Onkyo DV-SP1000 Universal Player

Lanny (and anyone else who may be able to help), the thing that gets me about the SP1000 and the Marantz DV9500 is the almost non-existant user feedback comparing the two for audio use (Redbook and HiRes). I've looked both here and on AVSForum, and most often the comparison between these two comes as pointers to the French and German web reviews. But there are very few (if any!) detailed comparisons by real users in this regard. There are tons of comments about how great the SP1000 is, but without any kind of detailed reporting against any of the other contenders it makes it hard for anyone else to guage what that really means.

I'm frankly not too keen on taking the European (or any) published reviews as money in the bank. I find I get a better sense of what people think when it's in an environment like this, where questions and further study can be addressed.

Note that I'm not suggesting either of these machines can surpass a dedicated high end 2 channel machine, but for those who want to find out how these two (they both seem to be the current top contenders for music in this price range, IMO) compare for musical reproduction the info is very scarce.

Lanny, I looked at RAM's website. They seem to have it all covered, but one thing I did not see (and didn't expect to) was any mention of DAC replacement. I'm of the feeling that along with all these great analog and PS mods, the digital section has its own issues that may need to be addressed. If the DACs are not of the very highest quality then is it worth doing all this other stuff? I don't know what the 4960 uses, but at about $120 retail it's probably not using the high end line of BBs, Wolfsons, or AKMs. I'd be curious to hear RAM's view on whether their full blown out mods on different machines have significantly different results relative to the DACs that are used.

I shot him a note.

I don't mean to suggest a RAM'ed 4960 will not sound good (or even great). Additional searching shows me they have quite a fine reputation for this kind of work, as do many of the modders often mentioned here on AgoN. But I go back to my own experience of years ago, when I had my EAD DSP-7000 upgraded to a Mk.II. That mod replaced the original DACs with BB PCM63 'K' series DACs (among the best at the time). The original DACs were good, but the replacement made a huge improvement in the quality of reproduction. It leads me to suspect that making extensive mods on a player or DA converter will ultimately be limited by the quality of the digital section.