Should I modify my Sony s9000es or get a DAC?

In general, you will never get your money in return for mods. A typical 9000ES goes for around $700, put $1000 mod in one and you may get $1100, IMO. When I went from my VPI Jr turntable to my mk IV, I sold my Jr. and bought the mk IV. It's much cheaper to go that route and let someone else pay the upgrade bill. This is from my experiences, I've done both routes. I remeber when I had my Rotel cd player upgraded by EAD many years ago, before they made their own equipment, when you go to sell, and you will, it's the nature of the beast, you will take a bath on mods. You will be lucky if you get anywhere near half the money back that you've invested.
I'd either post a wanted ad, and look for one that's already modded and sell your 9000ES, or get the outboard DAC, used of course. Finacially speaking, it's your best move. Get the mod only if you plan to keep this unit for a long, long time and do not care what the resale will be.

Regards,
John

A DAC won't make a difference with SACD. Mod's usually take a beating on the used market. Digital tends to depreciate faster than other gear. Digital tends to be superceded by new technology faster. Often times the new technology is not compatible. Because of moving parts and the delicate nature of digital, there are greater risks in the used market than with some other gear. Your Sony is at the very least competitive with most other digital gear. Unless you have specific goals such as DVD audio, multi-channel, HDCD, CDR capability, I suggest you do nothing.I know, I'm an anathema for this here on Audiogon, have mercy.

First off, the mods are better than the stock, how much better than a DAC is the question, and like mentioned above, a DAC will not change SACD. You first need to try out some DACs. The ones that comes to mind in the $1000 range are the Bel Canto and the Musical Fidelity or used Classe 1 or Theta. I myself heard the Sony 777 modded by Jerry (the guy who did the audio logic dac) and it really killed my stock 777. BUT, I may be on my second reapir of the Sony 777 so that has been my hesitation for a mod so far. You really need to go hear these things for yourself. I had bought a few items blindly based on some reviews and found that in my system, the improvement wasn't so great. So from now on it is hear it in my system or no thanks.

My experience is that the same amount of money invested in internal modifications as performed by someone that knows what they are doing will typically easily outperform an external unit of similar value. Whether you recoupe your value on the unit is another story and whether the unit remains reliable after modifications is up to the modifier, modifications, how they are done and the quality of parts used.

Having said that, i would look for a unit that you were willing to live with as is and then put money into it. Any unit can be improved upon, but when you find something that you really like as it is and can make it even better, then you've got something you'll want to hang onto. By the time something else comes along that will easily "kick its' ass", it won't be worth much anyhow due to age. That is, unless technology and formats really take off / stabilize real soon. Sean
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