Some more details on the Modwritght BDP-83 SS mods and comments from other ACers who bought the unit:
Upgrade cost, not including stock Oppo, was $1000.
Modwright replaced the analog state with a solid state one with no op amps etc., upgraded the power supply (almost always a good idea in most gear!) and the clock was replaced.
From Modwright: "The SS output stage is VERY fast and detailed with phenomenal bass. It also has a sweet midrange and is startlingly accurate. It is not a tube mod, but it is a SS circuit that offers many of the strengths of tubes, in some of the same ways as our KWA 150 SS amplifier." "I would have to say that it is ON PAR with our tube-modified units. There is a slightly different sonic character as it is SS and not tube, but it is a circuit that is more tube-like than SS in its presentation and the bass response is better defined!"
From a buyer of the Modwright with the SS mods: "As it has been a few months since I had my stock player and I don't have a stock player to directly compare to, my comparisons are mostly based on memory. However, I can say up front that the modified player does not even closely resemble the sound of the stock player - it is so much better across the board! There is a much better balance to the sound (before it sounded a little thin/bright) - accuracy and bass in particular stand out along with much better instrument and vocal clarity. The improvement is apparent across all formats -the dedicated stereo outputs are phenomenal sounding for both CD and SACD and are significantly better than the Sony SCD-2000ES that Dan modified for me several years ago. Uncompressed Blu-Ray audio out of the multichannel outputs is a revelation now - before I could not tell much if any difference between it and the compressed DD/DTS digital output via coax and having it processed by my pre/pro (a McIntosh MX119). That is not the case at all now - the difference between compressed and uncompressed DD/DTS is as big as it should be."
From Phil A: "I spent more than a couple of hours listening. I decided to try an A/B [of Modwright SS BDP-83] vs. the Marantz DV9600. In my opinion not even close. I got up 4 times to double check I was playing the SACD layer on the Marantz and realized the last time I got up check it was a single layer SACD!"
Hope this helps.
