used sony or modified music hall

I actually own both a SONY SCD C555ES SACD changer (in my main system) and a Music Hall CD25 (unmodified; bedroom system). They both have very good build quality (although the SONY is positively tank-like) ... both are very good at redbook CD playback ... they both sound warm, musical, and detailed. The Music Hall gives you HDCD playback; the SONY gives you SACD playback. If you can pick up the SONY new for $600 ... go for it, it is a $1800 list unit. You would not be going wrong with the Music Hall either. Since this is all system dependent, what amp & speakers are you using? Regards, Rich

On one hand, if the modified Music Hall sounds fantastic and your only concern (theoretical) is build quality ... I would say don't change a thing. I use my Music Hall with a vintage Marantz 2216B receiver and Acoustic Research 15 speakers (placed on top of an armoire, no less) and I love its sound. The only tweak to the Music Hall was I replaced its power cord with a Cardas Twinlink (btw, Signal Cable interconnects). I actually prefer the Music Hall to a Pioneer PD65 that I use in a secondary TV room system. Its build quality seems to be heavy duty enough ... said differently, I have not read anything negative about the Music Hall's build quality. The SONY SCD 555 ES is just a different animal in terms of ruggedness. As I understand its build design and the SONY website does/did a better of explaining this, it is actually two separate mini tank units joined together to make one mother tank of a unit. The only complaint that I have read about the SONY is the occasional failure of the sled motor ... but this does not seem to be a prevalent problem. I have the SONY paired with better components (Musical Fidelity A3 amplifier; Acoustic Research 302 classic series Speakers), so the system sounds better (smoother; more detailed). If you can pick up an older, new stock or well cared for SONY SACD ES reasonably priced ... do it, because they are great machines. Otherwise, I would be tempted to stay with the Music Hall ... given how satisfied you are with it. You have it paired with some really nice and well regarded/performing equipment. Regards, Rich