Vacuum State are internationally well
known for their successful Upgrade work on SACD and CD players. Focusing
primarily on the original SONY SCD-1, SCD-777ES and 9000ES models, our
latest Level 5 Upgrade has won Awards and been the subject of many
reports in print and On-Line Highend Hifi review magazines. We are now
expanding this Upgrade service to further brands, notably Marantz and
TEAC/Esoteric.
Level 5+ Explanation
Please note:
Various forums, such as Hi-Rez, has carried on discussion about Level 5+,
so some explanation is in order:
The "+" is not necessary for certain models using
the VC24+ Digital Filter as it they do not use the S-Tact chip. The models
that do are SCD-1,
SCD-777ES and SCD-555ES. The fitting
of the "+" option benefits SACD replay and
does not improve CDs on these players. For more information, please
contact Allen aw[at]vacuumstate.com
.
See following FAQ:
Q: I have
the level 5 mod on my 777 from Warren [West Coast US Agent] and am
wondering if it makes sense for me to keep up with the upgrades?
A: I believe it is - I have had L5+ in
my own 777ES for over a year in a developmental form which
meant I couldn't play RBCD's any more - and while I felt the
sonic improvement in SACD playback FAR outweighed the
inconvenience of no RBCD playback, it wasn't something that
could really be marketed!
But when at Warren's shop last month after we
exhibited at the RMAF in Denver - I made the changes to his 777ES and his
one word response to me on listening to it was "Un****unbelievable!" and
he never uses any sort of profanity in normal speech!
He also was completely happy to give up RBCD to have
this sonic improvement but after his 'positive' response we agreed it had
to put it into our clients machines - and on my return home my team here
made up a small extra module that allows the player to internally &
automatically switch between the Level 5 system for RBCD and Level 5+ for
SACD. So your RBCD will sound the same - but SACD playback will be
DRAMATICALLY better!
Q: Maybe I should wait
until Level 9 or 10. What are you telling those who've recently had the
Level 5 done? Is the 5+ a significant upgrade?
A: As above, the concept behind Level 5+ has been
with me for over a year - even predating the Reference Clock Module (RCM)
that is the basis of Level 5 over Level 4 - and I don't have any other
bright ideas in test, or even in my mind to try for the SCD-1/SCD-777ES
machines. So I honestly believe this is the end station for this big pair
of machines, at least for the conceivable future.
My own 777ES at Level 5+ is our sonic reference, and
my SACD player development focus now is on getting some of the new
universal machines up to this performance, and it's not proving easy.
Q: Also, am wondering how
you would compare the Cary 306 to my modded 777. Is this a fair
comparison?
A: I have never even seen this Cary player, let
alone heard one - but reading this review:
