXFRED Diodes, and Cardas GRFA Silver/Rhodium RCA jacks were installed. The Sony 9100 has a pretty good hefty power supply already and it is also fairly clean too. The end result to the upgrade is a very high-grade quality sound for ALL frequencies. Everything improves dramatically.

The Denon 3910.

What was previously stated for the Sony 9100ES as added mod parts is also true for the Denon except for the clock. Also the Denon received some additional parts. Instead of the LC Audio LClock XO3 and APL designed clock was used because the LC Audio LClock XO3 is just a master clock. That was all the Sony needed but the Denon needs more help. The APL clock is a master clock and all the other unit clocks also, on one board. So all the clocks in the Denon are upgraded to less than 1ppm accuracy. The master/sub clock system in the stock Denon is not all that great. Also the power supply is a switching power supply as opposed to the Sony?s transformer type, which is superior. So all the caps were replaced with much larger value mid quality Panasonic caps. Regular diodes were replaced with ?ultra fast soft recovery diodes?. This was done by HRAM modders. Then Matt Anker at SACDmods further modified things by adding some large BlackGate caps and another regulator into the mix. The BlackGates were installed after the power supply as a sort of final filtering ?brick wall? against unwanted power supply noise. To note here: Matt Anker does not normally re-mod someone else?s work. He was kind enough to help me out with this project though. He is one heck of a great fellow and does first class, very clean, fitted, secured work. The end result was a modded Denon that is just a tad better and smoother than the Sony.

The downside, if there is one, is that both units have the same ?house sound? because they both use the Zap Filter 2 for the audio output. It?s like having a VW Bug and a Yugo and the body shop owner tells you they turned out great but they both look like Cadillac?s. Is that really a down side though?

Conclusion:

Both units are now performing far above the average sound an Audiophile would expect from either CDP. The bass is plentiful with good PRAT or pace rhythm and timing. The mid frequencies are silky smooth and detailed. The treble is detailed with no sign of harshness or fatigue. There is good extension of the frequencies on both ends and the sound is a hint analogue-ish in nature. Oh and of course, a huge sound stage with depth and plenty of air around the instruments. I am very pleased wit the effort, expense and end result. I would do it again, if need be.