Best Redbook/SACD player for under $1000?

You'd be hard pressed to do better than the sony dvp s9000es which can be found used for about $600. Of course you could also then send the unit to Stan Warren in Eugene, OR for a $250 upgrade that could bring sonic improvements upwards of 25% to 40%.

Stan says 25%, a friend of a friend says 40%.

-IMO

What if I could get the new Sony 999ES for the same price as the 9000ES? Do they have the same performance?

Sorry, I don't know anything about the 999es.

I have the new Sony 999ES and love it. It has a nice sound with much better bass than the old Sony 7700. It includes bass management and multichannel SACD. And it plays DVD's and much more. Some newer music DVD's sound spectacular with the 999es as compared to the 7700. The 9000es is built like a tank and much heavier than the 999es. If you don't need multichannel SACD you might want to save some $$$ and go with the 9000es though.

Hi:
The recent review in SGHT follows very closely the above remarks and opinions from Gbm4th.