Something that I have noticed..and liked on all of the SACD threads...be they '777ES, s9000es..or anything else. It seems that many..maybe most of the people that own these machines have focused as much or more on the sound of standard "redbook" cd playback. It seems that many newer machines..these SACD units included...have become more musical with the 16/44 format...and right know that is still more important. If anyone with the s9000es that has used it stock vs. with some of the mods available vs. using an outboard DAC/upsampler can comment, I would have interest.