Best SACD player for the money - Marantz SA-11S1

DCAudio-

You may want to email Paul at TRL and see what he thinks about your upgrade or mod path with the 555ES.
I am sure a place like TRL or SACD mods could improve the stock player. The question is whether the technology used on the 555ES has been passed up by a newer (and maybe cheaper unit).

Something like the Sony ES2000 unit may have more upside after a mod than a 555ES. I know it sounds kind of odd, but the Sony CE595 (a $150 unit) that I had modded by TRL was a monster. The best digital I have had in my system. The ES2000 is a believed to be notch above the 595 by those that have heard both modded and it is about $150 more stock.

Now certainly initial build quality has a co-relation to the outcome of a modded unit, but maybe not quite as much as one might think.

I guess all I am saying is that the newer technology may offer some other alternatives for you.
Good Luck.

Hmmm...
Howie - I am not sure I am understanding your post very well.
I am making no claims that anything is the best to mod, or is the best player when modded. The only point I was making was that units with newer chipsets might offer better potential than some slightly older units. I am sure many other factors in the build quality of a unit contribute to the sound and also if it is a good platform for modding.

As far as Paul's view on the 555es- I have no idea but I do know that they evaluate units carefully like any other modder and do pay close attention to transports. One of the reasons they got better results from the Sony 595 over the Sony 775, for example, was that they liked the transport in the 595 better.
They do look at players that are readily available as popular options, but they do really like the Marantz reference players which are not all that easy to come by actually.

They mod many units from the modest 595 to the very expensive; i.e. Esoterics, etc.
They are always evaluating units as they come in and have opinions and options based upon what someone may want to spend on the stock units.

"I am a bit suspicious of TRL"

It looks like you have been debating doing a mod for over a year with anyone.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1083355590&openusid&zzDcaudio&4&5#Dcaudio
There are many choices out there.
Good luck. I am guessing almost anybody you choose can improve the unit in some way.
Whether you are satisfied is another story. Maybe you just are a vinyl guy.
Good luck.

Howie-
You have a way of making things quite complicated.
No real secrets about how TRL ranks different units at this point:
The 595 is likely the best value at this point for price/performance. For a $150 stock unit plus the $550 mod you get one helluva player.
For a little more money, they can mod the Sony es2000 and you can get even a bit more performance according to those who have both machines.
Both the 595 and 2000 are highly regarded and the 595 has professional reviews-not just hacks like you and me yammering on our keyboard.

If you want to spend significantly more money, then the Marantz reference players are a favorite for TRL right now. According to people who have heard the TRL Marantz units, they do everything that the Sony's do and do it slightly better.

It is without a doubt a law of diminishing returns with incremental gains as you go up the food chain. Honestly, the 595/2000 modded players already get you in the major leagues. There are not huge leaps from there.

Other units do not have results that are quite as good as the reference Marantz units and they will gladly tell you.
They are not that crazy about universals, but can certainly improve them a great deal and have many happy customers of such machines who want to stick with what they have and just want it improved. They are not as impressed allegedly with Pioneers, for instance, as platforms as much as other brands- but again can improve them and make very happy customers.
They seem to prefer the newer Sony's due to their chipsets to slightly older Sony's but they can certainly improve them and have.

They are like any other modders-they have certain machines they think are better platforms than others. This also changes as they encounter different machines. He has a $10,000 retail stock unit somebody sent him this week. Who knows-maybe that will edge out those lowly Marantz $3500 reference units.

I guess I sort of am puzzled as to your comments that imply they are either confused about what they like and have tested-or that it changes from day to day.

Call him. Email him. You will get clear and honest answers. If you don't like what you hear-try somewhere else. Paul will not misrepresent information just to get your businees. He doesn't need to and he is just not that kind of guy. You forget that TRL has been around a long time and has a waiting list for SOTA preamps and amps they make.

There are many very competent modders out there and you can spend as little as a few hundred dollars or you can pay somebody to just use your case to fill with all new parts to build essentially a new machine for $5000. It is your money for sure.

I will say that I have never heard him report that the 555ES is "the best he has ever heard" as you now report. If that is the case, then sign me up. I think there is maybe some confusion there on your part, but you are best to email Paul for clarification.

Howie-

Certainly I apologize if anything I said sounded like an attack as that was not my intention.

A few things:

I think TRL is a lot more experienced about a wide variety of units than you think as they actually are willing to mod more than just one unit. They have seen a ton of units go through their shop. Also, I think since they make custom built $30,000 digital processors that they can quickly and easily assess most commercial units with regards to transports, DACs, power supplies, transformers, materials, build quality,etc.

I do agree with you about modding units needing some careful thought, but I have a different take on this.

I don't see anyhting wrong with enhancing any unit-even expensive ones as they all have their weaknesses no matter how small.
What I do think is odd is paying several thousand dollars to replace all your parts (with new parts that cost very little by the way and don't let anyone tell you any different). But people pay for a lot of crazy things in audio.
There are people buying the $1300 turntable mats, and $400 on wooden knobs and varnish, etc.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

Nice equipment and quite a statement about the SA11.
Great user name by the way. Bridge of Sighs one of the better blues rock LP's of all time.

Well, you may be a newbie but you sure have a lot of energy and passion for audio.
Welcome and have fun here!