[Doug_B]

I am interested in knowing if anyone has had to get their modded equipment repaired. For the sake of argument, let's assume that the trouble is easily diagnosed as an element that is not associated with the mods themselves and that you are not qualified to do your own repairs. Do you send the unit back to an authorized service center and risk them screwing up the mods? Do you take it to a local shop, maybe with specific instructions? Something else? Of course, the guts of the unit itself may not be easily separated between modded and unmodded areas, much less that my initial diagnostic assumption may not apply.

Any first hand experience or thoughts on the subject are welcome.

Thanks.

Doug

[audioengr]

I am a modder, but I have never had this situation arise yet, thank god.

I once did mods to my own Velodyne subwoofer internal amplifier.  When it broke and I got it repaired by Velodyne, they removed all the mod parts (all additions) and put them in a bag for me.  Not bad.  When I received the sub back, I just re-installed them.

[Doug_B]

audioengr,

This illustrates some of the issues associated with the need to repair a modded unit. If you weren't the modder of the sub amp, the situation would have been trickier, to say the least. Now it may be true that the probability of failure of many/most components may be low throughout a typical life span of such product, but some products may be more prone to failure. An example with which I am concerned is a CD player, with respect to the transport mechanism (and sometimes the laser assembly) possibly being more prone to failure than other elements of the unit.

Doug

[audioengr]

I've had several cd players and DVD players, some for as long as 18 years and I have never had a transport failure.  I stay away from the cheaper ones though.

[JLM]

I recommend that modder's do any repairs to the equipment, because:

1.) They were the last ones inside, they should have a good knowledge of the entire workings.  

2.) They're mods design/workmanship (or shipping back and forth) may have caused the failure.

3.) The mods probably violated any remaining warrantee.

4.) I wouldn't count of the manufacturer's shop to treat folks as well as described above.

Good question.

[Carlman]

I asked this same question to Dan Wright when I had him modify my Pioneer DVD player.  His answer was that he would make repairs on it if there was a problem (unrelated to the modification) for a fee.  You certainly void the warranty by doing modifications to the circuitry.  He warrants his work for a while, though.. can't remember the term at the moment.  

I am/was concerned because I was spending $300 on a $100 transport.  How long does a $100 transport last?  Hopefully a few years.  I've had no problems with my other, unmodified Pioneer DVD player that's 2 years older.

It's a risk, no doubt.... but, if the people that do the modification can warrant their work and fix it down the road, I feel pretty good about it.

[Doug_B]

Of course I would expect to pay for any trouble isolation and repair work, as the manufacturer's warranty goes out the window as soon as the modder makes his first modification. Any work, related or unrelated to the mod, performed by the modder to isolate and repair, especially after his warranty expires, would be a definite plus and would ensure that the mods will not be negatively impacted. This becomes more important for more extensive mods (e.g., using Dan Wright as an example, who would you allow to repair a player that had one of his tube mods? --- hint hint). I would suppose that most modders would be able to support this (for a fee), as long as such occurrences are infrequent, as I'm sure they're very busy on their bread and butter work.

Doug

[_scotty_]

I am interested in knowing if anyone has had to get their modded equipment repaired. For the sake of argument, let's assume that the trouble is easily diagnosed as an element that is not associated with the mods themselves and that you are not qualified to do your own repairs. Do you send the unit back to an authorized service center and risk them screwing up the mods? Do you take it to a local shop, maybe with specific instructions? Something else? Of course, the guts of the unit itself may not be easily s ...

 If there is a down side to modding this is it.So far nothing I have ever had Stan Warren modify has failed That does not mean that it doesn't happen.I have been lucky.I hope I stay lucky. Stan only redesigns the analogue output stage on CD/SACD/DVD players and he leaves the digital
sections alone.His theory is,if it's not broken why fix it. The analogue stage and its OP-AMP outputs have been the richest area for improvements.
The problem comes from the approach used to fix broken players.Board replacement.No work is usually performed on a circuit board if it can be avoided by replacing the entire board,Diagnostic work is faster if all you have to determine is which board has failed or may have failed and put in a new board and see if that fixed the problem.If the board that failed has your mod on it, good by mod, you now have a stock machine. A worst case scenario example is the machine for which replacement boards are no longer available which may be the case with the Philips SACD1000. Now
you actually have to trace down the failed part and replace it.Sometimes you do this and it still doesn't work and you are faced with multiple organ failure on the operating table. Fortunately even cases like these can usually be brought back to life all it takes is time and money.I would have to say that you should be very aware of the risks involved and remember that the player you have modded today will probably be obsolete, even modded, in 6mo. to a year. This is a moving target.The idea that I will get
a modded player and have the best there is for a few years is a fallacious
concept.The Japanese players have been decontented and the transports used cheapened up.They are made to wear out much faster than 5years ago.The days of the brushless slotless motor are about over, the SCD1
and the 777ES were the last players with bomb proof transports that SONY
made.Now the motors all come China.A lot of money in a mod to a player with a cheap transport is probably not the best investment. If on the other hand if you can have a total of $500.00 including player and mods together and have $1,500.00 worth of sound quality for 2or 3 years this might not be a bad way to go.I would have to vote for limiting my financial risk on the player.Like anything else you pays your money and takes your chances.

[rcrump]

Steve, you have been lucky with your mods......I only work on gear wherein I own the piece and have voiced it, have complete schematics and replacement parts or know the maker well enough for them to help me through the mess of getting it working before it leaves here.....This kind of cuts back on what I modify, but I literally kill every one of the DACs I work on due to a tiny fet that acts as a switch supplying DC to the receiver chip that will go out if you look at it sideways....This .19 part is just a pain in the butt so I stock a hundred as static is a big thing here in Houston as we use air conditioning most of the year.....Recall having a transport in for mods and the laser decided to give up the ghost.....I had a spare one, but explaining to the customer that the laser in his five year old transport went out while testing left a bad taste in everyone's mouth......Doing mods just isn't worth it as when things go bad they really go bad and someone has to pay for it, normally the technician......I guess I never charged enough for the mods I have done the past twenty years as never put in an amount for the breakage and the diddling trying to get things to work again.......

Something that bothers me a bit about mods is there are lots of folks that have never seen much less heard the pieces they work on and never keep the unit long enough to break it in all the way to know what the piece will sound like.....Gee, black gates and harris diodes should make it sing kind of mentality does not necessarily make for a better piece.......Sure it will sound "different", but could it have been better if it spent six weeks in the modifier's system?  Point is quiz the technician about the piece you want modified and don't send it unless the person has intimate knowledge of the piece.....