scd 777es sacd sony mod worth it?

My stance too Jonathan! I'm still waiting, according to Audience I should have had the unit already, but then on the other hand I am glad, that they will only ship after they have rigorously put everything to the test. Well, after that, a 400 hours burn in....sigh
Happy Listening,

Has Richard given you any real idea of when you will recieve it? This must be getting stressfull for you.

Hi, Jtinn, sorry to come back to you so late..... Richard did give two aproximate dates, however couldn't deliver. I'd been forewarned, so I didn't mind and these days, since Sept. 11th, well, there are more important, vital things to occupy my mind.
Cheers

Well, yesterday was the great day. It was a long wait of about four months, but it certainly was worth it. Right out of the box and unbroken in, my preliminary findings are:
SACD play:
1. Dynamics of quite a new order, punch galore.
2. The grain in the highs and upper mids is gone.
3. Bass seems deeper, cleaner, faster
4. Midrange is more open
5. Soundstage deeper, wider.
6. you can listen deeper into the musical presentation, and with more minute detail revealed. Certainly more PRAT.

Redbook CD:

Quick comparison with ML 30.6/31.5/Purcell upsampler combo:

SONY/Audience mod: Soundpresentation more forward, closer, more direct, (first row instead of about 6th ) more roughshot for the time being, less refined and dissolved, however a tad more dynamic-punchy, highs still a bit etchy. But don't forget, the unit is just out of the box. I may be in for quite a surprise after about 400 hours or so. The unit is on repeat now, breaking it in. Cheers,

Detlof, How much did that set you back?