BAT vk-5dse vs sonic frontiers sfcd1

I have not heard the Sonic Frontiers player but I owned the BAT VK-D5SE for several years. The BAT player was always very organic, liquid, smooth -- a real pleasure to listen to... But, it was a bit dark - almost giving an impression of heaviness and being a bit slow. So, I swapped out the super tubes for 6N6P tubes and had the clock upgraded to one of those "super" types -- and WOW. The player really sang after that - again organic, smooth yet now much more neutral and well balanced. I really believe this venerable player is really the one-to-beat in the crowded under $10K range. It will serve you well until you're ready to spend the BIG $$$$$$$.

For $600 you can send your sfcd to Parts ConneXion and have it upgraded to SPECIAL EDITION PLUS (SE+) status. I hear (pun intended) that the upgrade is worth every penny.

Thanks for your suggestions
I'm more confused now still because i have 4 options now, some more expensive and less immediate but i prefer to do something already very definite:
- sonic frontiers SE+ upgrade
- bat vk-d5se and do some improvement also
- opera consonance 5.0
- audio aero capitole

From my experience with Chris Johnson @PCX, I would investigate the SE+ upgrade. I had SF Power 3SE+, SF Line 3SE+ and Benchmark DAC-1 XLR mod from PCX and all with EXCELLENT results.

I heard the BAT vk-5dse in a friends system that not familiar with so can't comment. He did mentioned a problem with the transport in reading disks and difficult getting it repair from his dealer.