Help needed in identifying mods to a Sony CD 'ES'-spec Player

[Ripley's Cat]

Afternoon Ladies and Gents,
Long story short, I've an itch that needs scratching: I'm on the look out for a new CD transport to compare to the Audiolab 6000CDT that I've currently got. I had a Sony fixed-pickup mech model years and years ago (CDP-XE900) and remember it being very solidly built and always a pleasure to use.

An ES-spec model (CDP-XA20ES) has appeared on an auction site with vague mumblings in its description (along with the usual AI-generated waffle and various copy and pasting from a review site) about it having been modified. I contacted the seller who - to his credit - emailed back pretty sharpish with photos of said modifications. Unfortunately, he's not the modifier and claims to have no paperwork from who carried out the work; I've got no reason to disbelieve him - his 'store' is full of electrical items, not all of them necessarily hifi, rather than a seller handling higher-end stuff.

I've attached a few of the photos showing the modifications; any ideas about what the mods are/do, would be most appreciated. My best guess is that there's a discrete output stage added - looks to be a cluster of op-amps, but that's as far as I can go. I am attracted to the idea of buying a modified deck, but only if the modifications are safe, sound - and an improvement over the original design! Again, any thoughts & opinions would be appreciated.

https://ibb.co/PWkzzL1
https://ibb.co/ChNXNS1
https://ibb.co/wwd5Qbw

[Macca]

Don't know what's been done, looks like some fancy caps have been put in.

I'd avoid it and look for one that's not been tampered with. Maybe if it was a much lower price it would still be worth a punt, but modifications mostly reduce the value of equipment, not increase it, especially if there's no provenance to them.

[Puffin]

picture 3 seems to show the only modifications but it is possible that all the electrolytic capapcitors (Red Ones) could have been changed or anything else for that matter but you would need to find a picture of an another machine to be sure. The mod seems to consist of Polypropylene capacitors (Yellow) which have been piggybacked or bypassed for whatever reason and a black item that could be another capacitor in order to get the values needed (e.g 4.7uf + ?? or whatever)

There is a connector to the rear of the the board with the yellow caps, is that the audio out sockets ( Red + White or Black?} If it is then it looks like a mod to get a smoother/different feed to the sockets.

[Ripley's Cat]

Thanks Macca and Puffin - I've arrived at the decision to leave it and to look for a stock model, or indeed something similar. Agreed - it's at a high price point for what it is. Always good to bounce an idea around for a bit. Thanks, chaps.

[Lawrence001]

I think the green PCBs may all be new. Looks like an improved analogue output stage with op amps and a separate power supply.

[Ripley's Cat]

Hi Lawrence, the green PCBs front left and right? I think you're right. I did wonder if there was an after-market clock in there (à la Trichord), but I'm not convinced there is. I also initially thought that this was a Lampizator project, but there's no (obvious) valves to be seen, so clearly not. Ah well. I shall keep my eyes peeled for something similar. I really do remember the Sonys with this fixed-pickup mech quite fondly; more a curiosity now to see how they perform as a transport.

[Lawrence001]

Hi Lawrence, the green PCBs front left and right? I think you're right. I did wonder if there was an after-market clock in there (à la Trichord), but I'm not convinced there is. I also initially thought that this was a Lampizator project, but there's no (obvious) valves to be seen, so clearly not. Ah well. I shall keep my eyes peeled for something similar. I really do remember the Sonys with this fixed-pickup mech quite fondly; more a curiosity now to see how they perform as a transport.And the third placed vertically next to the yellow caps. It's possible it's a clock board with power supply, I just assumed the 2 chips were opamps but I could be wrong.