how good is sacd1000 on red book

Thank you Sean for a great post. Anyone had the Stan Warren mod done to the player?

Poster RandyTsuch has a SW modded 1000 and a search here might provide you with some info. Randy is also a regular over at HD where you might find his impressions. The one thing is (if memory serves me right) is that he sent his new stock unit directly to Stan without hearing it in stock form. Randy can confirm.

While my 1000 is still at my buddy's house in CT, I have yet to decide on how to approach this whole mod thing (I've got a "Kerned" 333ES currently)... Do I:

1. Get it home into Western Canada to see how it performs against my Sony. If I don't like it I should have no problem getting my money out it especially since this particular Philips is virtually non-existent in Canada.

2. Get it modded but herein lies the problem. I know first hand the Richard Kern does great work, Stan offers what appears to be a very reasonably priced mod and Dan Wright's "absolute truth" mods in corporating a tube output stage is very intrguing although very pricy.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

If i have anybody do anything to my SACD 1000, it would probably be either Ric from EVS or Kyle at Reference Audio Mods. I've talked to Ric about this and should probably give Kyle a call to see what he's got up his sleeve. I know that a lot of you folks like Dan Wright, Stan Warren, Joe Curcio, Richard Kern and John Hillig, so it would appear that we've got quite a few qualified and reputable folks to choose from in terms of having them "gut" our brand new units : ) As mentioned in another thread, i would talk to a few different "tweakers" and get a feel for how they operate. From there, you shouldn't have a hard time deciding on who you want to work with. Much like selecting gear, this SHOULD be a personal process. Just because i like something or someone doesn't mean that you will. Sean
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Sean, thanks for your detailed report on this player. Please give SACD a shot, and let us know what you think.

I agree with your assessment of the modders. If I ever have my SCD333-ES player done, it will be Ric at EVS who does the work.

Air... yeh, that's what I think I feel like I'm missing from redbook playback on the philips player. BUT, after almost 6 days of continuous playback, the sound has opened up some, and become better integrated within itself.

the midrange is probably it's best trait, the high end needing the most help.

In asking for mods, I'd look for someone who could open up the top end, add some air, and remove some of the overall coloring the unit has... there just seems to be a little bit of a thickness to the sound. I'd also ask to see if the soundstage could be expanded... the sound is full, but doesn't extend far out on either side.

All this said, the unit sounds much better than it originally did, even two days of continuous playback. my ear did hear improvement over time.