Ginas,
First off I too would like to invite you to join our group. It has been a real treat to find some local friends who share this wonderful hobby. I feel so lucky to have found people who like to experiment and share the experience. This helps me grow and learn in the hobby.
As to the question (S) at hand, I do not endorse the comments that the SCD-1 is the weak link. This is a fairly ill informed observation and so I would first focus on the earlier topics.
I say this because the engineering that went into the SCD-1 is STILL beyond most any product on the market. In effect the engineers at Sony were given the dream problem to solve. The SCD-1 was the platform from which they launched an entire format. They approached the design with little regard to their typical mass market philosophy. Instead they were challenged to build the best machine Sony was capable of. Because of this, the isolation techniques designed into the SCD-1s footers remain beyond any product I am aware of. The custom transport remains the standard for the industry and exceeds the more common Phillips and Technese transports. (I just received my parts back after the mods I had done. I had the lasers and motors replaced at the same time as preventative maintenance.) The drive mount was replaced; this is the highly machined heavy steel bar from which the parts are mounted. Very impressive, and as with most concepts in the SCD-1; it is highly customized.
Of course, the SCD-1 was not perfect; in fact the only way for Sony to hit any logical price point was to load it full of off the shelf common parts, like capacitors, resistors, op-amp and the like. Even with the stock products, they lost a lot of money on the SCD-1 and the little sister 777ES, (The 777ES does not include the extensive and expensive isolation techniques.)
This is where Audiocom-UK comes in. Audiocom-UK is a company that designs custom modifications for components judges by them to be otherwise state of the art and worthy of upgrading. All of there modification packages are custom designed specifically for certain products. The SCD-1 remains their flagship mod package. They continue to push the potential of the SCD-1 higher with redesigned clocks and power regulators along with their original modification package which included Vishay resistors and Black Gate capacitors. (These are the best of each category available. Black Gate is no longer in business, so the stock of capacitors will soon become very low, and never be replaceable with a lesser product.).
Richard Kern (www.audiomod.com) is the SCD-1/777ES guru. No one understands this unit more than Richard, and no one has put the hour into advancing the potential from the SCD-1/777ES player. When the EMM Labs Meitner/Phillips combination hit the market and quickly became the standard of SACD playback. Richard had a fellow Oregonian who owner the Meitner combo agree to a shoot out. After hearing this unit Richard went back home and proceeded circuit by circuit to re-think the entire SCD-1/777ES design. He discovered modifying the transport board, along with using the Audio Consulting silver output transformers and the latest Audiocom-UK Superclock 3 and Superclock 3 power supply allowed the SCD-1/777ES performance to not only match, but exceed the Meitner/Phillips combo. Not only is the SCD-1 able to match all the detail and resolution of the Meitner, but its far more musical (I assume this is the laidback characteristic of the original unmodified unit coming through) I attribute the musicality to the amazing engineering into isolation and transport design along with the mass incorporated into the machines casing.
Since these findings, Audiocom-UK has come out with its second generation of power regulators, which Im sure exceed the original regulators by a quantified amount or the modification would not have been released. This is the only Audiocom-UK/Audiomod modification I have not had made to my SCD-1. The first mods were done in 2001 and I just received the second set a couple weeks ago. The burn in time is over 400 hours for the Black Gate capacitors, so I have another week before I can hear the full benefits, but I can say its going to be very special indeed.
So the question at hand is, would I do it again? YES! For the last five years I have had performance in SACD that remained state of the art. But lets not forget every modification made to the SCD-1 also affected the redbook playback. (Here is where opinion comes in) I believe the redbook playback over the past years has also matched the best available with the exception being possibly the Burmester. Now over the past couple years some excellent SACD and/or CD players have been designed. The Meitner is arguably the top of those designs, with the Remiyo (CD only) being at that same level.
So now my unit is again as state of the art as available with a total investment of one half or more to the best. I expect I will remain among the top for the next five years in both SACD and CD. At that point I will make a judgment, but for now
One reason I decided to again upgrade is I have not seen any truly revolutionary products sense the SCD-1, and therefore what is coming out is basically modified old products, just like my unit. I believe there is a breakthrough coming, somewhere combining Audiocoms mods, dcs up-sampling technology, Burmester and Meitner circuit technologies into a single box. This is coming, but at what cost? In my mind, Im already there and will be for years to come. Sure for some cost I might better the system I have, but I dont have that kind of money, and I doubt Im missing much from the early indications I have heard of my latest mods.
So now back to the original question. I would strongly consider comparing either of your short list components to Jafoxs Aesthetix Callisto. If its possible to set up a home demo from Audio Perfection and compare this with Johns Callisto (which would be fun to hear) I think you will have a very good idea of what is available. If you can get a loner CJ that would be great, I know there is a guy locally who had the Art, perhaps we could find him unless you already have a line on an Art II.
You can write me an email if you want a full breakdown of modifications available. The advice above to at least get the Superclock 3/ Superclock power supply is a must. The others depend on how far you want to go. Superclock 3 will amaze you
JD
