there are few if any components discussed or reviewed on audioholics which are manufactured from a price is no object standpoint, & certainly not from major companies such as denon. this is not a criticism of denon, or any other large manufacturer, but some if not many parts used in any component are used for their cost to the manufacturer, & in the end how this affects the mfr's profit margin. in other words, in producing virtually any component, some compromises are made in order to be able to bring the component to market at a designated price point, w/ a designated profit margin. again, this is not a criticism, it's simply a matter of economics. in virtually any component, there are parts which can be upgraded. from experience in other fields (cars, golf clubs) such modifications can make a performance difference, or if done incorrectly or by someone who lacks the requisite skill can actually decrease performance or flat ruin whatever is being modified. certain smaller audio manufacturers do offer "modified" components straight from the factory with the full warranty. one example i can think of is a cary cinema 2 amplifier, which can be ordered with the larger 1400va power transformer from the cinema 5 over the standard 800va power transformer.
i lack the scientific and technical expertise to know whether changing from one resistor or capacitor or whatever will make a sonic improvement, but this does not mean that persons with this technical expertise do not exist. components are upgraded by the manufacturer all the time, often times by changing and or improving the quality of parts used in making the component. in other industries there are entire fields dedicated to modifying "stock" items from the manufacturer, & some of these are done w/ the full support of the manufacturer, for example amg & mercedes, saleen & ford.
what i do know from modifying non-audio items is that it is essential to find someone who has the requisite expertise to perform the modifications or more than likely you may as well burn your money. i have had drivers reshafted which made a significant improvement over the shaft which came from the factory, & i have had drivers reshafted which made the club for all intensive purposes unhittable. second, modifying items is almost never a best bang for your buck situation. some of the shafts i have purchased cost far more than the original club, but in the end at times the performance benefits were worth it. i drive a 350Z, & have a friend who has a highly modified 350Z which does have considerable performance & driving advantages over my car, but all of his mods have set him back over 10-15K. while it's a hell of alota fun to drive, the cost to performance increase is not worth it me, but it's worth it to him. however my nike driver which i picked up on sale for like $100 & then installed a $300+ shaft in was worth it me, as the performance increase was worth it (only slightly longer distance, but with better trajectory - which was a big improvement playing on windy days, a tighter shot dispersion & when it hooks it does not hook as much). however it also took trying 3 different shafts to get the right one, thank god my brother is a club maker. third, almost always your voiding the warranty, so may want to try & save some money & buy one used & then send in for modifications. some modifiers also offer some sort of warranty, but often it is limited timewise compared to the warranty from the factory.
as for not being able to hear differences between components, let's just say we can agree to disagree.
