| Sony DVP-S7000 Audio Mods |
Sony's first flagship DVD player was also an excellent CD audio player; I first heard
about them a couple years ago after my Sony x707es player started acting up, and I
knew that its days were numbered. I bought a couple DVP-S7000's on Ebay, usually
for less than $100, and was right away impressed with how close they already were to
the $2k former Sony flagship ES player. They had very good bass extension,
separation and great slam. But the x707 did have better bass definition, grip, yet
about the same punch. More interesting was that the midrange of the S7000 was a
touch warmer and had more body! I knew there were techs out there that used to mod
the S7000, but have moved on to newer products. I did some investigating and bought
the factory schematic package to see what made this thing tick and to look for
opportunities to improve performance with spec and parts upgrades.
One of the first things you notice about the player is that the audio board is nice &
compact and is high-quality with short signal paths- always a good sign! The stock
coupling and power supply caps were Nichicon & Silmic, and the output op-amps were
DIP8 packages that could be upgraded with OPA2134's, LM4562's and NJM2082's
pretty easily. Better yet, I decided to install gold-plated sockets and try different
combinations of op-amps to see/hear what really made a difference and what didn't.
My preamp, an Audio Research LS15, has remote control with channel-switching
capability, so I decided to burn copies of various CD's, use two sets of identical
interconnects (RCA, AudioQuest 'Sidewinder) and compare modded player to stock
unit in real time. A bonus was that the S7000 remote control ran both players, so the
CDs were 'synched' and at identical output levels.
about them a couple years ago after my Sony x707es player started acting up, and I
knew that its days were numbered. I bought a couple DVP-S7000's on Ebay, usually
for less than $100, and was right away impressed with how close they already were to
the $2k former Sony flagship ES player. They had very good bass extension,
separation and great slam. But the x707 did have better bass definition, grip, yet
about the same punch. More interesting was that the midrange of the S7000 was a
touch warmer and had more body! I knew there were techs out there that used to mod
the S7000, but have moved on to newer products. I did some investigating and bought
the factory schematic package to see what made this thing tick and to look for
opportunities to improve performance with spec and parts upgrades.
One of the first things you notice about the player is that the audio board is nice &
compact and is high-quality with short signal paths- always a good sign! The stock
coupling and power supply caps were Nichicon & Silmic, and the output op-amps were
DIP8 packages that could be upgraded with OPA2134's, LM4562's and NJM2082's
pretty easily. Better yet, I decided to install gold-plated sockets and try different
combinations of op-amps to see/hear what really made a difference and what didn't.
My preamp, an Audio Research LS15, has remote control with channel-switching
capability, so I decided to burn copies of various CD's, use two sets of identical
interconnects (RCA, AudioQuest 'Sidewinder) and compare modded player to stock
unit in real time. A bonus was that the S7000 remote control ran both players, so the
CDs were 'synched' and at identical output levels.
The system I used to evaluate these mods consists of x707es player, Audio Research all-tube
LS-15 preamp, Proceed AMP2 (Levinson made). Audioquest Crystal balanced interconnects
between preamp & amp. Speakers were B&W 603 S3's, which replaced er, blew away my old
Matrix 804's. Bottom was supplied by a nicely broken-in ASW2000 B&W powered sub. The
sub took around 3 years to break in, no kidding, probably because I just don't crank the
system often enough & loud enough to soften such a big spider & surround. Overall the
system is fast, very revealing, and typical of what a lot of audiophiles on a budget piece
together over time. I did use an Adcom ACE-515 power conditioner, but out in the boonies we
have pretty clean power out here so nothing fancier required. Once the modding got
underway I removed the x707 and used the top shelf for the modded player, and the second
shelf for the stock S7000. Speaker cables were Audioquest Midnight, non-biwired.
LS-15 preamp, Proceed AMP2 (Levinson made). Audioquest Crystal balanced interconnects
between preamp & amp. Speakers were B&W 603 S3's, which replaced er, blew away my old
Matrix 804's. Bottom was supplied by a nicely broken-in ASW2000 B&W powered sub. The
sub took around 3 years to break in, no kidding, probably because I just don't crank the
system often enough & loud enough to soften such a big spider & surround. Overall the
system is fast, very revealing, and typical of what a lot of audiophiles on a budget piece
together over time. I did use an Adcom ACE-515 power conditioner, but out in the boonies we
have pretty clean power out here so nothing fancier required. Once the modding got
underway I removed the x707 and used the top shelf for the modded player, and the second
shelf for the stock S7000. Speaker cables were Audioquest Midnight, non-biwired.
Taking the cover off the S7000 is easy, two screws on each side,
one on the rear, lift the rear up and away the top comes.
one on the rear, lift the rear up and away the top comes.
The board on the back left hand side is the audio board, printed "AU-194". It is held
on by 4 screws on the top, and by one screw at each far edge of the RCA jack panel.
on by 4 screws on the top, and by one screw at each far edge of the RCA jack panel.
Once the screws have been removed, pick the board up about an inch, then rotate towards
you and down; make note of the two ribbon cables, and 3 different plastic-plug terminated
wire sets. When removing the ribbon cables note the side with the blue stripe is 'up' or
however you wish to recall orientation. The socketed cables should be gripped at the socket
and gently rocked up & out. No locking devices have been found on the 8 different S7000's
I've worked on. The board is layed out pretty logically- on the right is power input & regulation
for various nodes; the digital filter chip, the DAC (CXA8055M), then the LPF and output
buffer all from right to left. The group of 4 caps are the paralleled output coupling caps,
followed by the output muting transistors and muting relay. The traces then shoot straight to
the RCA jacks where you have twin pairs of fixed-level outputs.
you and down; make note of the two ribbon cables, and 3 different plastic-plug terminated
wire sets. When removing the ribbon cables note the side with the blue stripe is 'up' or
however you wish to recall orientation. The socketed cables should be gripped at the socket
and gently rocked up & out. No locking devices have been found on the 8 different S7000's
I've worked on. The board is layed out pretty logically- on the right is power input & regulation
for various nodes; the digital filter chip, the DAC (CXA8055M), then the LPF and output
buffer all from right to left. The group of 4 caps are the paralleled output coupling caps,
followed by the output muting transistors and muting relay. The traces then shoot straight to
the RCA jacks where you have twin pairs of fixed-level outputs.
