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Hey kids, perhaps this is only anecdotal evidence, but I wonder about the logic of modding the Toshiba 3950/3960s when the mechanical performance is so sub-par.I bought one Toshiba 3950 and have another on the way, because even stock the sound was good. But I noticed from the beginning that it was fussy about discs. In a few weeks, it has progressed to identifying everything as BAD DISC. The controls are funky, too. It died completely today.
Funny thing is, I had an e-mail exchange with a guy selling one on e-bay with the same symptoms. So you plug $250 worth of mods in this thing but what if the wheels fall off? You're out $300 plus.
Anyone else had similar issues with the Toshibas?
Anyway, quite by accident, I have discovered that my Harman Kardon DVD-31 is an excellent CDP. Great detail and nice bass response. It has a 24/192 Wolfson chip that really sounds good to my ear. I paid $258 for mine. Retail is $350. But for both DVD and CD performance. Stock, it sounds better to me than the out-of-the-box Toshiba, and it has the added advantage of actually WORKING.
Surely there must be other mechanically sound CDPs in the $300 range that make more sense. Or did I just get a lemon? I'll suppose know when the next one arrives.
Follow Ups:
I'll assume that the issues with the 3950 are not having to do with the spinning portion but the connections to the control boards. It might be useful to use one of the contact cleaners (TweaKit, Craig, etc) to clean of the connecting ends of someof the "pressed" connnections. If this did not solve issues, I tap around the surface mount chips with the end of a wooden pencil (chopstick) to see if some of surface chips were the culprit. Taking cold spray and/or a hair dryer might also help show up and isolate the issue....again, the caveat being that it is not the physical spinning portion of the DVD player.P.S. Mine is rock solid
Thanks for the hints. I have the second Toshiba in the house and will do a swap while I try to repair the dead one. From the looks of the responses, counting on the Toshiba for any long-term listening pleasure could be a nerve-wracking experience. I'm listening to my HK-DVD-31 and not missing the Toshiba at all. I am missing the $60 I spent for it!
only used for dvd's(one a week on average)great pic with my hdtv-
The first two had reading quirks out of the box and went back to best buys after a weekend. The third ran fine for about 6-7 months until it started distorting on one channel.
Believe what your ears say - not hearsay.
mine's been working fine for over a year now, plus I have a second one for parts ($20 delivered from ebay) ready to donate whatever may ever break.I had a $500 player, also modded for hundreds more, but that's now catching dust in the spare bedroom. Spending more doens't mean that a player will sound anywhere near as good.
Peter
(Knock wood)
I modded my 3950 in April '04. Transport stopped reading DVDs after 5 months (even though I rarely used it for movies) so I replaced it. It's running fine with maybe 2-6 hrs. Redbook use everyday. (I also heatsinked the HOT running chips, so maybe that's adding life to the audio board?).It recognizes the media fast, but, it does glitch up every now and then (restarting the CD or stopping). I suspect the Tosh has a pretty tight tolerance for disc anomalies. Yeah, I wouldn't call it a stellar tracker, but the modded sound is great. I have a new 3950 in the closet for parts.
Oh, I used a Harman Kardon DVD22 for a while (same as DVD31 except it can't do DVD-Audio). Redbook sound was excellent. Wide soundstage with punch. You could turn off the video output and unit display by remote... nice.
...with Auricaps. However, every single one of the units has had some funky mechanical quirks (more nuisance items than complete failures but still .....).
My 3960 had too many issues reading discs. I returned it and picked up the Magnavox DVD player (458/17) for $29.99 + tax. As far as sound detail goes, it sounds pretty good with music using the player DACs. In fact, I like the sound of the DACs on the player better than those on my Pioneer Elite 54TX.
Seems to me that the 3960 was a retrograde design.. as in a much cheaper build than the 3950..which is not built like any Krell :-)
so there shouldn't be too many surprises there.
You have also noted that 'Many' current cheap DVD players are at least comparable if not significantly better sounding than most seriously expensive CD players sold off to Audio buyers.
Both Sad and funny actually... Caveat Emptor :-)
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