Thinking of the Oppo 105 with Modwright mods

[Pider]

Originally Posted by rayofsi

been using my modwright for over a month, and it sounds great with psvane tubes

rayofsi.... Welcome! Great place to be. Congrats on your 105!

[Francis]

Just finish breaking in a pair of psvane cv181 mkii with the modwright 105. It is certainly bring performance up several notches. Still waiting for the sophia pair to arrive, got stuck somewhere in the logistic chain. Cant wait to do a comparison on both pair of tubes. Maybe dan can consider listing the different tubes as an upgrade option. Performance was very much audible better with the psvanes

[Jeffy]

JJinID, did your 105 have a upper midrange glare and emphasis on sibilance in the voice before final break in? What tube did you prefer Psvane or Sophia Electric?

[JJinID]

Originally Posted by Jeffy

JJinID, did your 105 have a upper midrange glare and emphasis on sibilance in the voice before final break in? What tube did you prefer Psvane or Sophia Electric?

Yes it did - the upper midrange in particular was bright and a bit harsh, especially when listening back and forth with my MW Oppo 95 when I compared them directly. It took a good 150+ hours for it to completely settle in - and it sounds fantastic!

I haven't tried the Psvane tubes yet - went with the Sophia Electric from the beginning based on Dan's recommendation. I will give them a try at some point down the road, along with a Create Audio rectifier tube if I can get a hold of one.

[HedgeHog]

What regulator tubes are being rolled for the ModWright? I'm not familiar with the 12EM7/13EM7/15EA7 family.

For the 105, I'll be going with the stock EH with Sophia 6SN7. I think I'll try the PSVANE CV181-T II also and on the PS try the EML 5U4G.

I'm just not sure what is a good sub for those last two tubes.

Thx in advance!

[JJinID]

Originally Posted by HedgeHog

What regulator tubes are being rolled for the ModWright? I'm not familiar with the 12EM7/13EM7/15EA7 family.

For the 105, I'll be going with the stock EH with Sophia 6SN7. I think I'll try the PSVANE CV181-T II also and on the PS try the EML 5U4G.

I'm just not sure what is a good sub for those last two tubes.

Thx in advance!

Hedwig - I have heard that the stock 13EM7s are Samsung and that one person rolled a Sylvania Coin Base version with great success. I haven't found one yet by searching online - perhaps someone else here more knowledgeable in tubes than me (I'm still very much a newbie) will have some suggestions...

Please do share your impressions when you have rolled the other tubes!

[HedgeHog]

Originally Posted by JJinID

Hedwig - I have heard that the stock 13EM7s are Samsung and that one person rolled a Sylvania Coin Base version with great success. I haven't found one yet by searching online - perhaps someone else here more knowledgeable in tubes than me (I'm still very much a newbie) will have some suggestions...

Please do share your impressions when you have rolled the other tubes!

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for the info. I am not getting much success sourcing those Sylvania coin base 13em7...one place had only 1. Having said that, Kristin at Modwright thinks it's not worth rolling the regulator tubes.

My unit is ready but I won't be able to play with it till next week. I've got the Sophia's with them but still cannot decide whether to go with the Mark I or Mark II version of the PSVANE. I'll listen first then decide. I still have to procure the EML 5U4G (I hate this cross-border shopping...wish I was stateside).

Cheers.

[HedgeHog]

Okey dokey...been playing the MW 105 for about 2 weeks now. While I do like the sound, I'm not getting the same impression as everyone else. I find it very smooth and lush but not as airy and spacious as I had anticipated. In fact, I seem to recall that first listen of the stock 105 to have better highs but a bit leaner or towards neutral.

The MW was very mid-range-y. This was with the stock tubes in the PS9.9 and using Sophia Electric 6SN7 tubes. After the first week, I swapped out the Sophias with PSVANE CV-181T Mk II. They are very close sounding but I think I prefer these slightly more. The highs seems to be more balanced...cymbals seem to have better (more natural) decay. Still not what I had expected.

And now I've swapped the stock Sovtek rectifier tube in the PS9.9 with the Emission Labs 5U4G. Very noticeably fuller in the bass region. Not boomy just seems to have more bottom end.

I'm going to run this till the end of the week and then move it to my other system where it is brighter sounding. Perhaps, this will balance out the tone more so. I'll probably try some regulator tube swapping and also TS 6F8Gs in the player.

*I think I'm going deaf...just not 'getting' this hifi thing*

[JJinID]

Hedwig - thanks for sharing your impressions. I still intend to try out the PSVANE 6SN7s along with a Create Audio rectifier tube in mine. As far as the highs go, in my system the MW105 was very bright for the first 100 hours, and then finally settled down and smoothed out after 150. My previous MW95 was much better balanced at first until the 105 finished breaking in. I didn't try a stock 105 in my system, but I did directly compare stock and modified 95s and the highs on the MW95 were more extended and better resolved. Perhaps with some more break in time, and trying things out in your other system will give you some more data. Please keep us posted...

[RoyMercer]

When I first got my Modwright 95, I was not happy. It was not until I treated my room did I fall in love with the Modwright. The Modwright is so good, it made my crappy room sound much worse. After properly treating my room, no player / source I have tried even comes close. The other thing was playing good recordings. Playing a poorly recorded CD on a Modwright Oppo equals more poorly sound, because it's so good! Blue ray's sounded awesome:

“Garbage in garbage out. The great majority of readily available 2-channel material is barely fit for a Bose system. Unless you have a nice library of well recorded material, horns will overwhelm you with their unforgiving nature. Horns force you to seek out good recordings, and it can be a frustrating process. If DVDs and Blu-rays are knocking you out of your seat (and I highly suggest getting some good DVD and Blu-ray concert discs) -- that's the only indicator you need -- it's not the source components, room, or speakers. “