Sony scd-1 vs Ayre C5xe

I had a modified 777ES, with Kern mods on the transport board, Superclock 2 and high quality resistors and a Jerry Ozment designed tubed/transformer coupled output stage (essentially the analog section of my Audio Logic DAC). The sound was, to my ears, better than most units I have heard from dCS, Esoteric, Accuphase and even the first version of the EMM Labs gear. I replaced it with the EMM Labs CDSD/DCC2SE combination. I lost a little warmth in the midbass region (which also muddied things up just a little there) and gained a little better resolution, dynamics and deep bass reproduction. My friend who bought my 777ES loves the sound of it, he has actually cut back a lot on his analog listening because of it.

You will not get your money back from any mods, and repair work on one may be a little hard to get (I believe many of the modifiers can do repairs, though), but sonically a well-modified unit is more than competitive with what's out there in today's marketplace.

I have to agree with the quality of sound coming out of these modded sonys. And I don't want to keep beating a dead horse here. But my goodness I just can not believe the soundsatge this player throws and the micro dynamics are just stunning.

Associated electronics are cj premier 350 amp , cj premier 16lsII pre-amp and HGA cabling (DNA interconnects and X-32 Speaker cables). And I almost forgot Thiel 3.6 speakers and the sony scd-1. Thats it very simple sytem but the sound is very pleasing.

Chuck

Thanks for all the input. The Ayre is out and thinking hard re the Emm labs or the mods for the Sony.

Didn't mean to push you away from the Ayre it is very good if not the best at its' price point. The emm will be better IMO. The sonys (scd-1/777es) are great players when modded properly but getting parts may become an issue as they have been discontinued for awhile.

Chuck

Most of the time everyone sticks up for their gear. I have an Ayre C-5xe. One of the design attributes that brought me to it was that the transport is easily replaced in the future. Mods are interesting, but tough to compare. Listen to everything you can. The Ayre player has gotten enough press and several reviewers use it as a reference. I will say that the DVD-A performance is awesome. I have several 192khz discs and it is fantastic. At it's price new or used it's tough to beat. I have no complaints.