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Useful tweaks for Oppo 980/DTC 9.8 for MC-SACD

I have recently upgraded to the Integra DTC 9.8 and Oppo 980H primarily to enjoy MCH SACD. My two channel SACD is a VSE Mod 4 Sony 9000 that runs through the 2-channel portion of my system. The new Oppo/9.8 sound very good indeed. In direct comparison playing 2 channel SACD versus the VSE Mod 4 it is not quite as musical (Depth, high end extension/linearity, dimensionality).
I was wondering if anyone has tried any tweaks to their Oppo or DTC 9.8 that have been musically significant such as chassis damping, isolation, power cords. It is a great price performance combo. I am just looking to maximize the potential performance. Thanks in advance for your input.
tellefsen
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,424 posts
 
Are you running the 980H via HDMI? If so, I doubt there are any useful tweaks. If not, you should.

Kal
soix
2,133 posts
 
If you're looking at Oppo mods you might want to check out www.tweakaudio.com. Ric's been modding these things for quite a while and is a pretty straight shooter. If you get to speak with him I'm sure you'll come away a little wiser. Best of luck.
blindjim
2,837 posts
 
FYI
The 980 does benefit from a better power cord, naturally. How better? Depends on the cord being used.
Different footers too will help. Also placing some weight (not a lot) on top will help out too.
of course so will a good stand or rack to put it on.
An outboard DAC is (depending on the DAC) gonna really change things... and for the better too.
I use mine primarily for DVD via HDMI, and 2 ch red book, via a Stereovox XV2 digital link into a BC DAC3.

As to modding it.... Why?

I believe thoughts on modding a player IMO might be better suited to another step or so up the line, or one with a better transport.

With a DAC which de-jitterizes the signal well, it'll come down to how much denairo ya got, and how picky are your ears. Running both a SCD xa 777es, and the 980 into the DAC 3, the sonic diffs were quite minimal.

If a one box deal, and multi ch are your preff, go for it. I would consider the 983 as well, though.
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