Well, you’ll never guess what I’ve just upgraded… Recently I stumbled on Lukasz Fikus’s Lampizator site, where he has an example of modding the Pioneer PD-S703.  I have an old Pioneer PD-S801 machine which I replaced a few years ago with a Shanling CD-T80 – a breathtakingly good player for the price.  The Pioneer has been doing service in the dining room for background noise.  I was intrigued by his enthusiasm for relatively low-end players with his lampizator mods – he’s very critical of the prices of expensive players.  I was intrigued, but the amount of work required by him is a bit daunting.  I used to build tuners and amplifiers when I was a kid – at school I even built the electronics for a radio telescope (though it never worked ?) but I didn’t really want to take on something that intricate.




Then I found your web site and your solution looked just perfect.  I’ve just put two dual opamps into the Pioneer, thrown open the window and let in the fresh air.  Acoustic instruments especially are now so much more intimate it’s almost embarrassing!  Harpsichords, flutes and acoustic guitars are exceptionally airy.  Heavier stuff – King Crimson for example – is less stodgy and has more attack but hasn’t lost any of its weight.


It’s very touch and go now between the Pioneer and the Shanling – though I suspect that upgrading the Shanling (which I will now do) will put the Pioneer back in its place.  There’s just soooo much more information now, and it’s delivered lightning fast.  In fact I have a pet theory that this elusive “musicality” holy grail is closely related to the speed of the equipment – but then I do have a pair of Quad ESL57’s, maybe I’m biased!

Anyway the Burson opamps are terrific and a fantastic bargain.  I’m definitely not normally a hifi fiddler – I’ve never done anything like this before and the Shanling was the first purchase in over 20 years.  However I now have my sights set on the Burson clock.  I’ll let you know how I get on and what I think.

Nick B