SACD player mods at SACDmods.com ?

Has anyone had their SACD players modified from SACDmods.com? If so, was it worth the expense? I am thinking of having mr Sony SCD-C222ES modded.

 

Matt did my 555ES and his work is excellent, service is great, price is much lower for what he does than what other modders charge. The sound quality of the fully upgraded 555ES is incredible, IMHO, though the base platform is a step up from 222ES and mods are more extensive. I don't know if Matt adds the Zap Filter all discrete output stage to the 222ES, but if you can have him do that as well, it's well worth the extra investment.

 

I've heard Matt's work and it is good but not as good as Richard Kern or ModWright in my opinion. I think he's more of a bargain however.

 

LeeS, when I had the Sony 333ES, the precurser to the 555ES (very similar design), I had it modded by Modwright. IMO, the sacdmods 555ES mops the floor with the Modwright 333ES. I know "mops the floor" sounds like hyperbole, but truly, IMO, it's not even close. The mod-ed 555ES is some of the best audio money I've ever spent.

 

I heard Dan's 999ES and was really impressed-it's at a friend's house so I hear it often and the friend has a very similar sound system to mine (ARC and Maggies). He had a Matt Anker mod before and it wasn't even close but perhaps we are comparing two different models here. There may also be some differences between the 555 and 333 that make comparisons tricky. There may also be different levels of mod intensity (superclock, caps, etc...)

 

I have the Modwright 999ES, although mine is modded to the max, and is, of couree, a completely replaced tubed stereo analog stage. It will not be "mopped up" by anything; there may be some very hi-end mods and players (EMM, Dan's and Underwoods top end multi-$$k 3910 mods, etc.) that compete and may beat it slightly in certain areas....but Dan's work is very top notch. That being said, Matthew's work is also very good (gotta stick up for us Ohioans) and he is clearly the value leader in SACD mods. And yes, the 333 and 555 are different animals, and yes the level of modification is another variable. You will be very pleased with Matthew's work...go for it. He knows the 222 very well, I believe. Don't think Dan does that machine, and not sure if Richard and Allen do.

 

Hi LeeS, I should have clarified, but I was in such a rush to get out the door. This is true, I do know that the 555ES is obviously multi-channel, and uses the Burr-Brown DAC rather than the 1st generation DAC from Sony that was in the 333ES. I agree not an apples to apples comparison with the base unit. It is also true that Matthew's mods for the 555ES, though comparable in price, are more extensive than what I got from Dan ages ago for the 333ES. So, absolutely not an apples-to-apples comparison, my main point is just to note how pleased I am with the 555ES sacdmods unit, I can't tell you how much pleasure I continue to get from the unit almost 3 years later. I don't want to take away from Dan's work which was certainly good and made a nice improvement to the base 333ES, and definitely worth-while. From what I understand, he has a very long waiting period for his services which really only speaks to the quality of his work.

In any case, the only downside of the mods is voiding your warranty, but from what I understand, good luck trying to get Sony to honor their 5-year warranty on their ES units. Heard lots of horror stories about that. Mod-ing these solid Sony units is just a great and inexpensive way to get real high-end sound out of upper mid-fi gear. I say, whichever outfit you choose-- go for it!

 

I think the quality of most mods is very high, but I think Dan and Richard are cut above. You are basically improving the build quality and component quality at these better mod houses but the real proof is in the listening. If you have been happy with Matt then I say stay with him. What I like about Dan is that he's a bit older and has the capital to bring out a fine preamp/phono stage.

 

And his dac is next. I'm in the queue for both.

 

I'm tempted to send SACDmods my 999ES.