DVD Player Mods Completed w/ Pics (1 Viewer)

[David A. Frattaroli]

I just performed a number of mods to my Toshiba SD1200 dvd player that some of you may be interested in. I replaced the stock AC power cord connector with an IEC socket so I can swap out and test different power cords. I also made a DIY power cord. I applied Microsorb under the transport to reduce jitter, an AuriCap capacitor across the Hot and Neutral to filter noise from the line and replaced the stock feet with EAR Isodamp feet. Check it out at
Link Removed in the DIY section. There are two pages: One for the cord and one for the other DVD mods.
Thanks.
Dave

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

David, nice careful work. Let us know your test results. It would be nice to know your impression of each mod individually. I'd particularly like to know what effect you can detect from the filter cap you wired across the AC input. Also, when you post power cord comparisons/findings, get ready for the dreaded "Wire Controversy"!

 

[Joe Tilley]

David, very nice work I wish I had the time and money well mostley the money to do some things like this with my equmpent.Ive thougrt about doing this with my cd & dvd player but have not had the extra money do do anything lateley. Hope it all works out well for ya

 

[David A. Frattaroli]

Thanks fellas. Joe, you'd be surprised how inexpensive it is to do this. That's one of the reasons I tried it in the first place.

 

[Lee Weiss]

David,

What does all this do for your DVD player? Just curious...

 

[Joe Tilley]

David, I know its not to expensive Ive already made on cord for my recever but that one cost me 32.00 for the plugs Ive got the wire for it but Im just cutting my bills really close for awhile (I got a pretty good speeding ticket I got to pay)well and the wife just had to get a new car this month so Im pretty well stuck for now.
But like they say good things come to those who wate Im just hopeing its my turn next.

 

[David A. Frattaroli]

Lee, According to some, the Microsorb should reduce jitter in the transport and anamolies that are related to it. That could be anything really. The feet, I would imagine, help to the same degree.
The cord and capacitor are all about getting clean, stable juice to the component.
I've been told that the mods need time to "settle" a bit before any real benefits can be realized.
You're not the first person to ask me this question with regard to the mod. It also seems to me, (I'm not including you in this) that folks seem to be a bit skeptical about such mods. I find that interesting because, to me, it shouldn't be any more odd than the expectation that speaker wire and inter-connects can affect your system's performance. (Here we go again, right? ). In fact, it makes sense to me that these changes could have an even more profound effect on my gear (than say, speaker wire) since the quality of the current being fed to the component is so critical and precedes everything else that happens downstream.
I'll be reporting back with any changes I notice.
Dave

 

[Jeremy_Wolf]

Dont forget to upgrade all of the wiring in your house, that stuff is pretty shabby by hi-fi standards. And while your at it, get the powercompany to replace all of their power lines to your house as well because they are low grade too.
I hate to come off sounding like such a jerk, but the wire that your are using to feed power to your DVD player will not give you a noticeable difference unless you imagine it.
Powercords are as much to Hi-Fi as frenology (study of bumps on head) is to predicting a persons personalitly. A.K.A. a pseudo science.
This post was not meant as a flame, only to inform about the powercord mods. A modification is sometimes only as good as you tell yourself it is. Show me proof using scopes, meters, spectrum analyzers, then I will believe the powercord myths

 

[Tim Hood]

???

Then what is the point of DIY?

Tim

 

[David A. Frattaroli]

That's your opinion, Jeremy. I don't have to prove anything at all, let alone with "scopes" as you so put it. I've already noticed changes in the first few seconds of playing it. Were they good or bad? Well, does it matter? You won't believe I saw or heard them. With such a closed mind, why bother reading these posts? Oh, yeah, I don't mean this to be a flame.

 

[Andrew Low]

I'd just like to chime in here.

I'm not a believer in high cost exotic power cords, damping pads, interconnects.

However, there is an obvious build quality between really cheap wires and well built ones. At the very least, they'll put up to more abuse.

