Sony SCD-333ES HELP


I found one of these players new and have decided to buy it. My initial intention is to you use it as a transport to feed an outboard DAC, maybe like the Bel Canto DAC 2. I am considering this because I have several hundered redbook CD's and no SACD's. I bought it because I wanted a multi-disc player as a transport.

My dilemma is, should I do as planned or get the thing modded out and try it as a stand alone player? ( I figure to get the thing totally tricked out would cost about $700, $200 more than I paid for it).

I would love to hear some opinions about this.....thanks,
pardales
Now I am considering something really different. Forget the mods, forget the outboard DAC. If I did all the mods and still bought an outboard upsampling/interpolating DAC, I would spend as much as I would if I bought a used Sony SCD-1, which appears to do great things on both SACD and redbooks. I know, I wanted a changer for my wife, but I could buy a cheap changer for her for the two or three times a year she actually uses the stereo. Am I crazy or what?
If you are willing to spend $1995 than the ne Somy XA777es is the way to go. The 333es is overated inmy book and even with mods doesn't compare to th Sony 9000es which is a great buy right now $829 new from J&R music World.

Have fun.
He did a DVD player for me, and it wasn't all that good. I would go for Richard Kern's or Dan Wright's mod. A friend of mine got Kern's, and it's really good.
You might want to check out Ric Schultz's take on the mod situation on www.tweakaudio.com. He's got some pretty serious mods for the Sony SACD players and makes a good case for going this route over an external DAC. He also talks about the XA777 and his upcoming mods to that unit. Definitely worth a read for an honest tweaker's perspective. Best of luck.

Tim
Many thanks to all the constructive and informed opinions offerred about my questions and concerns!