The more you mod the better it gets. You'll get more bang for your buck. You won't find an SACD/CD player that betters SACD and redbook unless you spend much more.
The DAC options might give you the best of both worlds, but you'll need a digital cable, a shelf on your rack and maybe a power chord, so it depends if you want to hastle with all of that. When it's all said and done, you'll probably get the most bang for your buck with mods. My XA777ES modded sounds good enough to where I don't crave tubes. Prior to that I didn't think I'd ever keep a SS CD player. Or another option is getting a good redbook player for $1,500 -2,000 used.
Good luck and keep us posted what choice you make.
Rob
The DAC options might give you the best of both worlds, but you'll need a digital cable, a shelf on your rack and maybe a power chord, so it depends if you want to hastle with all of that. When it's all said and done, you'll probably get the most bang for your buck with mods. My XA777ES modded sounds good enough to where I don't crave tubes. Prior to that I didn't think I'd ever keep a SS CD player. Or another option is getting a good redbook player for $1,500 -2,000 used.
Good luck and keep us posted what choice you make.
Rob