@mcreyn
You are correct. My bad. I read the original post and did not look further to see the budget requirement. The $1000 asking price for a SA-3000 is reasonable but they can be purchased for a lot less depending on seller motivation. I would not recommend buying one at the $1000 price unless it is all original, mint condition, original box and manual, etc. So if he could get one for $500 that would be what I would recommend. The stock unit sounds pretty good as is. My upgrades can run $200 to $1000 depending on what level of performance a person would want and the parts selection. V-Caps are not that cheap so that can raise up the price. I also do not see many preamps with tone controls any more (if any) and with the Counterpoint the sound is so beautiful without that. Plus sometimes those get in the way of the sound.
So, in summary, if the OP wants the best sound and can up their budget, then by all means, look into my Counterpoint suggestion. If they only want something that plays music, then get one of the other suggestions.
Happy Listening.
