AudioMeca vs. AudioAero vs. Electrocompaniet

An inmate we haven't heard from in a long time,Lorne Cherry, had the full mod done (around $2.5K I think) about 3 months ago. He wrote a lengthy review and posted it here. Check the archives.

Yep.. I read Lorne's review. It is very good. I don't know however if Lorne got to hear his XA777ES with/without the mods. He had Richard Kern of Audiomods perform the modifications

I emailed Dan Wright of Modwright regarding the effects of his mods which range in price from $600 --> $2600. This is what Dan told me I could expect from a modified unit vs. a non-modified unit.

The parts upgrade will lower the noise floor, improve detail and bass response.

The Superclock will greatly improve dynamics and resolution. It simply makes the music sound more live.

The Bybee filters provide similar improvements to the parts upgrade, but take things much further in terms of a dark background and improving air and spaciousness.

The tubed output stage simply sets the unit apart from
other players. It replaces the final op-amp based output stage with an elegant tubed output stage built with 1% precision metal film resistors and Auricap coupling caps. The tube power supply is completely outboard, with DC heaters, a custom Electraprint transformer, hand-made to our specifications. It adds a 3-dimensional quality to the sound, with incredible frequency range, allowing for a touch of tube warmth accompanied with airy highs and no lack of resolution or detail.

The unit with all upgrades was found to perform on the same level as the $6k-$7k Audio Aero Capital 192K upsampling CD player on regular CD's. On SACD, it completely bettered the Audio Aero in every way.

I just read Lorne's Review and it appears that he did get a chance to listen to his XA777ES before and after the mods. While I have only spent a few hours with the Sony XA777ES, I would have to agree with his thoughts on the pre-modification character of this unit. My interconnects are Audio Note Kondo KSL (new AN-Vz replacement) and NBS Statement so the unit would not be quite as "warm" or rolled off in my system as in his system with Cardas and Stealth PGS - but I do know what he means.

Thanks for the great information you guys, it was just what I wanted to read. I'm wondering though, if it wouldn't be better to just order the Audio Aero, or another top brand of cd player, without having to send your Sony all over the place. I don't have a lot of CD's at this time, so was thinking of buying a SACD player and go for quality instead of quantity (SACD's instead of redbook cd's). I know that SACD's are limited at this time. If the redbook quality is very good, I may just purchase it anyway. Thanks again for the thoughtful and useful information.

While SACD can be viewed as limited (something like 400-500 discs available worldwide) by some people I guess it all depends on what suits your taste. I for one can't even think of 30 redbooks cds I want right now so I guess its a preception issue. As for shipping it, if I were to purchase a new Sony and desired it to be modded, I would have Oade send it directly to my "modder of choice" who would then forward it to me once completed. I can personally attest that my modded 333ES is now an entirely different animal.

No doubt the new AA is a killer but at a list price of almost $9K I wonder just how a modded XA777ES player (maybe even a tube version) might fare with an estimated total investment of $4500 in comparison...

Good luck whatever your decision.