All you need is to be not colour blind and to know how to use a soldering iron. Now for the usual disclaimer. All tweaks here are to be performed at your own risk. Opening up your hifi equipment voids the warranty so if anything goes wrong, don't come looking for me. Do not attempt to modify your equipment if you do not feel confident of doing so.
Electrical components have dangerous, potentially lethal voltages inside.
The author disclaims liability for any personal injury, damage to property or economic loss resulting from use of this article. Then don't read on. Mass production techniques often have tight budget constraints, leading to a compromise in the quality of parts used. In fact, the sum total of the electronic parts inside a component represent only a very small proportion of the final cost borne by the consumer. By modifying or replacing certain parts, the performance of your system can be greatly improved sometimes.