I concur. I had my Sony SCD-CE775 modified by Matt last year and the experience was extremely positive. At the time, I was considering getting a better player for redbook CD playback, because that was the Sony's biggest weakness (I found it pretty horrid, actually). I'm currently thinking of sending the player back to Matt for additional mods that were not available last year, but I can't bear to part with the player at the moment. Think about it this way: if you sell your NS500v, you'd probably get about $120-$150 for it. Add the $330 that you would spend for the mods and you'd have a budget of something just short of $500. For that kind of money, it's really a no-brainer to me--I just don't think there are any players out there, in stock form, that can beat an Anker-modified player AND does both CD and SACD. At least that was my reasoning, for my system. YMMV.
For reference, other players I was considering at the time were: Rega Planet 2000, Cambridge Audio D500SE, various Arcams, Sony 555ES, but only the last one would do SACD. I also had a NAD C521, which I subsequently sold after I got my modded 775 back. Good luck!
For reference, other players I was considering at the time were: Rega Planet 2000, Cambridge Audio D500SE, various Arcams, Sony 555ES, but only the last one would do SACD. I also had a NAD C521, which I subsequently sold after I got my modded 775 back. Good luck!