My mods done by RadioX
Recent posters might find my earlier posts, esp about modifications worth reading.
I am skeptical of the miraculous improvements shown on the xdrguy website. Easy to over-drive a unit into distortion and then claim wonderful fixes by driving it a bit less (or by internal mods that do nothing more than that).
The unmodded Sony is grand as has been repeatedly shown... just unlistenable without an HD defeat switch unless you are in a very hot or very cold reception location. Not audible but helpful are a hole or two for cooling and a means of pre-set memory preservation. That's it.
I had my mods done by RadioX who, I am guessing, is a far more professional and experienced techie, as judged by his in-depth website. I had mine re-aligned (didn't need much, I was told in retrospect), tweak of final EQ (flatter final output), and got the defeat switch installed (which includes a blue LED indicator too). Earlier, I added a small cellphone battery myself (still retained all memories after two weeks unplugged, if I recall my longest test).
There is nothing outlandish about the price. It is far less than audiophile gear. Just seems odd in light of initial mass-retailed price and being in a small box. However, if you look inside expensive audiophile boxes, they are often quite empty. Large faceplate just for show. Large price, sometimes likewise.
While I still can't count on majority-time HD in Toronto (perhaps related to being close to CN Tower which is exactly in-line with Buffalo!!!!), quite a treat in Florida. There I get two non-commercial stations and each of them has two channels (with some duplication) for a total of about 3 choices at all times with the nice Sony remote.
Ben