[Kim S.]

I recently received my MSB gold dac and P1000 power supply back from Steve Nugent from Empirical Audio.  He completed what could be called a "1/2 turbomod".  I have originally sent them to Steve for repair and upgrade of the power supply only.  Once sent i decided to spring for some upgrades to the dac itself, in order to justify UPS charges.  I could not afford the full turbomod so Steve agreed to do what he could with the funds available.

[Kim S.]

I'm doing this in parts because I'm a feeble typist.

Right off I heard an improvement.  I am a firm believer in "break in" so I waited approx 30 hours before any critical listening.  I have a number of cds I am familiar with that I use to evaluate any upgrade.  One is the song "Goldfinger" from a James Bond theme compilation.  I play this because it is an earlier complilation and not particulary well recorded.  There is a glare in Shirley Bassey's voice at parts that deminishes the luxurious feel of the song.  There was still some glare, but noticealbly less with the mods.

The next cd was Getz/Gilberto.  This 20 bit remaster is very well recorded.  Before the mods the saxophone on "Girl from Ipenema" sounded very real.  It also sounded a little breathy at parts, like the player was blowing too hard.  For a while I actually  thought this was the case.  With the modded dac the sax still sounds very real but the breathyness is gone.  Sorry Stan for doubting you!

[Kim S.]

One of the strenghts of the unmodded dac is its tight clean bass.  Intially I thought this might be a weakness of the modded dac.  but after a short break in the bass was back.  I also think the improvement in the midrange took my attention away from the bass.  One of my bass reference songs is "Life after Life" from the cd "Bug" from Dave Davies of the Kinks.  This cd contains some poignant songs about his life as well as a droll look at Dave's belief in exterterrestrials.  In "Life after Life" Dave out Mobys Moby in a rave that is primarily bass drum,synths, and bass guitar. The bass stayed clean and dynamic.  Overall the pounding bass line seemed to intergrate into the sound better.

I could bore you with more song discriptions but I think you get the point.  The mods greatest strengths are in the midrange, particularly vocals.  Nothing is diminished or exagerated.  Overall it sounds smoother but not at the expense of loss of detail.  The sound is very natural and dynamic.  Given the improvement with this half measure, I'd go for the full turbomod if you can afford it.  Steve is a pleasure to deal with.  I am very satisfied with my "new" dac!

[TheChairGuy]

Hey Kim,

Yep - Steve's mods work wonders on the MSB Gold Link III.  He gave me the kit-and-kaboodle on the DAC and did a lot on the power supply.  I also have the Sony DVP-S7700 and full Turbomod with Jensens (and it's got upsampling 192K outputs).

Do yourself a favor...go buy the Revelation Audio Labs Power Cable (Umbilical) for the MSB P1000.  Although I am not the least displeased with any of the $2000+ spent with Empirical Audio on upgrades last year, simply put, the most cost effective upgrade was changing out the power umbilical from the computer grade garbage to the solid core, all silver cryo'ed wire.  Everything is BIGGER with the RAL umbilical in place.

You will really be surprised what the relatively measly expenditure (I don't remember, but it was well under $200) will get you in better sound.  It was, by far, the best 'wire' upgrade I ever made to my sytem.

www.RevelationAudioLabs.com

[Kim S.]

Hi Chair Guy-  I did buy the Revelation Audio umbililcal on the recommendation of Steve.  I just installed it.  Its sounds great but I'm well beyond the "critical listening" point at this stage.  I'll have to wait till tommorrow.  I'm glad you responded.  Your review of Steve's mods  was want got me thinking about upgrading the dac instead of buying something else.

[TheChairGuy]

Kim,

Give that umbilical some time to break in...it's really stunning how it allows your DAC to breathe.  Crazy good, but cryo'ed silver needs lots of time - 300 hours I think I remember.

Yeah, I went thru the gyrations of selling the DAC, Power Supply and Transport and starting anew (SACD was tantalizing me a year ago and the thought of simplification always appealling), but I'm so glad I gave them to Steve to work up.  I really enjoy music now - each and every time.

Do you have the 192K upsampling in either your transport or DAC? I think MSB charges $600 to install it in your transport and it's $700 to buy it and put it in your DAC.  The difference in 96 or 132K and 192K, when your transport is stellar, is also quite a leap.  About the only thing left to upgrade in my front end is some 'funky' wiring (Steve's term) at my transport digital outputs and installation of the SuperTurbo Clock someday.  I'm in no rush tho, I love what I hear every day now.  

I also have Revelation Audio Labs digital cable (it's terminated in RJ45 and 5 pin DIN - that's what happens when MSB puts the upsampler in the transport).  It was about the same price as the umbilical, but I didn't find it to be nearly as much of an upgrade as the umbilical was over the stock wire.

Enjoy!

[Kim S.]

I was thinking of upgrading to the Platinum Plus as I like the MSB sound.  I don't think I'll have to do that now.  I've been listening all morning and am becomming more impressed.  You know its good when you want to stay home and listen to music rather than go out!

I just have the plain gold dac without the 192 upsampling.  I think my next step will to be to have my transport modded by Steve.  I have a Phillips 963SA and Steve the mods bring the system to yet a higher level.

I am not that impressed with SACD.  I have a limited collection.  They all sound very good, but not as involving as plain old redbook  cds through the dac , especially now.