Modwright Sony 999ES: Impressions of Modifications

There's a lot of info about the Modwright Sony mods in the discussion archives, including user reviews, comments and comparisons. Have you done a search of the threads?

Yes, Tvad I've searched the forums and read everything but there isn't much specific information on the performance of the different levels of mods. Just trying to drill down on more specific experience with the mods. the range in price from 1150 to 1750 is significant.

Foster_9, Dan's tube stage is what he's known for. I'd recommend
foregoing the intermediate modifications and doing the full Platinum
mod with the clock upgrade if it's something you can afford. There's
probably a good reason why there's a dearth of commentary about the
lower level Modwright modifications, namely few have chosen them over
the full-monty tube stage mods.

I spent several hours comparing my cousin's Signature Truth (tubes & spearate power supply) 999ES with his early model Cary CD. We both agreed the modded Sony sounded better, with a deeper soundstage. The rest of the system was Cary analog with Innersound speakers. I don't know about the Jolida JD 100, but I suspect you will be pleased with the modded 999ES. One thing to understand is that big companies such as Sony and Panasonic have engineering and economy of scale on their side, even though they may cut corners on component selection for mass production. Those cuts that can be remedied by a modder if the platfform is sound.

I think I'll send my 9000ES off to Modwright for the mod just below the level that adds tubes and power supply. I use the DAC in my Proceed processor (PDSD) for CD, but must rely on the Sony DAC for SACD. My experience with Sony's analog output for CD suggests its DAC process is inferior to the DAC process of Proceed, as well it ought to be given the large MSRP differential.

db

I purchased the Sony 999ES from Dan with his platinum mod which included tubes and a separate power supply. I was very happy with his mod. Then he announced a clock upgrade and bybee filters. I sent the unit back to him again and the unit sounds even better. I am very pleased with the performance of the unit and I believe for the money spent I truly have a state of the art player. Now is it as good as $20,000 worth of SACD and DAC from Ed Meitner? I would doubt it, but I have spent a total of about $3500.00 with Dan of Modwright and I couldn't be happier. By the way, the reason I took the plunge with Dan is because of all the good reviews from the people on this site.