Yet Another Tweak for the 999ES

gibheid · « **on:** 27 Mar 2006, 05:49 am »

Wouldn't you know it?! You wait a year for a tweak, then two come along at once...

It's spring again and it's time to clean the connections on my rig. I usually use Caig Deoxit then Caig ProGold, but this year I got hold of some Walker SST. Let me tell you people, this stuff works extremely well on the ModWright/Sony 999ES. I put it on the tubes, the two power cables and the umbilical cord. I did it step by step to hear the improvements as they 'built up'.

The biggest improvement was when I put the SST on the tubes. I first used fine sandpaper to lightly clean the pins, and then I applied Caig Deoxit. Next to go on was a very thin coat of Walker SST. SST is—to all intents and purposes—a paint whose pigment is made up of very finely ground, high purity silver particles. It’s very easy to apply with the supplied foam-rubber swabs. A little care is needed to make sure you don’t put great gobs of it on, but application simple enough. With the SST on the tubes the sound immediately got smoother, more detailed and more relaxed at the same time.

The same descriptors could be used for every stage of the cleaning process. For the prongs of my power cables I simply Deox'd'em, then very lightly daubed with Walker's goo. SST should be applied to the male parts of sockets only—and it is highly conductive, so watch where you put it or you could short out your equipment! This shouldn't be a problem even if you have below average motor skills. With both cables done the sound became more seductive and velvety; effortless and enticing.

The umbilical was last and even this was a breeze: there's loads of room to get the little foam swabs in-and-around the plug. With the umbilical completed the tubes glowed a little brighter (from amber to candle-flame yellow) and I felt as though I was hearing the true 999ES for the first time! Suddenly Robert H. Levi’s review didn't seem so outrageously over-the-top… this really is a world-beater of a CD player. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. Dan Wright!

The next day I applied Walker SST to all of my other connectors and fuses. I have very rarely heard a more synergistic system than the one that's in my own front room. My face hurts from smiling! Highly recommended!

PS I used the plain vanilla SST. It’s expensive at $70/bottle, but I only used a very tiny fraction of that to do my whole setup. There's a twice-the-price Extreme version for those brave of heart and wallet.

maxwalrath · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Mar 2006, 06:09 am »

I used it once on my whole system including some tubes and saw a very noticable improvement.

ted_b · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 02:53 am »

Same here. But I agree that on my Modwright stuff, the 999ES Platinum Plus and the SWL 9.0 SE, two units I wouldn't have expected much upside with, the improvement was quite noticeable.

gibheid · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 05:47 am »

Quote from: ted_b

...on my Modwright stuff, the 999ES Platinum Plus and the SWL 9.0 SE, two units I wouldn't have expected much upside with, the improvement was quite noticeable.

I agree, but it was in areas that I wouldn't have looked for an improvement that the most profound changes took place, namely the power supply cables and the umbilical cord. I expected the interconnect to be the more apparent source for improvements (it carrying the signal and all) but the gains there were slight. I even use a PS Audio P-1000 Power Plant to drive my entire system, so I'm well familiar with the virtues of balanced, clean electricity.

The SST was more than just the icing on the cake--it really gelled the whole sound together. I really see where Robert H. Levi is coming from now. To my mind prior to SST the ModWright 999ES was a very good player. It was the equal to players costing much more and I was very happy with it. After SST the sound is mature and exiting and could just be state of the art. I'm struck by the textures of music: of brass on wood on gut on skins. And it's just so beautifully imaged in space... be it a hall or a recording studio.

In the rest of my system, fuses were a big area of improvement, but I didn't crack open any boxes, I just coated the easy-access ones in holders that you can pop out with a screwdriver. Are there any fuses in the 999ES and its power supply? Does Dan read these posts to give us an idea?

Doug_B · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 05:43 pm »

Quote from: gibheid

Wouldn't you know it?! You wait a year for a tweak, then two come along at once...

I'm confused. The Walker SST is one tweak, what's the second one?

As I just procured a similar Modwrighted unit (9000ES), this definitely interests me - tubes, umbilical, etc. By the way, maxwalrath, you may have been a previous owner of this 9000ES. Possible?

I also heard that Walker makes a cleaning fluid/system for CDs. If so, any experience with it?

Recommendations on where to buy the Walker stuff, as well as the Deoxit, would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Doug

ted_b · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 06:35 pm »

There's a separate thread that he started about using Herbie's grungebuster cd mat. It owrks, too...and for $7.

Walker SST and the like can be purchased at Acoustic Sounds or TweakGeek among others.

MarkR7 · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 06:59 pm »

I had the Modwright 999ES and now own the Modwright 9000ES (w/ Bon-Mods). These tweaks (I have all implemented) have taken the Modwrights from good to "great":

- Jena Labs cryo'ed copper umbilical
- GE Jan 7044 tubes
- Walker Valid Points under the cdp, Audiopoints under the power supply
- HiFi Tuning gold on silver fuses
- Poiema !!! power cord on power supply, VD Nite II on cdp
- Quicksilver Gold contact treatment

Just my opinion, but all the above have improved the peformance tremendously. YMMV!

Cheers!