I don't think David F. has gone the cost no object route, the DIY solution is probably a nice fit for a lot of us. HiFi is a HOBBY for almost all of us, so spending a few dollars on tweaks isn't the end of the world.

I'm not trying to spark off a long debate. For my personal tastes, I like to build my own interconnects using 'reasonable' quality components. I doubt I could hear a difference -- but I had fun building them.

Now the main benefit I see to the power cord project is the fact that David grounded the chassis of the DVD player. That's a big change, and may help reduce ground loop issues.

David: Is there an electrical connection between any of the components in the DVD player (ie: circuit boards) and the chassis?

What about other components in your system? Are they now all 3 prong plugs? Or are some of them still 2 prong? Any experience with ground loop issues?

Roo

 

[David A. Frattaroli]

Andrew, you've summed it up very well. I've never been a tweak freak but I do build my own cables. The mods I made didn't cost much money at all and at the very least, I learned something and didn't hurt performance by any means.

Regarding your questions: I've never had a ground loop problem so I certainly wouldn't want to hear one now! That would mean I introduced it myself. The power output board is connected to two other boards: the video-out board and another (not sure what it does). I think a ribbon cable or two may even be connected to the dvd transport.

One final point: It amazes me that people will put a water filter on their faucets expecting them to clean impurities out of the water that are due to the less than clean tributaries that lead to ones home but don't believe the same can be done for electrical power. These are probably the same folks who don't realize how many electrical components (capacitors, resistors, coils, etc.) are found in otherwise passive components like speakers and therefore don't believe changing these very parts in a front end component like a dvd player can make any difference.

This really isn't a criticism because in many cases I fall into that group. I just thought I would invest some time and little money and find out for myself.

 

[Jeremy_Wolf]

I was merely talking about the power cord, not his other mods. The other mods could be very good. I don't know if they are or not because I have never tried them. I only brought up the powercord thing because it's simple physics. Now adding a filtered socket to the chasis could give a noticeable improvement if you have noise issues on your powerline. I was only talking about the actual power cable itself. I'm not trying to put a damper on the DIY spirit.

And yes, changing interconnects and speaker wire can make a small change to a big change in the sound of a system as well. I know this trough experience. I went from some 18 gauge wire to some 14 gauge wire and I picked up way more bass at higher volume (probably a capacitance/resistance issue on the small wire). This effect was also not imagined because at the time I didn't know much about the speaker wire debates. I just bought new wire because the old stuff wasn't the correct length I needed. As for interconnects, I have some that when they are used for video cause major ghosting in the image, while the other ones I have look great. It is a true night an day difference. The sad part is the ones that work the best ard dirt cheap walmart interconnects. The other ones are sheilded radioshack ones, go figure.

 

[Jay C]

Don't forget to upgrade all of the wiring in your house, that stuff is pretty shabby by hi-fi standards. And while your at it, get the power company to replace all of their power lines to your house as well because they are low grade too.
I hate to come off sounding like such a jerk, but the wire that your are using to feed power to your DVD player will not give you a noticeable difference unless you imagine it.

Jeremy, some questions. How much of the internal house wiring is within 6" or less of your interconnects and equipment? Do you suppose it's possible to have a shielded power cord sound different/quieter than an unshielded one? If you were to replace a 2-prong (Hot-Neu) cord with a 3-prong (Hot-Neu-Gnd) cord and tie the ground to the metal case, do you suppose you will now also create a faraday shield around those components?
With such a huge power cord market, is any and every one of those people being duped too? Your argument is not based on experience. If I gave you scoped readings, what would that tell you? what specifically are you looking for in the way of proof? The best test instruments you have are your ears and brain. If David says he hears a difference, then I believe he does. He's not selling anything, so why scoff at his DIY?
Now, if you tell me that you have tried a DIY cable, and it made no difference, then I can accept that, otherwise, yours is pure speculation and personal bias.
No offense meant here either.
Jay

 

[Jeremy_Wolf]

David, I forgot to mention this in my first post, very nice work. I wish all of the stuff that I built came out looking that good. Even if I don't believ the powercord improves the sound/image, it still looks pretty cool
No offense taken Jay C, it's all good

If you were to replace a 2-prong (Hot-Neu) cord with a 3-prong (Hot-Neu-Gnd) cord and tie the ground to the metal case, do you suppose you will now also create a faraday shield around those components?

