Who has a Toshiba 3950 or 3960?

madmax · July 2004

Just wondering, who has a Toshiba 3950 or 3960 and have you done any mods.
madmax

gidrah · July 2004

I have a 3950. I didn't mod it though. I'm happy with what the previous owner did.

faster100 · July 2004

Guess i'll chime in... Of course no thanks to Madmax

jcaut · July 2004

I bought a 3950 for a total of $49...

Now Chuck's got me wishing I'd gone for the 3960

I really hate to buy something that feels like such a POS, even if it is cheap. At least the 3950 has some metal on it!

Mine is stock for the moment. I didn't really know what to expect from it, since I don't really have a "good" CD player to compare it to. I think it sounds as good as, and possibly better than, any of my other players. I AM planning to mod it, probably along the lines of the "Vinnie" mods. I may have to get one of you guys to help me with the op-amp replacement, if I ever get around to doing it. I don't have one to practice on, and I'd really hate to toast it.

As it turns out, lightning took out my regular Sony DVD last week, so until I figure out if I can fix it, the Tosh is filling in. Other than the cheap feel, I can't find any glaring faults in its video performance, either. It doesn't tick when playing DVD's....

Jason

ezc · July 2004

madmax,
I have a 3950 & just finished the vinnei mods. All im missing is the digi key # 11199 nd cap. all the rest went in this evening. Started at 7pm & just finished (10:30 pm). Replaced the op amp with burr brown & all the caps as per the vinnie mod. Player is curently running & so far sounds much better. The grain in the highs are gone, bass is solid & the attack on the the low notes are much better. I put a IEC into the rear & used DH Lab power plus pc from the iec to the main board. I put blue tac on the crystal & stil need to add dynamat to the chas. Im very pleased so far & once I get the last cap & have the player burn in Ill take it home & try to compare it to my Njoe Tjoeb 4000 cdp. I have 3 more 3950 comming from amazon & more caps, iec's & cable commingin also! For less than $100 including the player, upgrade parts & a few hrs of work the player is well worth it! I didnt ground the player yet, I have been reading & some friends also said try it without the ground first, beacuse the ground my cause a ground loop problem, But my Tjoeb reccomended with the pc upgrade I ground the chassie. I have alot to learn yet!

ohskigod · July 2004

i have the 3960 ebing used fr CD use only on my 2 channel system. still can believe the performance for the measly 70 bucks i paid for it.

highs arent as sharp as my onkyo, but overall mid, midbass, bass, is much smoother and detailed.

ezc · July 2004

Some Pics of my 3950. Relaced caps, op amp, & added IEC. Will replacde Opamp again with drowngog adapter & dual 627's. Futuretech IEC & dh lab powerplus cable to power board! This player sounds very very good! Dampening w/dyanmat will be next , than it should be done for awhile! From stock to moded there was a noticible difference! Well worth the few dollars spent! This player will cost me less than $120 after all mods including player. TOSH%20IECREAR.jpg

madmax · July 2004

Very nice!
madmax

madmax · July 2004

Here is a pic from another website of a board with the browndog adaptor and opamps. Really cool!!!

Steve@3dai · July 2004

Somebody got some direct links to the mods for this player? I'm still on the fence about buying one, but I would like to mod it to sound better, because I like fiddling with stuff. Thanks.

madmax · July 2004

The mods are all over the place at this point. Just search 3950 mods. Most people are still calling them 3950 mods even if they are working with 3960's. (psst. The 3960 is better).
madmax

Libertyc · July 2004

Anyone who is looking for a great deal on the Toshiba 3960, Buy.com has it on sale for only $61.35 with free shipping and no sales tax. (you must choose budget shipping fot the free shipping deal).
Then to save an extra $5.00 on electronics click this link.
http://www.buy.com/retail/pro

Unit was deleivered via UPS in only three days even with the free shipping. The total cost was ONLY $56.35 deleivered to my door. Yes it's a cheap player, but it sounds great, and has really good picture quality. For the price of a couple burgers and some beers, you could have a really great soundinf CD/DVD player. Hope this helps somebody save some $$$.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90135850&loc=111&sp=1

Libertyc · July 2004

Somehow last my post got all effed up.

