[modwright]

OK guys, I have been asked a lot about this...which one is better?

In stock form, the SE IS better.  It is more resolving and higher-performance for music.

After the mods, the differences are interesting.

The SE seems to have a bit more resolution, but this also comes across as a different presentation.  It is more forward in its presentation, with SO MUCH information present.

The stock unit by comparison is very resolving and musical, at perhaps just a bit less overall resolution than the SE.  The stock unit with our mods is simply exceptionally musical and enjoyable.

The modified SE unit is cut from the same cloth, but has a more SS sound to its presentation.

In short, they are different, but the difference is not night and day.  The difference in the two stock units is much more evident. I would prefer the stock SE to the stock non-SE.  The modified non-SE is clearly superior to the stock SE and when both units are modified, the difference becocome more subjective.

I will share more, but these are my initial thoughts.

Thanks,

Dan W.

[jriggy]

Great info! Thanks so much Dan... Sounds like either will do just fine.

I just need to decide what move I need [want ] to make first.

[maikeldepotter]

OK guys, I have been asked a lot about this...which one is better?

In stock form, the SE IS better.  It is more resolving and higher-performance for music.

After the mods, the differences are interesting.

The SE seems to have a bit more resolution, but this also comes across as a different presentation.  It is more forward in its presentation, with SO MUCH information present.

The stock unit by comparison is very resolving and musical, at perhaps just a bit less overall resolution than the SE.  The stock unit with our mods is simply exceptionally musical and enjoyable.

The modified SE unit is cut from the same cloth, but has a more SS sound to its presentation.

In short, they are different, but the difference is not night and day.  The difference in the two stock units is much more evident. I would prefer the stock SE to the stock non-SE.  The modified non-SE is clearly superior to the stock SE and when both units are modified, the difference becocome more subjective.

I will share more, but these are my initial thoughts.

Thanks,

Dan W.

Interesting thoughts. Were these observations based upon CD sound comparisons or Blu-Ray? I too have experienced that an audible (!) higher resolution not necessarily makes the sound more enjoyable. Ultimaltely, I want the highest resolution up to the point that it becomes over-analytical. When I compare CD sound between my modded stock BDP-83 and my Rega Apollo, the latter has more musicality to it when I play old jazz and classical orchestra recordings, while loosing detail compared to the BDP-83. I am not yet done with the comparisons though, and will try with more modern recordings as well. This will also include the Denon 5910CI. Could it be that for CD higher resolution players need higher resolution recordings to stay musical and enjoyable? For blu-ray I have no comparison, but the musical HD recodings included with the BDP-83 sound amazingly good: high resolution and high musicality.

Components: Modwright modded Oppo BDP-83, Rega Apollo, Denon DVD-A1xva (same as 5910CI), Musical Fidelity A5cr preamp, Rotel RB-981 poweramp, Dynaudio Contour 1.4

[Jon L]

It is more forward in its presentation, with SO MUCH information present.

Dan W.

Interesting.  That may mean the SE version is just asking for the tube output stage mod, with tube rolling to adjust the amount of detail and forwardness for one's system balance...  Still, IME, I prefer to work with more resolution and detail and then tweak the system down vs. trying to increase resolution with tweaks, which is essentially fruitless.

[maxwalrath]

I wanted to give this topic a bump up to the top of the queue...anyone else out there have thoughts to share?  Dan, have you done any more comparisons?