Sony DVP- S9000es

Do a search on the 9000es and you will get at least 20 threads asking the same question. fwiw I have one and am using it exclusively for DVD/v playback only.
Tim

I bought one and for the money in my opinion is maybe underpriced for what it can do---cd, progressive scan,dvd, sacd,etc. and it looks cool as a bonus.

I bought one for dvd and sacd, but it turned out to be a much better cd player than my rotel 971, so I sold the rotel. Allow over 500 hours of break in.

I think I would skip the outboard DAC and pay to have the unit modded (~$500, or so). I bet the 9000es would sound awesome modified - if you are willing to void your sony ES warranty. I would. Then you'd have killer SACD, CD, and DVD playback in one box, for less money, and only one set of analog interconnects.

I have the 9000es and think it's great on both redbook and SACD. Of course, many times it comes down to the recording quality of the particular disc, but SACD is better than CD. I think that mods may improve it but, I'm not sure it will make enough difference to justify the cost and you probably won't recoup the mod cost when you sell the unit(if you do). I recently read that Mark Levinson and others used the 9000es as a source to demo their other equipment at the CES show. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. Also, a great DVD player as a bonus.