[MellowVelo]

Dan has my 105 now. I will let him discuss his findings, but I can say with certainty, he is blown away by what he found under the top cover. It his on a much higher level than the 95

I'm really excited to hear this! I can't wait to hear more impressions from Dan himself.

[modwright]

OK guys, first of all, updates on the units as I have both stock 103 and 105 in house right now, thank you to customers who opted to let me use their units develop the mod!

The stock 105 IS superior sounding, to my ears, to the stock 103.  Not even needing an A/B.  The 103 is GOOD, but has the sound that I find typical with units powered by a SMPS (Switched mode power supply) and with cap coupled outputs....Perhaps you can already see where I am going on the 103 front!

The 105 on CD only so far, is REALLY good stock!  I am surprised at how good it is, to be honest.  Oppo REALLY stepped up their game with this unit, improving the power supply design and overall chassis design. They also added SPDIF and USB digital inputs.  I have not listened to USB inputs yet, but will do so today and report back with my findings there!

It is true that they split out the 8 DACs, in a different way than the 95, where they stacked four DACs per channel.  At least one pair is used for the Headphone outs, and the rest are split between balanced outputs and single-ended outputs.  Not really sure why, but based on Q&A from Oppo, it was to give greater separation between SE and balanced outs.  Now in my mind, a person will EITHER be using it via RCA or XLR and will either be listening to headphones, or speakers.  Not really sure why they felt the need to separate all outputs like this.  With our tube mods, I will experiment to see how best to utilize the 8 DACs on the chip, with the end result being, that XLR, RCA and headphone outputs ALL benefit (i.e. are fed exclusively) from our balanced tube circuit.

The other question is, what does the SMPS supply, in the 105?  It appears that their linear, regulated supply, already powers the DACs and analog stages.  Not sure if it powers the digital input circuitry.  I would expect that video is relegated to the SMPS and as such, it is POSSIBLE that we will offer an upgrade to this supply, including a new, linear, regulated supply instead.

I am also going to consider a discrete SS analog stage for the 105, at a lower price than the tube stage, as it will of course, not require the outboard tube supply or umbilical.

I am going to be finishing the first PCB for the 103 today and I could nearly put the 95 mod directly into the 105 as it is.  The 95 tube mod will be the basis for the 105 mod, with plans to upgrade the external tube supply as well as the tube analog stage.  I also have to determine how the eight DACs on the chip will be used.

I expect to have reports back on both mods in the next two weeks!

The 95 mod benefited from a years worth of R&D into the Sony XA-5400ES mod.  The 105 benefits from the R&D developed from the 95 mod.  We are not re-inventing the wheel in this case!  Rather, we are streamlining and improving the performance of the 'wheel' for the 105 and adapting to the design changes in the new unit.  Because of this, it will NOT take long to have the mod finalized!

Once the mod design is complete, we will be able to turn units around in a 2-week time frame.

If you are interested, please contact us NOW and Kristin will add your name to a list that she has already started compiling.  We will contact those from the list, from the top, once the mods are complete and schedule start dates from there.

The 103 and 105 are BOTH very exciting units!

If the results of my work meet my expectations:

The 103 will be a FANTASTIC machine for ~$1K, that will perform very well for audio, both 2CH and MCH and will be improved in both its performance as a video player and a transport for feeding digital audio to a pre/processor.

The 105 will be a WORLD CLASS player AND DAC, with our tube analog stage, for < $3500 and will perform at the $10K+ range ABSOLUTELY!  We may also offer an upgrade option to the SMPS that will further improve video playback!  I will investigate a SS mod for the 105 that is likely 1/2 the price of the tube mods.

Thank you for your interest in our work!

Sincerely,

Dan Wright
President,
ModWright Instruments Inc.

[62Truck]

Thank you for the updates, Dan!  Exciting stuff, for sure.   

[SoCalWJS]

That all sounds great Dan! I'll be eagerly awaiting further developments.

Curious if you could comment on STOCK sound of the 105 as opposed to the stock 95. Is the new Oppo starting at a better place as far as the analog section goes, or is it about the same?

[Freo-1]

Dan,
 
Based on your observations, would be interested in a full channel solid state mod for the 105 unit. 

[MellowVelo]

That all sounds great Dan! I'll be eagerly awaiting further developments.