Yes, it would create a faraday shield around the components.
However don't forget that when you ground your dvd player which was never grounded before, you stand a chance of introducing the dreaded ground loop if you connect that player to any other piece of equipment. A common mod to fix groundloop issues is to use a cheater plug (no ground prong).

 

[Jay C]

Yes, it would create a faraday shield around the components.
However don't forget that when you ground your DVD player which was never grounded before, you stand a chance of introducing the dreaded ground loop if you connect that player to any other piece of equipment. A common mod to fix ground-loop issues is to use a cheater plug (no ground prong).

If you look at the geometry of the braid, you'll notice that the wires cross at near 90 degrees. This increases the interference rejection. Ground loop hum is caused by unequal potentials in the chassis grounds. Since David is using a cable that grounds the whole chain back to one ground. As he changes out his other cords, they too will be tied to the same house/electrical ground. Oh course other cause are that the two chassis grounds are on different legs of the 220 mains, and of course the worst culprit that the cable coax is grounded in a different place than the AC main service.
However, in my case, and experience I installed the DSS, and the ground is tied to the same stake as my AC. Furthermore, I can honestly say that I hear a difference when I made the same cord as David and installed in on my DVD player. The noise floor drops. I didn't even know it was there, but I can tell it's gone. Again, I don't care if anyone believes me or David, or the whole after market of AC cords. I'm not selling anything just sharing my experience. David has done a great job of illustrating the steps, and I didn't want to let him take any heat for sharing.
Jay

 

[David A. Frattaroli]

Jeremy, about the ground loop issue. You're right about possibly introducing into your system. But adding a three prong plug to a two prong component could also qualify as grounding test. That is to say that if your system is properly grounded at the outlet, you could never introduce the ground loop problem to it. That is if I'm plugging the new three prong component into another properly grounded component. Do you get my reasoning. I'd rather know that my system is properly grounded by adding a three prong plug and allowing the problem to possibly being exposed. If it is, then I can fix it.
BTW, this is hardly the reason I tried the mods.
I just wanted to prove something to myself. And even if my cord makes no difference, it doesn't mean another wouldn't either. I have different kinds of cable laying around waiting to become an AC cord. Next up, a 20A version based on SJOOW cable.
I'll be waiting a good long time to see if this mod makes a difference. I believe in break in periods.
Regards to all.

 

[Jason Watson]

David,
I was thinking,after reading your post and viewing the pictures,(great job BTW)that it would be cool to build the cap into the cord on a future DIY project. Maybe for an amp or pre/pro. You could then swap the cord you just made with the cap equipped cord and judge the differences of the cap upgrade alone. I myself have DIY powercords on most of my equipment and may have to try this idea out myself.
That is, after I remove the water filters from my drinking water supply.You know, since they cant possibly make a difference in the water, after it has traveled through miles of crappy plumbing to get here. Jeeze I feel like such a sucker!
Jason

 

[Jim A. Banville]

I just wanted to prove something to myself. And even if my cord makes no difference

If you think it will make a difference, it will
It amazes me that when people put some highly debated pseudo-science device in their system and hear a "huge" improvement, they completely discount PLACEBO

 

[Jeremy_Wolf]

If you think it will make a difference, it will

It amazes me that when people put some highly debated pseudo-science device in their system and hear a "huge" improvement, they completely discount PLACEBO

This was also another point I was trying to get across.

Both electrical and water filters do work, and usually quite well.