Yep, it doesn't take a lot of cutting and you can do it cleanly if you're careful. The other problem is the opening is slightly curved on the edges and most faceplates are squarish, so you have to do a little shaving there too.
I consider it an upgrade since you can then fit any single DIN player in there.
That said, if you can find a nice looking original Sapphire radio, those also look great in the dash while you have a CD player mounted in the glovebox.