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Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Pioneer 563A with Lundahl LL1527XL transformers SACD Player (Modded) by Russtafarian

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REVIEW: Pioneer 563A with Lundahl LL1527XL transformers SACD Player (Modded)

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Model: 563A with Lundahl LL1527XL transformers
Category: SACD Player (Modded)
Suggested Retail Price: under $300
Description: SACD/DVD-A/CD player with Lundahl transformer outputs
Manufacturer URL: Pioneer
Manufacturer URL: Pioneer

Review by Russtafarian ( A ) on March 28, 2004 at 21:04:11
IP Address: 66.2.72.66
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for the 563A with Lundahl LL1527XL transformers


I confess right up front. I’m an audio cheapskate. I love this hobby, but I don’t have a lot of disposable cash to throw at my rig. Maybe some day. I’ve spent more than $1k on a piece of gear only three times in my life: $2400 for a used pair of Gallo Nucleus reference speakers in 1997, $1200 for an Equi-tech 2Q power conditioner in 2000, and $2400 for an NEC LT150 DLP projector in 2001. All have proven to be sound long-term performers and have been worthwhile investments. In other words, I still use’em and love‘em.

Because digital playback has evolved so rapidly over the last twenty years, I’ve kept my digital source purchases on the cheap side knowing that “next year it’ll be better and cheaper.” So $1k+ digital purchases have always been out of the question for me. Of course my 20 year progression through digital sources has been pretty hit and miss. Some of my hits: Magnavox CDP-650 in the mid ‘80s, Aragon outboard DAC in the mid ‘90s and the Sony SCD-C555ES in 2001. Some of my misses: Mid ‘80s Yamaha CD player, EAD DSP-7000 in the early ‘90s, and the Pioneer Elite DV-45A that I replaced my Sony with in 2002.

Compared to the 555ES, the DV-45A sucked and I’ve been stuck with it for nearly a year and a half with no budget to upgrade. I looked into the idea of transformer-coupling the DAC to bypass the output stage, but found that the current-output DAC of the DV-45A would require an I/V conversion circuit that was beyond my modest DIY capability.

Enter the Pioneer 563A universal player with a street price of $150 or less. A cheaper player than the DV-45A, but what does it have that the 45A doesn’t? VOLTAGE-output DACs! Now I can transformer-couple the DAC output! So last week the DV-45A got sold on Audiogon for $250, the 563A got purchased at Best Buy for $150, and Kevin at K&K Audio sent me out a pair of Lundahl LL1527XL transformers for $130. Throw in a few more $$ for connectors, wire and a circuit board to mount the trannies on and the total cost is under $300. Take away what I got out of the DV-45A and my out of pocket is less than $50.

The trannie install is pretty easy. Connect DAC pins 12 & 13 (R-, R+) to one transformer input and pins 17 & 18 (L+, L-) to the other. I actually connect the DAC wire to one side of a resistor pad that traces to the DAC pin. Much easier than trying to connect it directly to the pin. I wire the trannies for 1:2 to double the output gain of the DAC and connect the trannie outputs to a pair of RCA jacks that I mount to the rear panel of the 563A. That’s it. What about DC offset on the output? Since I’m taking the +/- directly to the output jacks and NOT connecting the negative to chassis ground, this is not an issue. I did have to carefully mount the output jacks with isolation washers to make sure the outer part of the jack didn’t touch the chassis.

Guess what. It works! And it works very well. I put about 20 hours on the 563A before the mod just to make sure it wasn’t DOA out of the box. I dropped the trannies in four days ago and have been listening off and on since then. Right away this sounds way better than the stock 563A and the DV-45A.

For the first time since I got rid of the Sony, I can now clearly hear the superiority of SACD over CD. SACDs now have that organic flow and ease that I was able to hear on the Sony, but this is even better! On the Florestan Trio SACD, I can hear the resonant character and size of the cello, not just the bow-on-string edge. Instead of being smeared across the soundstage, the instruments are clearly in their place, violin front left, cello front right and piano set back between them.

I mix live music on a regular basis and have for over 20 years. So I’ve trained myself to listen through the mix and analyze each element while taking in the overall performance. I know when I’ve got the mix right when my brain releases me from analytical mode and says “it’s dialed now, you can kick back and enjoy the music!”. Well I’m enjoying the music with this player. I’m hearing low level detail and musical flow with the trannied Pioneer that just hasn’t been there before.

On the opening cut of the Toy Matinee DVD-A, instead of just hearing the big bash of the snare, I can clearly hear the gated reverb effect that gives the snare that sound. I hear the crack of the stick, the heavy reverb rush and the abrupt stop as the gate shuts off the snare decay. And all the while I’m deconstructing the snare effect I notice a hi-hat figure way back in deep left center that I’ve never heard before. The noggin starts telling me that this is sounding so right and suddenly I’m moving, connecting and flat out digging the music. Goosebumps. I haven’t heard this big of an improvement in my rig since I dropped the Equi-tech in a few years ago.

The nice thing about this mod is that it doesn’t defeat any of the other capabilities of the player. All the regular 5.1 analog outputs still work and the progressive scan video and PCM/DD/DTS digital outputs still work. One negative result is that by tapping directly into the DAC, I bypass the output muting function. As a result I get a mild pop out of the player when I eject an SACD. Strangely, I don’t get this when ejecting a CD or DVD-A.

That’s it. I am blown away by the level of digital playback I’m getting out of this unit. It’s the best digital source I’ve had in my system and it should get even better as it breaks in. I know that there’s more that can be done to improve the player: power supply upgrades, buffered outputs, etc. And I’ll bet the 563A’s that have that stuff done to them sound even better that what I’ve got. But the point of this review is to tell the rest of you audio cheapskates (and you know who you are) that for less that $300 and a little bit of DIY work you can have one hell of a good sounding player.


Product Weakness: Mild pop through the player when ejecting SACDs.
Product Strengths: Very good sounding budget SACD/DVD-A/CD player when modded with the Lundahl transformers.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Quicksilver 8417 monoblocks
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Parasound P/SP1500 used as multi-channel line stage
Sources (CDP/Turntable): see review
Speakers: Gallo Nucleus Reference
Cables/Interconnects: DIY silver interconnects, 6 gauge Home Depot wire for speakers
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Everything but Rap
Room Size (LxWxH): 20 x 16 x 8.5
Room Comments/Treatments: System setup on the long wall, speakers 4 feet out from the back wall.
Time Period/Length of Audition: four days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Equi-tech 2Q
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Pioneer 563A with Lundahl LL1527XL transformers SACD Player (Modded) - Russtafarian 21:04:11 03/28/04 ( 6)