I chat with my colleague yesterday. I didn’t mean to ask him, but suddenly (I didn’t know why) I asked him to check about Toshiba DVD Player SD-2960. His office is located near electronics store, so that’s why I asked him.

Few hours after the chat, he called me. He said that he’s seeing a SD-2960, the one and only, at a shop located somewhere around Glodok (this is the most popular electronic area in town). He asked me whether I wanted to buy it. I answer, “Yes of course!”. I had to pay Rp 650.000 for the unit.

Today, I receive the unit. Hmm… it looks like this is a ex-demo unit or something. The package is somehow not good and I’m sure it’s the last stock or whatsoever. I dont really care anyway. I open the case, checking inside. There are a lot of crappy capacitors inside, with Zoran processor and BB D/A. Not bad. I have to change most of the capacitor to get some improvement I guess.

At home, I test the unit. I use my old amplifier (from a Hi-Fi set, not really a good amplifier) and my DIY speakers (using Vifa 1″ Ring Radiator Tweeter and 7″ Woofer). The surprise is, the sound is good, excellent IMO for a cheap DVD Player. FYI, this DVD Player has plasticky case, weight less than 1.7 Kg (man! This is just like a toys for me!). I had a lot of doubt before, though this player has a good reputation for it’s sound quality. The transport mechanism is excellent. It’s very soft when loading your CD, but a little bit noisy when spinning (at least in my quiet room). I think I have to damp it later to get less noise. I don’t want to hear spinning things when I pause or when the track move from current to the next one.

Now, I’m thinking of modding this player. Blackgates, Panasonics Black/Gold, and Auricaps/Hovlands perhaps will be on my shopping list. I’m sure I will have a lot of improvement. Got to check the parts list and go shopping. Will discuss later after I mod the player.