Modified equipment...

I would had again that some part swapping is very simple work and that some of the people that work on their own equipment can be much more skilled than those at the factory that put it together especially with the case of mass market gear like the aforementioned Sony and Pioneer. Like everything you have to make an educated decision. With lower priced gear the improvement in sound can be profound and the effect on your wallet relatively light. By being overly sqeamish you can really miss out on some great value. I know for a fact that having Dan Wright, Richard Kern or Ric Shultz work on a Sony Sacd player and the value increases dramatically, just a fact.

I Agree Chelillingworth. If I was a skeptic I would even say that the industry has a real interest in folks not doing mods because, if they do not, it keeps things under their control and also keeps the whole thing so unknown and mysterious. If you stop thinking about buying and start thinking tweaking you will find that audio (for the most part) is a mature technology and state secrets are few (at all but the very highest end.) Upgrades, even on pretty good stuff, are painfully obvious and inexpensive.

I think it really depends on the gear. A mod on an inexpensive digital piece is different than a mod on a piece of classic gear say an amplifier or pre-amp.

For classic gear, folks are looking for stock, unmodified unless performed by the manufacturer. There are too many uncertainties related to mods. Unless you are doing it for yourself, don't do it and/or expect to get market value when reselling, it WON'T happen.

i find it interesting that even factory mods can diminish the perceived value of a component. for instance, when i was selling my 508.24, people were adamant about wanting an "original" 508.24 (which mine was), and not a 508.20 that had been upgraded by meridian. although an "upgraded" 508.24 is functionally identical to an "orignal 508.24, the upgraded unit would fetch a lower price for some mysterious reason. but whatever.

It's funny how these topics very so much from group to group. This forum is based at secondary retail site and maybe folks just think that way. You go some places and mods are just taken for granted, every one mods and it's almost just taken for granted. I don't know - if you want sound - and you know a qualified person, it's a no brainer if you ask me. Granted, I do not hang with folks spending 50k for their systems, but quite a few sound like they do.