Bargain Priced SACD Giant Killer?

this thread asked for a best bang for buck mod or player. i think the TRL mods are on the cheaper side, right? so i suggested it as a possibility. but if i had the dough, i'd go for APL's mod. Somewhere in the middle is where I ended up, very happy I might add. The VSE level 5 mod is really oustanding. Definitely betters many players I've had, including the BAT VK D5SE and the Wadia 860x.

The TRL mods are definitely on the less expensive side and provide significant bang for the buck, which fits in with the theme of the thread. However, I would not under estimate the amount of work that goes into the mods, especially with the DVP-NS900V. Based on my conversations with TRL there appears to be 25+ hours of work in modifying this player. Using $40/hr. as a base (it's $80/hr. where I live) thats $1000, for labor only, no parts. Already that is nearly twice the $550 standard mod fee TRL charges (BTW - a certain poster to this thread would lead you to believe that TRL mods are nothing more than dropping some magnetic material on the DAC chips and then covering it with epoxy - I don't think TRL would have been able to do over 600 digital mods with not one customer taking them up on their money back gurantee if this was the case).

While I respect what other mod shops charge for their services, it would be foolish as a buyer to equate price with quality. Like buying unmodded new or used audio, there are bargains (to me where benefit to cost ratio is extremely high), fair deals, and deals to good to be true (which is normally the case).

As a final note the suggestion to modify the SCD-1 is a very good one.

Addressing the original question,

I went from a SCD-777ES to the Marantz SA8260 so I could have multichannel, and didn't feel like I lost much in sound quality. For what you're looking for I'd recommend almost any of the cheaper Sonys or Marantz' (and the 8260 is quite good at about $700+ new). Using a 'cheaper' digital source is like driving a budget(relative to the 'best' you could afford, which can be quite good) car. You get plenty of enjoyment from it and the enjoyment is multiplied by the fact you didn't break your wallet! That said, I do put my RB CD's into an Ayre CX-7 instead of the Marantz...

I have seen the inside of the TRL Sony 900 and know somewhat the amount of R&D that went into this by Paul and Brian and the required labor and parts for each unit mod.
Without discussing specifics it is a ridiculous bargain as are all of their mods.
Other more expensive modders also have major R&D time in their mods and they charge what the market will bear. I have no issue with that.
The unit that was in the room at CES with the TRL modded unit was a $12,000 modded unit I believe.
I will let others share what they heard about that comparision which does illustrate the point of price and outcome are not directly co-related.

With reagrd to the original poster-he wanted to sell the SCD-1 and use the money to get a TT steup and a less expensive digital unit if I undertsand correctly.

There are many fine choices of cheaper units stock and from all of the modders mentioned here that would meet your needs.
APL, Modwright, TRL, RAM, etc all can do moderate priced units and likely get you close to or even surpass the SCD-1.
There are also many fine used stock units out there that can be had reasonably that no doubt sound excellent.

Clio09: There has only been one person making said claim and his motive is transparent.

And I whole heartedly agree that digital audio playback is one arena which teaches you that price does not always equate to better performance.

It's sad that the various major CD and SACD player manufacturers use additional circuits and filtering, ("Bells and whistles" which can degrade the sound) as a marketing tool to ask more money for a player, rather than just put the additional money into making it sound better. I suppose that isn't the way it works, though. A corporate engineer has to design an elaborate circuit in order to keep his job. His boss probably doesn't listen to the player anyway ...

That's why it is my firm opinion that we as audiophiles can do better with their lower level players with their simple circuits and have them modified to achieve a higher level of performance.

So, to keep this aimed at the original poster, I would recommend a modification of a lower level player with fewer "bells and whistles".

Jack