My NAD C515BEE is finished.............

[nad]

Originally Posted by Andrea:

Do you like your modified C515BEE's sound quality? That is the question.

Yes I do.........

At the end of the day the NADs were there to play with. I pondered on how much I could improve them given the right bits 'n' bobs (although not expecting miracles) so I jumped in with the iron.

I've put quite a bit of time into them and it'd be a shame not to progress given they're coming on so nicely. It's pleasing to know I'm doing something different too, although it may be strange to others by starting with a 'budget' duo but I like them and at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.

On that note, I guess I've answered my own question.

[Andrea:]

My personal philosophy could be named "reasonable modding", meaning that you improve what would be reasonable to improve, rather than fitting expensive and complicated stuff in a audio component which is meant to be a compromised (between cost and performance) design in the first place.

Thus, I wouldn't use class-D regulators, special clock circuits, new toroidal transformers... as these things look overambitious to me. I'm not saying that they won't do something good, I'm just pretending that reasonableness goes completely astray that way as you can do simpler and far more cost-effective modifications that will refine the sound of the player without trying to make it into what it can never be - or you could've bought something better in the first place.

Yes, BTW, I've tried the complicated road myself before coming to these conclusions.

[nad]

Originally Posted by Andrea:

My personal philosophy could be named "reasonable modding", meaning that you improve what would be reasonable to improve, rather than fitting expensive and complicated stuff in a audio component which is meant to be a compromised (between cost and performance) design in the first place.

Thus, I wouldn't use class-D regulators, special clock circuits, new toroidal transformers... as these things look overambitious to me. I'm not saying that they won't do something good, I'm just pretending that reasonableness goes completely astray that way as you can do simpler and far more cost-effective modifications that will refine the sound of the player without trying to make it into what it can never be - or you could've bought something better in the first place.

Yes, BTW, I've tried the complicated road myself before coming to these conclusions.

I think you're missing my point completely.

I have many systems which fit in your 'better' category, including components from the likes of Meridian, Krell and Creek so I'm not interested in making the 'better' better.

The whole point as a newbie to DIY was to play around with something 'budget' and hopefully make it considerably 'better' whilst learning the ropes without having to compromise the likes of my more expensive equipment.

If you think it's 'unreasonable modding' in what I'm doing with my NADs then that's fair enough, but I disagree.

[Andrea:]

If you see it like that i.e. an 'accademic exercise', then I agree...


But that is not what budget audio components are for me... They're supposed to be long-term companions for lovers of music rather than hi-fi. If you mod them expensively like that (and I'm not saying you shouldn't mod them at all), you miss the whole point of buying budget-but-good equipment. But it's not your particular case.

[mikesnowdon]

Nice one Nad! I love the idea of taking a budget Hi-Fi component and making it competitive with higher-end equipment. Well done!

[nad]

Originally Posted by mikesnowdon

Nice one Nad! I love the idea of taking a budget Hi-Fi component and making it competitive with higher-end equipment. Well done!

Thanks, I'm glad someone is happy for me. Seems if it's not 'high end' then it's snubbed.

[mikesnowdon]

Yep.

The thing is you can achieve a high-end sound with 'budget' gear if you mod it with care and attention to detail. Simply adding low noise supplies and substituting cap's can bring a big improvement. Care should be taken with component selection though. Simply throwing money at something (Blackgate/CARDAS etc) can often give poor results. Taking the time to try out several different cap types (and/or opamps) in different locations to achieve the right 'blend' is what proves fruitful in the end. It requires patience though.

One of the advantages we have in our hobby is that we can take an average product and improve it considerably with out spending a fortune!

Im on your side mate.

[Andrea:]

Originally Posted by mikesnowdon

Yep.

The thing is you can achieve a high-end sound with 'budget' gear if you mod it with care and attention to detail. Simply adding low noise supplies and substituting cap's can bring a big improvement. Care should be taken with component selection though. Simply throwing money at something (Blackgate/CARDAS etc) can often give poor results. Taking the time to try out several different cap types (and/or opamps) in different locations to achieve the right 'blend' is what proves fruitful in the end. It requires patience though.

One of the advantages we have in our hobby is that we can take an average product and improve it considerably with out spending a fortune!

Im on your side mate.

Put this way, I'm on your side too!

[mikesnowdon]

EDIT: GROUP HUG! FEEL THE LOVE BABY!!!

[nad]

Originally Posted by mikesnowdon

Yep.

The thing is you can achieve a high-end sound with 'budget' gear if you mod it with care and attention to detail. Simply adding low noise supplies and substituting cap's can bring a big improvement. Care should be taken with component selection though. Simply throwing money at something (Blackgate/CARDAS etc) can often give poor results. Taking the time to try out several different cap types (and/or opamps) in different locations to achieve the right 'blend' is what proves fruitful in the end. It requires patience though.

One of the advantages we have in our hobby is that we can take an average product and improve it considerably with out spending a fortune!

Im on your side mate.

Thanks for that, my moral has increased 100 fold.

I actually like the NADs more than my other gear, whether it's to do with me putting the fingers in I don't know but they seem to be shouting 'GIVE ME MORE' and I can't help myself in doing so. Money isn't the factor here, I dont care if it ends up costing much more than I could buy better for, it's the 'I've done that' and the enjoyment of the modding that keeps me happy. Hopefully in the end I'll have turned something 'budget' into a cracker all by myself (and of course with a big help from diyaudio).

Back to the mods. tonight I added a bit of attenuation to the preamp. I added a 10k with a 6k8 bleed to try and reduce the brightness, it reduced that ok but it also reduced the bass considerably more.

I'm after 'less' brightness with no loss of dynamics, is this possible?????