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"To
Upgrade -or- not to Upgrade, there is no Question"
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Review: Harmonix Reimyo CDP-777 Mod from
The Upgrade Company System: Reimyo CDP-777 I've lived with the above system for nearly 1 year now. The headphones have been with me for 3 years, the Reimyo for 2, and the amp for 1 1/2. To say I'm familiar with the system would be an understatement. It's a testament to how good of a system it is that in more than a year I haven't had that audiophile itch known as "upgradeitis". But, perhaps call it sheer curiosity that I began wondering how much better it could get. I had heard of David Schulte and the Upgrade Company from Clement Perry's review regarding his modded Reimyo. Intrigued, I contacted David regarding my own. First off, I have to mention what a great pleasure it was talking to David. I've had the good fortune of meeting several truly good people in the audiophile industry and David is right there with the best. It was clear that he is a person who is both passionate about his work and about audio. After I sent him the Reimyo, it was a week later when I wrote to see if the player had arrived, only to find out that David had already completed the upgrade. I know not to give the accolades to the shipping companies, so kudos for David of doing such great work in such a short amount of time. The player arrived just a few days ago with only a few hours burn in. David stresses that however good it is out of the box, the player requires many hours of burn in to reach its full potential. 300 hours is apparently the magic mark, but improvements can supposedly still be heard after 1000 hours. After its arrival I set it up, went to bed, and woke up prepared to spend all day with it. That day was yesterday. First CD in, and right away I was greatly impressed. It's odd to know your system's sound so well, because any change feels like a monumental one. But right away I heard changes both great and small. The first and most obvious improvement was a huge leap in clarity, detail (both micro and macro), and ease. The Reimyo was already perhaps the most natural digital player in existence. But the upgrade took this naturalness to another level. I'd compare it to a release of whatever bit of tension the player might have had. Imagine being relaxed, but clenching your jaw a bit - the upgrade released that extra tension, allowing the music to flow with an even greater fluidity and ease. The clarity was also increased. Everyone has an idea of what words like clarity and transparency means, but I equate it with looking at the music through a veil. The darker that veil, the harder it is to "see" the music. Great components - and with this case, a great upgrade, removes layers of that veil. Creating a greater sense of the music being right there in the room with you. With great headphones (and they don't get better than the Sony R10s) shine a spotlight on this clarity. Detail is another trick word that covers a lot of areas. But with this upgrade, I was able to hear micro dynamics I had not before. The pluck of strings, the smallest inflections in phrases. This extra micro detail did not come at the sacrifice of the big picture. While it was much easier to pick out individual instruments, the whole was enhanced as well, seeming more coherent. To me, it's always the great test of any change in audio to throw a difficult disc at it. One that turns to sludge on a lesser system, but shines on a greater one. I chose one such from my collection (Alter Bridge's One Day Remains) to "test" the upgrade. To my great surprise, the upgrade was not only able to sort through the sludge, but clean it up in such a way that it was almost like an entirely new album. The guitars were huge and crushing, but they were locked in place with clearly defined edges that didn't smear into other instruments. And I have to mention the improvement with vocals - one flaw with my system is that vocals could often seem off. But with the upgrade brought a brand new sense of rightness and realness - as if the singer were right there in front of me. Another flaw with my previous system was in the treble. While the Reimyo's treble is world class in its extension, the highest registers could often become harsh. This flaw was enhanced with the Virtual Dynamics cables which had a similar flaw. But this upgrade smoothed out the treble to such a degree that discs that I'd previously grit my teeth at when the high notes came, I now found myself loving them. The treble was now not only extremely fluid, but whatever harshness and glare there was gone. It was like going from analog TV to 1080p, High Definition. Almost every audiophile checklist can be immediately checked off. The soundstage got even bigger (already my system's greatest strength), but add a greater sense of airyness, focus, and depth. Dynamics - another strength of my system - increased as well. The tone was dead on with every instrument I heard - making the music sound more like real music. Any downside? Well, the treble seems a tad rolled off, and the bass a bit amorphous and recessed. But I take this with a grain of salt because I know first hand how bass extension and impact and treble extension are among the last things to burn in with any component. My system has always been a bit bass light - much of this due to the R10s which have a miraculous midrange and treble, but bass that is on the softer side. So I definitely look forward to what magic burn in can accomplish. So, what about the price? In the world of audiophiles, unless you're truly rich, price is a major factor. And with so many snake oil salesmen in the business, it's a tricky business sorting the "worth its" from the "rip offs" from the "fairly priced". But this upgrade is the first time where I almost felt like I was the one doing the ripping off. At $1500 (for my Reimyo upgrade only), the price is 10% of what The Reimyo is worth. If the upgrade increases the performance of my system even 10% it would be worth it. While I'd be hard pressed to put an exact percentage on how much better my system is, I think a minimum guess would be 25%. And with burn in I don't think another 25% is out of the question - and indeed, David suggests that it's probably only at 50% of its full potential now. Ultimately, I could not be happier with my decision to upgrade. A testament
to the greatness of any audio upgrade is how you find yourself wanting to
listen to it. And I spent nearly 14 hours listening to it yesterday alone,
and plan on listening more today after writing this. My only concern in the
first place is that my system's core sound would be changed. Well, the sound
was not changed so much that everything it did was enhanced - which is precisely
what an upgrade should do. For anyone worrying about upgrading, all I can
do is lend my highest recommendation. UPDATE: It's doing excellent. I probably have close to 1000 hours on it now, and any minor complaints I might have had out of the box are gone now. The high end really opened up, and whatever fuzz the stock Reimyo had is completely gone and now the highs are better than any I've ever heard. The bass has also refined alot. I've also been mightily impressed by the increase in detail and clarity. I mean, it was superb out of the box, but burn in has really brought an even finer level of overall transparency.
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