[drummerwill]

  Guys
    I've been playing with a Toshiba 3960 for over 2 years now. I did the Swenson mod and the
 Vinnie Rossini mod minus the clock. Yes the 3960 responded very well to the mods and sounds pretty good too.
  A few weeks ago our DVD player for the TV went out. So I went to Best Buy and picked up a Toshiba 3990 this is the newest cheapest Toshiba DVD player. Right out of the box it sound pretty good, I thought it even sound better on CD's than my modded 3960.
   But thoughts of buying a decent DAC has been bugging me lately, but before I do that why not check out another cheap DVD/CD player. Word has it electronics in those cheap DVD player had improved to another level. So I bought another to try somer mods on.
   Here's my first maybe last mod on this Toshiba 3990. All I did was add Rope Caulk to the insides of
 the player. On the bottom of the case, along the back, under the power supply board ( not the main board, but I plan to do under it too later) and around the drive.
 
  So what difference did it make, well I know the unit sounds better than my modded 3960 while listening to my Altecs.
  Now I'm checking out the difference between my modded 3990 and the stock 3990. I can tell you, while listening to both units thru headphones I can tell the difference between the two units.
  The unmodded one when listening thru headphones sounds thick and the bass sounds thick and none of the simblance or not as much Air as the unit with the Rope Caulk.
  This is an easy cheap mod, that seems to work pretty good. Check it out.

 http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wjrive1@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=d4adre2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos  
  

Have fun!
  Willie

[DeadFish]

Hey Willie,

Thanks for experimenting with the 3990. 
Having given my Mom my 'bedroom' dvd player and a fist full of 40's music and jazz, I had been meaning to get another player.
But put it off.
I went out and got a 3990 the other day ($50!) and gave it a whirl, then got ballsy with the rope caulk.
I took everything out and lined the bottom, and the top and after it didn't play, got rid of the stuff I put over the drive.
Sounds much better than it did as a 'stocker'.
This was one of those 'gotta do that someday' things, and your post got me rolling.  When I stopped to look at the player at Best Buy, my darlin' wife gave me the nudge, then went and dug out my stash of rope caulk.

Now I'm thinking I have to buy more and maybe try a little in my older Tosh unit I got to do DVD-A.

If you have any further ideas on this thing that simple minded such as myself might benefit from, I'd be glad to hear them.

Ya done good!

Best Regards,
Bill

[drummerwill]

 Caulk's Cheap!
   
   I really like playing with these Tosh's, since they're cheap enough not to get me in trouble!
   
   Willie

[joeriz]

Sorry to hijack this thread but one quick question to those of you with experiene with the 3990:

Is there ANY way to get it to stop playing back with gaps between tracks?  For example, if I'm playing a live CD where two tracks are spposed to run together seemlessly, there is always a pause between the two. (E-mails to Toshiba were less than helpful.  )

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[electricbear]

The solution to your gap between tracks is easy. Buy a Rotel .

[gooberdude]

Hey joerz,

If the gaps you mention are exactly 2 seconds, its burned into the CD from the person who made it...or from the download, not your cdp.

Nero, and probably other burning software, has a checkbox option to remove the 2 second gap...not sure why its there in the 1st place.

So, you may need to copy the disc agin.

If its not exactly 2 seconds (and it should read as such on the screen of your cdp) then disregard my comment.    On the discs of mine the end of the track will come and the screen reads -01, -02 & then goes to the the next track @ 01 seconds.

i download tons of live shows from the 'net, often this is the case.

GD

[PeAK]

...picked up a Toshiba 3990 this is the newest cheapest Toshiba DVD player. Right out of the box it sound pretty good, I thought it even sound better on CD's than my modded 3960... So I bought another to try somer mods on....All I did was add Rope Caulk to the insides of
 the player. So what difference:

• Better than my modded 3960 while listening to my Altecs
• Stock 3990 when listening thru headphones sounds thick and the bass sounds thick and none of the simblance or not as much Air as the unit with the Rope Caulk.

I agree with you on your all your points. The stock unit sounds good because the output stage does not need large coupling caps (usually sonically impaired electrolytics) anymore. Do not need to do Swenson Mod.

The 3990 is quite sensitive to the platform that is is standing on and using isolation such as rollerballs can alter the soundstage width/depth and treble extension. I'm currently running mine with a book on top of it.

For a schematic/more details, goto http://gnu.295.ca/~peak/audio/transport.html#3990


PeAK

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hi Willie,
How's the 3990 sounding since the last update? Any more mods?
Any more ideas you havn't implemented yet?

Bob

[drummerwill]

Just Listening  !

   Willie

[Bob in St. Louis]

Just Listening  !   Willie

 
 

Bob