Swoboda XA50ES modification??
Wouter Heijke
has done to the Sony XA50ES cd player?
I saw in a German magazine that he made a modification, but
what did he do? There was only a very small picture of the
XA50ES which said the 'Swoboda XS50ES'?
Any info and how much does it cost would be welcome?
This is already an awsome cd player, but could it even be made
better????!!!
Thanks,
Wouter
--
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My Nakamichi webpage is here:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wheijke/nak
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Oliver Kipper
Wouter Heijke wrote:
since I own a Sony X 777 ES that has been modified by Swoboda(2+), I
feel qualified to comment on your questions without knowing much
about his changes to the XA 50 ES.
> Does anybody know what Michael Swoboda (Germany, Europe)
> has done to the Sony XA50ES cd player?
> I saw in a German magazine that he made a modification, but
> what did he do? There was only a very small picture of the
> XA50ES which said the 'Swoboda XS50ES'?
Michael Swoboda believes that the top level Sony CD-Players are of a
superior quality except for one part. That is the analog filter. He
therefore has constructed his own version of an analog filter that
replaces the original Sony parts in all his modifications. He has
worked over his original design once for sure (thus his players are
usually distinguished between modification 1 and modification 2). As
far as I understand it this also works with the switchable filter
characteristics of the XA 50 ES (however, he may have gone over the
design of the analog filter again resulting in a modification 3?).The
other thing Mr. Swoboda used to do to modify the Sony 7xx ES series
was to attach the transport mechanism to kevlar strings(naming it
modification +). This worked perfectly to decouple the players
transport from any kind of air resonance (is that a correct english
term? Moderator, feel free to improve!). I know that he tried to
transfer the suspension string technology to the new series of Sony
Players with the transport mechanism integrated in the tray, and that
this caused him quite some trouble. As far as I am informed he has
not so far managed to implement this concept in the XA 50 ES.
> Any info and how much does it cost would be welcome?
The price of the 2+ modification was 2300 DM (~1300$ or ~2600 HFL). I
think the price for the exchange of the analog filter would have been
around 1300 DM, but this may either be wrong or might have changed.
> This is already an awsome cd player, but could it even be made
> better????!!!
Yes, yes, yes. In my personal opinion Michael Swoboda is a genius.
Although I have not heard the XA 50 ES in comparison so far, I am
sure that the modification is worth its price. When I compared my 777
against the 2+ modification I felt like I had new ears. The only
player that I compared the modification to that was not beaten
already by the first few notes of Belafonte at Carnegie Hall was the
Krell KPS 20 i (see my rave review on AudioReview
http://www.audioreview.com/reviews/Cdplayer/sony_cdp7-_cdplayer.shtml
).
The last I can do for you is give you the address of Michael Swoboda
in Essen. He is a very friendly guy and I am sure he will answer all
your questions:
Swoboda Audio Modification
Lindauhoehe 11
45259 Essen
Germany
Phone ++49-201-468080
Fax ++49-201-468090
Yours
Oli
Keith A. Lahteine
article in "Stereophile" about a year ago . Sorry I don't remember
the actual date . Even with my, limited, comprehension I was very
immpressed with his, seeming, knowlege of the "Sony" CD changers .
Stereophile was very pro as to his work . Compared to the price of,
for example, the "Krell" CD drive the price of the modified "Sony"
seems very reasonable .
Sincerely : Keith A. Lahteine
[quoted text deleted -- deb]
> > Does anybody know what Michael Swoboda (Germany, Europe)
> > has done to the Sony XA50ES cd player?
> > I saw in a German magazine that he made a modification, but
> > what did he do? There was only a very small picture of the
> > XA50ES which said the 'Swoboda XS50ES'?
[quoted text deleted -- deb]