The total price of the Toshiba with free shipping/no sales tax/ and $5 coupon was only $56.35 ! I will include the link below for the $5.00 savings at Buy,com

Libertyc · July 2004

I can't seem to post worth a **** today. Again links to Toshiba 3860 are below:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90135850&loc=111&sp=1

http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=85094736&dcaid=1688

madmax · July 2004

61.35 - 5 = 56.35 total, Right?

Libertyc · July 2004

Yes...$56.35 delivered to your door. Brand new first quality. Just remember to get free shipping select budget shipping (UPS only 3-4 days). Click on link below for the $5 discount then add the 3960 to your cart. Nice deal.
http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=85094736&dcaid=1688

ezc · July 2004

Heres a good link to the tosh mods.
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70377
there are about 10 pages full of posts with lots of info.
Madmax the browndog should be here anyday. the 627 opamps are here! Do you have any idea what would happen if I used 2 of the 2604 opamps? I just got the three players I ordered & will mod them all. One is sold to a customer & Ill sell the other two once moded.

madmax · July 2004

Using two 2604's should sound the same as using one 2604. Just more expensive and you would have to modify both the 2604's and the browndog adaptor. Certainly there is no benifit whatsoever.
madmax

madmax · July 2004

Here is another one for you. (payback).

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70377&page=4&pp=25

I would try to get hold of a 3960 to put the browndog adaptor and op amps in. I think you will be happier...

reeltrouble1 · July 2004

Have a 3960, pretty happy with it. Have not done a thing to it. Only use it for music, analog out.

RT1

scottvamp · July 2004

Madmax - say I buy the 3960, would you do the best modding to it for me and what would you charge? I just might go for it. You can email me if you want.

madmax · July 2004

I did one that Gidrah bought and one that another fellow bought. Yes I would mod one for you. It is easiest if I just buy a player, mod it and then ship it to you.

Now for the ugly parts.

Anyone I did one for would have to pay up front because I can't have people change their minds after I spend the coin.

It takes about 8 hours of hassle to put one together and ship it. I enjoy it but it is still a lot of time. On the previous ones I did I did it all in one day so the turn around time isn't bad, maybe 1 to 2 weeks. Remember, I have to burn it in before modding to assure nothing goes wrong with the unit and listen to it after the mods are done to be sure all is right. Then burn it in a little more to make sure the unit doesn't break or something on it's own.

I take the chances of getting a bad unit or messing one up. In any case you get a good one.

Now, the really ugly part:

$250 which includes me buying the unit, all materials, modding and shipping to you. Not really bad considering the amount of work and what you receive. The last one I did I only charged $215 for and when all was said and done I probably could have cut some grass or something and made a lot more. I must admit it was fun though.

I guess if you already had one I would mark about $60 off and you would have to send me yours.

madmax

scottvamp · July 2004

I trust you MadMax - shoot me an email so I can send you the money. Does that include upgraded power cord?
scottvamp1@yahoo.com

ezc · July 2004

Madmax,
Got the browndog in & replaced the 2604 with dual 627's, dampened the chassis & top cover w/dynamat, replaced the fuse w/a ceramic fuse, & added heat sinks. Well worth the added time & expense, music is much more detailed. The opamp was the most costly, $18 X 2 for the 627's & $6.95 for the browndog adapter compared to the 2604 which was under $3.00. The added cost was worth the add expense of the dual op amps. Also replaced C905 & C901 w/ P10244-nd Panasonic FC 16v, 120uf caps. Its amazing what a $50 dvd/cd player can sound like with a
few upgrades & a few hrs of work!

