Sony 9000ES better CD/SACD than 999ES

General rule of thumb--9000ES if you'll be doing 2-channel listening, 999 if you'll be using a 5.1 setup.

5.1 would be nice, but i prefer 2 channel, especially if the 9000ES is noticably better in 2-ch over the 999ES. if it's not much of a difference then it would seem best to go with the 999ES.

The 9000es is better built and has better SACD playback. CD playback was good with the 9000 but not great. Same for the 999 although it could actually be not as good(I didn't spend a lot of time listening to cd's.) I prefer a separate cd player.
Video is equal to or a slight edge to the 999. So, if I was interested in SACD go for the 9000es otherwise the 999 is as good or better in the other facets. The 999es is certainly not the over achiever and over built like the 9000es is however.

what about modding the 999es from modwright? how good are those improvements?

One of my buddies has a 9000 that he modified and is in love with. From what i can gather, these machines respond phenomenally well to mods, so you might want to keep that in mind. Since you are always better off starting with a good basic design and upgrading / modifying from there, the general consensus is that the 9000 is better built making it a better platform for modifications than what the 999 would offer. Sean
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