Well, I thought I'd add to the mini-review I did on my Modwright Platinum Sony DVP999ES. Tonight I listened to redbook again, some 2 channel SACD and, now that I've burned in 6 channel SACD for a couple days (Dan thought 36 hrs would be enough) I listened to the two MCH SACD's I know very well: Peter Gabriel's UP, and Beck's Sea Change, both very aggressive mixes.
The redbook listening just added to the growing suspicion that I now own a truly state-of-the-art redbook player. I'll put it up against anything, any price. Anything! It's ridiculous in its extraction of musical detail. Yet it remains warm and friendly at the same time. I'm getting some Argent Room lenses in next week and can't wait to tweak the soundstage to the point where I can reach out and grab each instrument in space, inspect it and then give it back to the performer. It's breathtaking the kind of air and palpability it recreates. Redbook CD ain't dead, at least not in my house.
The SACD listening furthered my belief that Dan's mods pushed the 2 channel experience significantly (but not an order of magnitude as the redbook) passed the stock XA777ES, and that the multichannel sound still needs some breaking in. It was fine, mind you, but not nearly as complete a sound as I got from the XA777ES. There are areas where it surpasses the 777 already: detail and control are two that easily spring out at you. But air, warmth...."analogness" is not quite there yet. I'm going to give the mch opamps some more break-in before I listen critically again.
I didn't buy the Modwright for multichannel, mind you, but I am quite persistent in my thinking that it should, and will, equal and probably surpass the mch experience of the XA777ES, the best mch deck I've heard. I bought the Modwright because I wanted a great 2 channel experience. I got WAYYY more than that. Robert Levi is not smoking anything (well, maybe he is but it's not relevant to the discussion...
when he pines on and on about how the Modwright 999ES "eclipses all digital playback at any price.....".
OK, so I'm biased...I mean, I bought the damn thing and need to justify it, right? No, I can sell this on Audiogon in a NY minute.......but I won't...maybe ever. That's a first for me.
Ted_B
P.S. A nit, but it's too bad Sony decided, for this machine, that the cd text capability is only for the first level of text (i.e cd album title, not song title). The earlier ES models I've owned had more. Oh well, as I said, a nit. For critical listening I turn off the fl anyway.