If you have never heard a Modwright either Sony 9000, 9100, 5400, or the Oppo 83, 95, or 105 modded by Modwright, the sound is outrageously good in all respects. It will disarm your ears at the amount of improvement you hear. I've had both the 9000 and the 9100 by Modwright. Inbetween I tried the VSE level 6 9000 and it sounded positively thin, sterile, but with great definition, however. I tried the VSE to see what all the fuss was. To me, there should have been some fuss because although the price of the mods is similar, there is NO comparison between the sounds--Dan at Modwright is pretty darn good. We're talking beauty, dynamics and transparency to rival the finest analog setup on many cds--not all, of course. Every cd sounds better than with other lesser players, however. Finding one on the used market is a super deal. The Oppo versions might have the edge in bass, the Sony versions in transparency and a little on detail. This is on the Modwright players. I don't know how the stock players sound and probably won't bother learning. There isn't much point in comparing them as Dan's versions are way ahead of the stock ones.
cd player recommendation
I have a well over 10 years old Sonic Frontiers sfcd 1 . Even after a transport replacement I am having a very frequent "no cd " door is not opening issues and I am considering a replacement . I am using it with a Blue circle BC21.1 (tube preamp ) and a Blue circle BC 22 Solid state amp and Gershman Avant garde speakers . I dont have a lot of opportunity to audition players hence this post .
Thanks
Thanks