Benchmark DAC-1 on a Sony DVP S9000ES??

i did not like the sound of redbook cd playback on any sony player i auditioned a few years ago (9000es, scd1, and 777es). i thought they were built like a tank and the sacd playback was excellent. i have been using different external dac units with my 9000es ever since it was purchased. huge difference in redbook sound with an external dac.

i was using a cal audio tube dac with my 9000es for a couple of years. it made a big difference in redbook playback. harshness was gone and it was just more full sounding. (i also did some tube rolling to tailor the sound). i recently demo'd a new manley dac which was nice but had some annoying clicking each time it read the disc. after trying out a few more dacs, i ended up buying an older audio research dac that cost $3500 when new. big improvement over the other dacs i demo'd. i liked this dac over some of the newer 24/192 dacs that i listened to.