Talked to patrick at krell and recieved the straight info. Krell offers no upgrade path for the sacd std, only repairs. Depending on the version (Gen 1, 2 or 3), a transport issue may only be resolved by replacing it with the only transport available to krell at this time which happens to be the 505 version. Only the transport is offered as needed and is not considered an upgrade, simply a necessary replacement! Which, if any, of the aforementioned scenarios have occurred and under which extraneous circumstances, I have no idea. If in the future an sacd standard needs a drive fixed, and it is under warranty, it will probably be replaced by the 505 drive out of sheer necessity. One cannot simply ask krell to replace your functioning drive with the 505 as an upgrade. A 505 drive may be used if a fix or replacement part is unavailable to rectify the situation. Of course being in or out of warranty will complicate matters as it regards a charge for service...perhaps this is where the figures of $2k-$3k come in?? Anyway, that's the official word as conveyed to and interpolated by me. I look forward to having my player back and functional, regardless of drive! As for sonic differences between a 505 equiped unit versus a standard drive, non should be apparent, as it is only the drive itself and no other audio parts variances...the 505 may be quieter but it is still the same basic design and not exotic like the teac VRDS.