TomS · « **Reply #7 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 07:02 pm »

I used Xtreme Quicksilver Gold on my 999ES/Platinum with similar results. I treated the tubes, power umbilical, and rca's/IC's. I didn't try it on the two power cables. That last little bit of grain seems to be mostly gone now. Very sweet sounding overall. Not quite to where my Wadia GNSC is, but it's hugely more costly and has all manner of mechanical/vibration dampening enhancements that the Modwright doesn't. A good isolation platform like the Critical Mass Systems Master Reference might bring the 999 even closer but it costs nearly as much as the player.

maxwalrath · « **Reply #8 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 09:30 pm »

Quote from: Doug_B

By the way, maxwalrath, you may have been a previous owner of this 9000ES. Possible?

Hey Doug, I sold mine to Fabaudio in NJ and last I heard he was selling it too, so it's very possible. Awesome (!!!) player.

I'm slowly trudging my way to SB2 satisfaction.... (it is finally hooked up via a wired connection, but other issues persist)

Of course I sold the Modwright to save some money and then the stupid Eighth Nerve sale comes along.

gibheid · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 09:56 pm »

Quote from: Doug_B

I'm confused. The Walker SST is one tweak, what's the second one?

Sorry for not being clear. This post follows a similar post I had below. Any tweak I'd tried on the ModWright 999ES failed miserably. The Walker SST is only the second successful tweak I've tried for this unit. The first was Herbie's Grungebuster 2 CD mat.

Quote from: Doug_B

I also heard that Walker makes a cleaning fluid/system for CDs. If so, any experience with it?

I used to use it, but was ultimately dissatisfied with the results for reasons that are hard to define--it seemed to soften and even slightly muffle some information. I MUCH prefer the second generation Auric Illuminator. It's cleaner sounding, gives better bass extension, sweetens abrasive trebles and seperates complicated musical passages better, in my h. opinion.

Quote from: Doug_B

Recommendations on where to buy the Walker stuff, as well as the Deoxit, would be appreciated.

I got my SST and Caig DeOxit online from MusicDirect.

I hope this helps clarify my sloppy posting earlier!

gibheid · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 10:12 pm »

Quote from: MarkR7

- HiFi Tuning gold on silver fuses

I've never heard of these and any imformation I can find online is in German or French. Are you in the US? If so, do you have a source of information for these fuses?

Thanks for taking the time with this.

JerryH · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Mar 2006, 10:42 pm »

Here you go..
a link to the fuses in the US
http://fatwyre.com/FATWYRE/fatwyre/featuredprods.html

Doug_B · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 12:00 am »

Quote from: maxwalrath

Hey Doug, I sold mine to Fabaudio in NJ and last I heard he was selling it too, so it's very possible. Awesome (!!!) player.

Yup, he sold it to me. My second Modwright unit - Pioneer 47Ai the first. Most interested in SACD improvement, as the Pioneer was wanting in detail and my Sony C555ES was too harsh. The 9000ES does the trick. I should be happy for a while until upgraditis kicks in again, but I have an amp and a pre that now move up the priority list

.

Quote from: gibheid

I hope this helps clarify my sloppy posting earlier!

Yes it does. I did read the other post at that time but didn't draw the association.

Both posts are appreciated.

Doug

maxwalrath · « **Reply #13 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 12:48 am »

Quote from: Doug_B

Yup, he sold it to me. My second Modwright unit - Pioneer 47Ai the first.

...I probably owned that unit too.

Doug_B · « **Reply #14 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 01:11 am »

Quote from: maxwalrath

...I probably owned that unit too.

No cigar, but coincidentally my dealer of choice, from whom I purchased the stock unit, is in Philly.

Doug

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #15 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 05:29 am »

This is a tweak that makes good sense to me, but I'll try the Silclear version at 1/2 the price. There are those who say that Silclear is functionally if not actually the same stuff as Walker SST.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/silclear.php

This place is the only source I know of for anti-static guns (ion generators) as well.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/cdtreatments.php

Vtech2000 · « **Reply #16 on:** 29 Mar 2006, 07:47 pm »

Here is a link to more info:

http://www.walkeraudio.com/sst.htm

We apply Walker Audio Extreme SST to the internal non-soldered (cold weld or crimped) terminations of all our cables during assembly. We also apply E-SST to the connector contact prior to conditioning each cable on our audiodharma Cable Cooker 2.5 Pro.

As we are the designer / supplier to ModWright of the upgrade umbilical cable used in their modded players, E-SST is applied to the connector contacts of the umbilical cables prior to shipment to ModWright.

Walker Audio Extreme SST (Super Silver Treatment) contact enhancer is the only contact treatment we recommend to our clients - E-SST kits are available directly from us.

In our experience, Walker Audio Extreme SST, applied to all contacts, took the performance of the ModWright Sony 999es in our system to stratospheric levels.

Cyberbod · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 12:07 am »

Herbie Tube dampers and Cryogenically treated tubes are awesome.

Vtech2000 · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Mar 2006, 12:35 am »

Absolutely - I had the tubes cryo'd (like I do all my tubes), and bought a spare pair of tubes from Dan and had them cryo'd. What a phenominal improvement deep cryogenic treatment does for the performance of tubes! - and no other "treatment" is more cost effective.