Pioneer DV-45A/47Ai/DVD-656A mods

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The Pioneer DV-45A, DV-47Ai and DVD-656A can be modded to sound quite wonderful. The transport mechanism on these machines seems bulletproof. Have not heard of a single person saying they have had trouble with reading any disc with these machines or have not seen a post where one has had a problem.

 

The mod for the Pioneer units is $1150 and consists of the following:

 

Install a grounded IEC connector on the back panel so you can use a better power cord (connector on 47Ai changed to grounded 3 prong connector).

 

Modify the existing switching power supply for better sound using exotic Jensen 4 pole cap and change many diodes to much better sounding soft recovery types, etc.

 

Add a 50 watt toroidal transformer (mounted in air on brass bolt) and hand made power supply board with 4 regulators for the new front channel output stage and for the front channel DAC. Exotic parallel diodes and Blackgates used in power supplies.

 

Add super simple proprietary discrete fet output stage (hand made output board) to replace all op amps and stock output stage. Very high bias FETs, Rel-Cap Polystyrene filter caps, handmade litz wire caps (invented here), nude Vishay resistors, Caddock resistors and nude Blackgates used in the output stage.

 

Handmade mute circuit added to stop DC pulses on turn off and turn on.

 

Add mute switches that optionally squelch minor pops during start up and eject of disc.

 

Add OFC output jacks for the front channels and redo the grounding for better sonics.

 

Contrained layer damping of many, many parts.

 

We normally disconnect the Tos-link connector as part of this mod. If you want us to leave it connected then let us know before modding. Optionally, we can wire a switch that will allow you to turn it off and on ($20).

 

Install Audiocom Superclock II with handmade power supply using Blackgate caps for PPL chip.

 

The cost of the parts is about $650 and the labor is very intense including 5 handmade boards (diode bridge on switching supply, power supply board for DAC and output stage, output stage, muting board and power supply for the ppl chip).

 

The mod is almost identical to the mod for the Philips 963 but with the addition of the Audiocom Superclock II and hand made power supply for the ppl chip (hence the higher price).

 

 

Now available is an additional optional upgrade to the SACD board (45A and 47Ai only). We change 12 caps to Blackgate for increased clarity and resolution. Effects SACD playback only. Cost is $150.00. Mod is designated as "SACD board mod".

 

Note: The mod to the 47Ai defeats the ilink board. Actually, we remove it, needing room for our muting stages and muting switches.

 

The mod is mainly to make the front left and right channels sound better. The surround channels, woof and center channels will sound slightly better do to the modification to the original switching power supplies and the damping we do. The 45A will also sound better on surround do to the addition of an IEC connector which allows the use of better sounding power cords (the 47Ai already has an IEC connector). If you want further improvement of the other channels, we can change some of the coupling caps and eliminate some not needed parts. Price is $50.

 

The difference between the 45A and 47Ai is very little. They use the same transport, basic power supply board, mother board and output board. The 47Ai has a better video chip, has more video outputs, has a taller chassis and two steel plates bolted on underneath to make it more heavy. The 47Ai also has the Legato Link upsampler/bit expander chip in it.

 

The DVD 656A is the same machine as the 45A but without SACD capability. Modified it sounds identical to the 45A. This neat DVD-A machine can be bought for under $200 mail order.