sony dvp-ns500v- how's the sound on redbook cd's?

The Philips 963SA has me very intrigued, but I don't believe it will do DVD-A.

ALso...I wouldnt bother spending $350 to modify a $200 player...save your scratch...as there will be a plethora of universal players featuring SACD/DVD-A in the next year...such as the Philips 963sa...which is $400..

On redbook surprisingly good...in a recent review it was compared very favorably to the Rega Planet...part of the reason they have received negative marks is their awesome SACD capabilities...it makes you not want to play redbood...and despite some skeptics...most who have invested a ton of money in a DAC/transport set up or simply dont have a good enough sytem to hear a difference....SACD is the smoothest,warmest,most analog sounding digital format to date....

I used to own a 575 and I believe that you will enjoy the sound of the 500, which I also own. Please use surge protection on the 500 - they seem to be sensitive to spikes and so on. Nothing fancy in the way of protection. Give the SONY time to break in, and use decent cables.

I think I may have once heard an Adcom gcd-575 and I think the Sony will be a little smoother on redbook cd's. The Sony's weakness is dynamics and overall resolution which it tends to gloss over, but for $150, whadya expect? I bought 2 of them and one of them conked out after a few days of light use, so I would suggest not buying w/o a rite of return. Also, if you're planning on using the Sony in an audio only system, you will not be able to use its track programming without a video hookup.

As the owner of one, the SACD is good, marginally good, but good for the price. Redbook - not so hot. HOWEVER: invest in the mods available, and everything improves. For 335.00 dollars, SACDmods.com can turn this player into a very good Redbook performer. The difference before and after is huge. An added bonus is the video performance improves as well.