madmax · July 2004

Looks good! One thing about the 3950 is that the opamp has the gain pushed up further than the 3960. That makes the difference between opamps even more noticeable. I'm going to break down and try them anyway on a 3960 one day when I have an extra $50 to blow. One question about the dynamat. Is there enough room under the boards to guarantee it won't touch the bottom of the boards? Just wondering, I was a little hesitant to put it on the inside of mine. Just a thought, you might consider grounding the foil side so it doesn't carry noise from one part of the circuit to another. Are you going to dynamat the drive? I noticed mine was quieter (from the drive, not the speakers) after I did it.
madmax

ezc · July 2004

Madmax,
Thanks for the tips! There is enough room under the boards so it wont touch the foil of the dyanmat. On the power board I even added layer of VB2 dampening material over the foil just to be safe but after reassembeling the player there was still room. I trimmed the long cap legs from both boards also. I dont know if Ill dampen the drive just yet, that may be a tweak down the line! I want to try a 3960 after the 3950's. Ill keep the player I have running now & sell the other two. That will help me pay for my player & purchase a 3960. Got enough caps to do more players, digikey is cheeper if you buy by 10 so thats what I did. Just got the 3950 from Amazon & have all 3 of them runnning on repeat, Ill keep them running for a couple of days than hook them up one by one & listen before modding. Did you see the pic of the copper shield that was made to go over the power supply board? Damm now thats hard core! I dont think Ill go that far. Im just amazed how these players sound!

madmax · July 2004

The performance to price ratio is awesome! The more parts you add the better they seem to get! I have never seen another piece of audio equipment that responded so well to tweaking except maybe my turntable. It sounds better if you smile at it.

I put heat sinks and a few vent holes on mine to make the reliability better. What I did was to lift the back of the tops a 1/2 inch to let all that heat out while I was burning them in. (before I put the sinks on them).
I saw the RFI shield that guy made. That is a good way to do it. The only thing is, and I keep wondering about this, why didn't he just put a strip of copper tape from the front to the back of the unit. It is all metal and if you run the strip of tape from front to back it does the same thing. It certainly doesn't look as cool as that pre-formed box he made though. Maybe I'll try it on my next one. He said he couldn't determine a benifit from it which I couldn't determine as well when I did Gidrahs. I left it in place anyway.

I could go on forever on these things but it's late and I need to start thinking about completing my next one. You know, work more, type less...

madmax

gidrah · July 2004

Originally posted by madmax
(psst. The 3960 is better).
madmax

Now you tell me (again).

I'm just glad that mine sounds great and I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Hooked it up to the Mac today. :eek: And to think, this thing even plays DVDs.

I was at the local pawn-o-matic the othr day and they had a couple of each. If I were to mod one, this is where I'd probably start. If you're gonna void the warranty anyways you might as well save a few bucks. Then again if I wasn't going to mod it I'd probably go pawn.

madmax · July 2004

Originally posted by gidrah
Now you tell me (again).

Truth in advertising... I've never been one to hold back an opinion whatever the consequences. So how are you liking it? For me the bass and lower midrange was awesome and really took me by surprise. Of course the midrange was special as well. Far better than any of my other under 3 grand players. I hope you are digging it. At least you got yours at cost.

One CD that really made it strut was No Doubt "Rock Steady". Another was CSN&Y. Actually I guess I could name off the rest of my CD collection.

madmax

gidrah · July 2004

I've only listened to it on the Mac for a few minute to make sure everything was connected and working correctly. The one track I listened to (suite from Godzilla vs. Destroyah) sounded GREAT! It's heavy on the bass tones. It's kinda hard to get a grasp on what is doing what. The Altecs had great bass above 50hz or so, but the Mac seems to have a mid-bass bloom about it that really seems to work well. Before I had this player on a tubed amp/pre combo that worked well too. Not quite the bass, but the separation was wonderful. Maybe I'll play those separation tracks tomorrow, but I've been moving around alot of gear and have been drinking like a fish.

I plan on doing a full report when things calm down, but right now, I'd have to say that this player is deffinately not a limiting factor in anything that I've paired it with.

madmax · July 2004

I picked up another 3960 to modify for Scottvamp. I also picked up Starsky and Hutch. Both are awesome! S&H is a great movie! Makes burning in a lot more fun.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. I am going to do the mechanical mods and get the electrical parts on order.

If anyone else wanted one now would be a good time to let me know...

madmax

Who has a Toshiba 3950 or 3960?

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