[oscar]

Seems I know someone who just had an Allen Wright mod done to his Sony 777ES SACD/CD player.  He is very enthusiastic about this piece and believes it is highly competitive with anything out there (e.g. the DAC60 setup).  (I inherited his hand-me-down Kern mods to my 777ES player).

 I got the owner of that EMM Preamp/SACD/CD DAC combo to step up again to provide a challenge (wait, it's supposed to be the other way around). I know SACD afiocionados on the Audio asylum hi-rez forum would be highly interested in hearing both players on SACD playback.  I want to see if there might be any interest in yet another player shootout and which players/transport/DAC combos to use?  

I'd also like to see if anyone else out there in the DFW metroplex has sufficient room/equipment to provide a venue for a possible shootout.  I was asked to volunteer my place again because I have the room which I don't mind, but maybe we need to change the setup a bit to remove the perchieved bias in the last shootout (e.g. use the same power conditioning, change out cabling/equipment,  allow for sufficient warmup time for the EMM labs equipment would be nice to, though the recommended 24 hours seems a bit much).

One way or another, I'm going to listen to both modded 777ESs in someone's system.

As a side, same person also is highly enthusiastic about his new home-built "minimalist" SS preamp; I'd like to A/B his preamp against Gary Dodd's new preamp but maybe that's another excuse for a separate event.

[brj]

I want to see if there might be any interest in yet another player shootout

I'll be looking for DACs soon, so I'd be interested.  Of course, my interest is in DACs that will work with a computer as the source, but any excuse for a get-together sounds good to me!

and which players/transport/DAC combos to use?

Do you want to focus on CD or SACD comparisions?  I think you'll get quite a few more responses if you encourage CD comparisions.

The two local guys that I know that definitely own a DAC-60 both read this forum, so if they are willing to compare their units, I'm sure they'll chime in.  Another has the well reviewed Talk Thunder 3.1b CD player, although he isn't available for a while.

What time frame did you have in mind for this comparison?

Edit:  I just remembered that "Hoots" has a P3A DAC, although I don't remember if it is modded or not.  That might be another interesting DAC to compare.

[arthurs]

Hate to ever let Brian down so I'll chime in.....

I have the DAC60 being fed from a CEC-51X Transport through a Genesis Digital Lens.  I'd be happy to host if the group can be kept smaller, or bring mine somewhere.  As far as the Dodd pre, not sure when anyone will have one of those in hand locally, and I think Gary is on vacation for the next couple of weeks, I could be wrong though.  

My one condition on shootouts is as follows....if anyone's gear sounds better than mine, we trade equipment right there on the spot....

I have some other gear coming in for an audition that I'll need to dedicate some focused listening time to, and some business travel coming up shortly, so getting out or hosting is 2 or 3 weeks out for me, minimum...keep me posted and I'll try to work with whatever needs to happen...

Oscar, Is the pre you're talking about Jim's?

[oscar]

THis looks several weeks out if it happens.  I'm bad with names who is (are?) Jim, and which preamp is he dumping ?

I've got an order in for one of Gary Dodd's battery powered preamps and I'm not sure how far away it is from being ready...[seems forever...].

[shokunin]

I had my SCD-777es modded to Level 4.5 and it takes a fair amount of experimenting with cables and power cords to find the right balance.   Personally, I found the midrange lacking and the midbass a bit thin, the highs  were where the mods really shine. However, I preferred using the Dodson DA-218 in redbook with the SCD as a transport.  I eventually auditioned the EMM Labs combo (DCC2/CDSD) and preferred The meinter gear to the Dodson + Allen Wright Modded SCD-777es + Placette active versus the emm labs gear.  On redbook it was close, but I ended up keeping the EMM Labs setup.  

Both setups took a fair amount of cable swapping for me to settle in to the sound I wanted, I could have made either setup sound bad with the wrong set of cables and power cords, so don't  be afraid to experiment with cables during your shootout.

[brj]

Hate to ever let Brian down so I'll chime in.....

I have the DAC60 being fed from a CEC-51X Transport through a Genesis Digital Lens.

Is the Digital Lens new, or did I just forget that component?  Did it help much?

I'd be happy to host if the group can be kept smaller

Generous as always, Art - thanks!  You might want to define "smaller", however, to avoid lines forming at your door!

My one condition on shootouts is as follows....if anyone's gear sounds better than mine, we trade equipment right there on the spot...

 That is one way to prevent gear overload during a shootout!

I have some other gear coming in for an audition that I'll need to dedicate some focused listening time to

"some", he says... when do you get the (WAF approved) revolving door installed on the listening room, Art?


shokunin, do you remember what cables you ended up with for the SCD-777es?  The unit Oscar is talking about isn't mine, but the owner might appreciate the guidance... thanks!

[oscar]

I believe the owner of the Allen Wright 5 mods isn't too hung up on cables; I think he went the DIY/"cost effective" route. I took his hand-me-down 777ES mods which were a definite improvement over stock 777ES.  He said he'd be glad to "A/B" his mods vs. the "hand-me-down" mods and thinks the changes overwhelm anything cabling will provide.

I have not "A/B'ed" very many cables and my cable experimenting has been limited to Tara labs (Air-3, The One), Silent Source, Siltech G-3 and Kimber Select.  I wasn't surprised with differences with ICs but some of the differences in power cords (PC) just blow the mind. Nevertheless, I'm not sure I like what some of the PCs are doing but I suspect it's all a matter of preference.  Some people are perfectly happy with DIY and/or modestly priced stuff while others go for the hideously expensive stuff.  I liked the Kimber Select stuff initially (silver and hybrids) and I think it's pretty darn expensive(/overpriced?) while other folks have opted for the inexpensive stuff or the even-more-hideously expensive stuff.  I'm not prepared to spend much more money on cabling though I might have to if I start to like the single-ended tubed gear...

[shokunin]

When I had the VSEI Level 4.5 (mine was modded by Warren Gregoire, who is first-class all the way) I tried out the cords I had on hand, which where Elrod Statement II, Shunyata King Cobra v1, TG Audio SLVR, Jena Fundamental ONE, VH Audio Flavor 4 and VH Audio Airsine.  Before the mod I like the TG Audio SLVR on it, after the mod I could not stand the SLVR power cord on the SCD-777es.  I had to find something to warm up to mids to my taste, which ended up being the Shunyata King Cobra V1 followed by the VH audio Flavo 4, but the Flavor 4 had more grain and a bit more noise versus the shunyata.   I believed I had either the Jena Fundamental ONE or the Airsine on the Placette Active as well as the EMM DCC2 when I did my listening tests. 

I used Silversmith Palladium ic's.  My system is completely different now so system synergies that I preferred back then may no longer apply.

[brj]

Hi guys!  I thought I would give this thread a friendly "bump" to see if it goes anywhere.  Oscar, any news?

[oscar]

Well,  the only folks who would be interested in hearing a modded 777ES shootout vs. ?  would seem to be a 777ES owner (e.g. moi).   I missed out on a chance for a solo audition of the 777ES because of work committments that particular week; I'll probably try again later.  The owner of the 777ES and the owner of the Meitner can't host more than 5-6 people and I'm not sure I'm the one to attempt to "broker a deal" with someone else's house (I suppose I can ask the prospective host). 

I could host another large (or private) event with sufficient interest but I doubt the interest is there.  I might be able to host something 12 August 2006 but I'd rather wait for my new preamp to show up first.   I need to bug "the manufacturer" again soon.

I'm also trying out a new internet provider to see how things are going.

Hi guys!  I thought I would give this thread a friendly "bump" to see if it goes anywhere.  Oscar, any news?