I second the mods & the scd-1. I bought calloway's old fully hotrodded Richard Kern Audiomod scd-1. This thing transformed my system. The soundstage became HUGE and airy. I've never heard anything like it for digital playback. I sold my lessor modified scd-1 to a local friend who had been using a wadia 850. He's happy.
I've put this player head to head against quite a few players & it almost always wins by a fairly strong margin. The Marantz SA-1 was in the ballpark & the Audio Aero was a pretty even match. Some would prefer the AA's tube harmonics to the sony's airiness and detail. Both are superb players.
To do it again, I think I would just buy another scd-1. I like it's battleship build quality verses the newer xa. My only gripes are the size, toploading mechanism, and SLOWWWW load times. I actually keep another phillips cdr/Cal audio cd playeback system for when I want to flip through cd's.
For mods:
www.audiomod.com (richard kern)
www.modwright.com (dan wright)
Both of these guys have top shelf reputations. They both live here in Portland.
I've put this player head to head against quite a few players & it almost always wins by a fairly strong margin. The Marantz SA-1 was in the ballpark & the Audio Aero was a pretty even match. Some would prefer the AA's tube harmonics to the sony's airiness and detail. Both are superb players.
To do it again, I think I would just buy another scd-1. I like it's battleship build quality verses the newer xa. My only gripes are the size, toploading mechanism, and SLOWWWW load times. I actually keep another phillips cdr/Cal audio cd playeback system for when I want to flip through cd's.
For mods:
www.audiomod.com (richard kern)
www.modwright.com (dan wright)
Both of these guys have top shelf reputations. They both live here in Portland.