Curious if you could comment on STOCK sound of the 105 as opposed to the stock 95. Is the new Oppo starting at a better place as far as the analog section goes, or is it about the same?

Dan, I too would like to get your thoughts on the stock 105 vs. the stock 95.

I also vote for a SS mod!

Thanks for all your great comments so far, Dan! 

[talk2me]

Thank you for the updates, Dan!  Exciting stuff, for sure.   

+1 for sure!

[modwright]

I was once asked years ago about putting tubes in a SS mod that we were doing.  I was told "Make it Glow!".  We have been doing this every since!



The first Oppo BDP-105.  Mod work is still in progress, but tubes are installed and I am evaluating two versions of our external power supply - current and upgraded design that I developed a while back, but had not implemented until now.

There is still more work to do, but I wanted everyone to know that it is playing music via our tube stage, XLR and RCA and it sounds FANTASTIC.

Based on how Oppo has built this unit, it is unlikely that the headphone out will benefit from tube analog outputs, but both RCA and XLR will and for ALL formats of course, 2CH only.

For those who are very observant, yes, for now, we have installed the Oppo 95 tube board.  I am using this PCB as a starting point and tweaking and voicing from there.

Please call if interested.  The list is already growing!

Thanks!

Dan W.

[talk2me]

Oh my Lord, I love tubes and upgraded caps! Tubes look so Christmany in the dark.

[modwright]

Absolutely!  This mod uses Modwright Custom capacitors, our custom Class A tube circuitry and as many as five tubes total - 2 in driver stage and three in external power supply.

The new power supply design uses tube voltage regulation (dual mono regulators) and tube rectification.

We are working hard on finalizing the mod and it will be available SOON!

Thanks,

Dan Wright

[SoCalWJS]

Do you think the tube mod will fit inside the stock (taller) Oppo unit, or are they going to be visible out the top like the existing 95 tube mod?

[modwright]

The tubes will most definitely be exposed through the lid of the player.  This is both trademark and design necessity, in terms of heat.

I do plan on sticking with the 6SN7 tube and there may not be AS MUCH of the tube exposed, as there is a bit more room inside the unit, but they will be largely exposed.

The tubes in the power supply will be enclosed.  This means that the rectifier choice will be limited to the 5AR4/GZ34, unless the lid has a hole punched or machined in it for use with different rectifier tubes, such as 5U4GB and 5V4GB.  The other tubes will be '--EM7' family.

This is a VERY EXCITING project as I am ALREADY getting GREAT sound, and I have only installed the '95 tube mod board and new power supply.  There are still another items to optimize and it is coming together quickly!

Thanks,

Dan W.

[talk2me]

Dan, for my 105, I want my tubes to stick out as much as possible to make Ron Jeremy blush! 

[Freo-1]

For my system, would look at a full solid state mod for HT and some music. I have a Modwright 83 SE that still sounds great, but has some miles on it.   
Also have the Tube Oppo 95 for the audio only system, and I think it's great! Not in any hurry to upgrade it. 

[modwright]

If I am right, then the 103 mod will be THE solution for SS fans and the 105 tube mod will suit the interests of those looking for true high-end audio via tube analog stage.

I will report back as soon as I get the first 103 prototype done and finalize the 105 mod.

I am a good way through the 105 and am expecting parts and proto PCB's early this coming week, for the 103.

Thanks!

Dan

[Freo-1]

Would you consider a linear PS for the 103?  I've been very happy with your full SS mod with the 83SE (it also has the XLR and clock mod as well).

[kngale1]

Dan,

Can you increase the height of the power supply so 5U4GB and 5V4GB rectifiers will fit?   I want to use my NOS Tung-Sol 5U4GB rectifiers.

Thanks!

[Freo-1]

You probably already know this, but Dan cuts a hole on request so accommodate those tubes.  I'm currently using a Bendix Radio 5V4G (date code 9/43) with outstanding results.  Also have the Sylvania 5AR4 Fat Bottles that stick up slightly.

[kngale1]

A hole is probably easier to roll tubes 

[modwright]

I am looking at a linear PS for the 103.

I will also look into either punching the lids of existing PS enclosures or on our next order, have the lids punched by the machine shop.

Thanks

Dan