TRL 595-how good is it?

I think the only way that a cheaper player with a cheaper mod can beat more expensive players and more expensive mods is if the design philosophy is different.

If you look at military fighter jets, the last generation of planes produced by the Soviet Union were frighteningly good, matching or outperforming U.S. aircraft (F15, F16) in many dimensions, yet cost a fraction of the price. Whereas U.S. aircraft were crammed with bleeding edge technology, the Soviet planes were more selective and placed more of an emphasis on optimization of older technology. This is not a perfect analogy but perhaps it helps to make a point.

I do not know how TRL does its mod. Paul's years of experience with studio recording technology and very expensive audio gear ($30k cd players, $100k tube amps, etc) suggests that he knows what great sound is like and also what goes into the most premium high end components. Has he found a way to optimize the sound of the little Sony 595/2000ES and the Marantz SA11/14 so that they compete with the all-out mods albeit with a less parts and labor intensive approach? The thinking would be that the Marantz SA11/14 in particular are flagship products and are backed by teams of qualified engineers - there must be many good things to the design that can sound much better with a few judicious tweaks. Is a 100% different output stage necessarily better? The same applies to other aspects of the mod. I don't have the answers, but this is the only way that a $595 mod can make sense.

The only ways to know for sure are to a) dissect the TRL mod, b) do more head-to-head comparisons of TRL modded players with similar ones from APL/Exemplar/Modwright/RAM/etc. Ideally, the TRL Marantz SA11/14 would be faced off vs the top players from the other modders since the Marantzes sounds better than the Sonys.

On my part, I have a Marantz SA14 that TRL is modding. I took a leap of faith. I have a good feeling that it will turn out well. I admit it would be even more comforting if there were more info on A and B above. My other personal view is that I am confident about the quality of APL products (which undertake a massive reengineering of the stock products) so I may give Alex a try as well.

True, almost everyone posts a glowing review. Ideally you listen before and after the mod. Before the mod, pick out what you dislike about the sound, write it down if you have to (esp since the mod + break-in takes so long and you can forget!). Otherwise, its easy to get caught up in what you already liked from the stock player once you start reviewing the modded player.

I've had a few surprises with digital. I expected my Cary 303 to kill a friend's nOrh CD-1 (in my system). It didn't! I got a NOS Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8 to replace the more pedestrian Siemens 7308 but instead found that it sounded edgier and less smooth. Funny stuff.

TVAD,
Good point, but on the same topic, one can reverse your post and ask the same about $20,000 units, the owners of these also convince themselves, and would not openly admit a tweaked player sounded as good...they would be more of a fool than the folks who modded units.

Tvad -

I would tend to agree that people generally will utilize self hypnosis or auto suggestion in forming their impressions of their new mod that is in direct correlation to the amount they spent on the investment.
No one wants to say that the 3000,4000,or 5000$ investment they just spent wasn't the "best they have ever heard". LOL!

This is where professional reviews can sometimes help, but these are usually very cautious and qualified.

I do think, in general, however, that most mods of digital and other audio units do make marked improvements so the user is very pleased.
I also think that the ongoing debates as to what mod is the best sounding (TRL, RAM, APL, Empirical, Modwright) is probably just an exercise analogous to hearing about people's gourmet eating habits, albeit an interesting debate.
All of these modders create extraordinary outcomes on their flagship model mods of the day. It is kind of like Aunt Bee and ladies at the Annual Pie Contest on Mayberry RFD. But, as we all know, everyone does not like the same "best" cherry pie recipe.

I guess the question (and solution) for me gains focus when I consider the reports on modder ethics, service relationships, analysis of initial stock plus mod investment cost/benefit, and the general ideal "house" sound of the modder.

In the end, there are a lot of choices for the end user and that is a good thing. People simply just need to do their homework.