Modded Cambridge Audio 550C player. Rating??

Are you perhaps expecting a silk purse from a sow's ear?

I might suggest that claims of this player (modded or otherwise) besting products 10X its price are a bit exagerated.

I have an 840C that is considerably more sophisticated and better built than the 550C, with its digital output being fed to a CLASS A analog output stage equipped Bryston BDA-1. That combination compared to a $4000 PWT from PS Audio still did not best the PWT by any margin (although close).

The IC OP amp output stages in the CA just will not compare with any $4000 transport/DA no matter how many 4" thick maple plinths you mount it on. In my experience, they tend to sound bright, sometimes really over emphasizing the upper midrange. Symbols and bells get a nice space and presentation, but high pitch female vocals, microphonics, and syllibance can drive you out of the room.

I might suggest you try feeding the digital outputs to a good D/A with a class A discrete analog output stage. You then circumvent the opamps in the 550. This may change your perception considerably. But I still doubt if it will best $4000 equipment.

Mapleshade speaker wire, ICs and power strip sound very bright, so it's no wonder that Pierre Sprey likes a less-forward CD player to balance them out. That said, I would try putting the unit on some hard footers or cones, which Mapleshade also recommends. I've found that you usually get what you pay for - there ain't no player for a few hundred bucks that sounds like 5K. People wish it were true, but it isn't good luck.

I agree with DHL. I have a heavily modded 740c. Although the the opamps have been changed to discrete burson opamps, the basic characteristic of the 740c is still there which is a little bright and thin sounding. U may say it's revealing but it's quite nasty when poor recorded female vocals cds are played.

Thanks to all who responded.

To DHL 93449, The full story is not as simple as I explained it before; but I will give you the short version.

Last September, I became interested in "improving" the playback sound quality of the Rega Apollo which I still have. I considered an outboarded DAC, and looked or read all the reviews and comments on each one to determine which would be compatible with the Rega, and with my price range. To my great surprise, and contrary to what I had originally understood about the purpose of a stand alone DAC, I was told by several members that it would probably only provide marginal improvement. The more I read, the more I became convinced that DACS had become an important tool of computer audio and to hell with CD playback. Computer Audio was here. The more expensive DAC like the PS Audio, Rega, Peachtree Sim Audio...all at about $1000 retail had features on them I would never use because I little to know interest in computer audio, or music files. So, I shelved "Project DAC", and decided on looking for a very good to excellent upgrade to the Rega Apollo. The Rega Saturn was my first choice; Rega dropped the retail to $1795, but I still could not find one used that was in my price range. I then considered expanding the budget, and almost bought the highly regarded and rated Ayre CX-7 mp2. No go!!! the least expensive used one was $1800, and I just did not want to pay that kind of money for an upgraded player

So I then began the quest of looking for a vintage and very highly rated used, but discontinued CD players, like the Meridian 508, and a few of the better Musical Fidleity players. That was a no go also because manufacturers told me flat out, they had either no parts, lasers, or transports should the unit in question need service.

The comment about buying a DAC to improve the sound of the modded Cambridge 550C seems counter-productive. Even a Rega top of the line DAC is at least $750 to 800 used; the Peachtree about the same. The cheapo Peachtree I-DAC, I am told would be a waste of money offering no improvement in sound quality hooked to the Rega Apollo, and is a piece of jumk with reliability problems.

Therefore, either the Cambridge modded 550C stays and struts its stuff as its makers and sellers claim, or I go back to the Rega Apollo, and try to return the 550C to the private buyer. At this time, there is about 82 hours of burn-in logged, and some sonic improvement. I may experiment with a few different IC's I own and my only PC ---Shunyata Diamondhead PC. MapleShade claims CD's are particularly sensitive to the type of PC used.....of course, that could be just a load of crap in defense of the bombastic and exaggerated claims made about the 550C player. Jimbo

I would suggest a much longer break-in before you decide.