I own a modded 333ES and can attest that mods do offer a significant upgrade to the stock units - but its my impression that the redbook presentation realized larger benefits than the SACD section.
In your price zone you could get one of Matt's (SACDmods.com) completed units and have money left over for some software. I believe the 222ES can now be bought for under $400 which would leave money for mods. Not sure what the 555ES is now going for but I'm not sure you can buy one a get the mods done within your budget but I guess there is no harm in inquiring with Stan or Ric.
A local chap just took delivery of a modded 775 from Matt Anker so we are trying to set-up a show-down between my "Kerned" 333ES, his machine and a stock 555ES. Unfortunately, all of our respective systems are not functioning so who knows when we'll get out shit together...
It would be my advice to get a multi-channel machine even if you are a 2 channel guy as there are reported problems with 2 channel players playing multi-channel discs.
In your price zone you could get one of Matt's (SACDmods.com) completed units and have money left over for some software. I believe the 222ES can now be bought for under $400 which would leave money for mods. Not sure what the 555ES is now going for but I'm not sure you can buy one a get the mods done within your budget but I guess there is no harm in inquiring with Stan or Ric.
A local chap just took delivery of a modded 775 from Matt Anker so we are trying to set-up a show-down between my "Kerned" 333ES, his machine and a stock 555ES. Unfortunately, all of our respective systems are not functioning so who knows when we'll get out shit together...
It would be my advice to get a multi-channel machine even if you are a 2 channel guy as there are reported problems with 2 channel players playing multi-channel discs.