Resale value of modded CD players?

call me nuts but as soon as i read that its been modded i stop reading that second & move on.

weather a mod is good or bad is way too subjective to dirrerent peoples tastes & i much prefer stock gear as youll never know how the unit sounded in the first place if you buy it & its allready modded.

mike.

I disagree,

I think it comes down to who mod's the unit. For example Dan Wright, Stan Warren, Underwood, etc.; They have proven that their mods can bring "underachieving" or good players up quite a few notches, provide quality workmanship as well as excellent service. They just don't go willy-nilly and do a mod for the sake of modding, they think it through and do evaluations for results.

Now, if some Audiogon member did a mod, an extensive one and not just something simple like a cap upgrade, I would be hesitant.

Regards,

I have sold two moded units thus far. I think that 50% is unduly low. On average these two got about 65% of new price. Much is going to depend on demand, of course.

That pretty much sums it up: some people don't want to even begin to deal with mods. Others are cautiously interested, depending on whether the mod was done by a "name" (Mitch Sugarman comes to mind for me), or whether the mod was very simple and obviously a benefit.

Also there are certain components that are very frequently modified and the nature of the mods has become fairly well known. I purchased a modified EAR 834 phono stage, compared it to my unmodified one, and was frankly blown away at how much better the modified one was (even that I loved the stock model). HOWEVER, the price I paid for the modified one probably had a premium of maybe one quarter or less the likely cost of the mod (getting around to your actual question!).

Art

I believe the answer to that question depends a great deal on how much
time has passed since the player was first purchased. It's been my
observation by watching the classifieds that modified players lose their
value more quickly than unmodified players, but that eventually both
modified and unmodified players eventually settle around 50%-60% of
"retail"...assuming by retail we mean the original retail price
of the unmodded player plus the retail value of the modification.

Also, much of the value of digital players relies on what's
"hot" at the moment and what's new or coming. For
example, the recent shift from Denon 2900 to Denon 3910 Universal
players has severely affected the market for modified Denon 2900
machines. It's no one's fault...it's just the quickly advancing state of the
digital art.

Some players, though, will settle and retain a fairly consistent used
value. The Sony SCD-1 comes to mind. These players in their original,
untouched versions have consistently sold for around $2500 for almost
a year and a half. But, this is rare. One could not expect modified
versions of these machines to sell for much more than $2500, IMO. The
value of the modification drops off steeply. That's why buyers of
modified machines need either to be acutely aware of the shifting
market, or be certain of what they're buying so that the machine will be
enjoyed for the long term.