As I posted previously, after about 50 hours, it was a decent CD player and SACD's were just kind of "what's all the fuss about"?
Now however, as the hours have piled up and I have acquired more SACD's my opinion has really changed.
I can see where the 775 would be too bright in many systems but with the PSD2002 rolling off at 13k it's just right. It's a better CD player, in my system, than the Cambridge. And SACD!
I now have some Telarc's: McCoy-Tyner, the Tall Band of Milt Jackson, Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson, should be called Dream TeamII. This is way beyond analog. You don't think so? Try for yourself. Analog, IMHO, is over-romanticised. The RIAA curve rolls off, no way bass is presented as cleanly as digital (the conventional wisdom that tubes don't do bass is a holdover from vinyl days; how many times have you heard, with a Cd front end, "I expected the bass to be lose but it was controlled"?; there's the reason tubes have made a comeback). check out Ray Brown's bass work on this SACD. WOW! And there's the ticks, pops, skips, and mis-tracking, turning up the volume even caused mis-tracking.

Sidebar> I'm convinced that 90% of the people that describe a sound as more or less analog-like have never heard an LP. Just another term in the audio lexicon.

With SACD the performers, whether a trio or the LSO are right there in the room. The presentation is so clear there are almost visual-spatial cues that simply force you back in your chair and become immeresed in the sound. And SACD was made especially (!) for horns. What I'm trying to describe is the same low distortion you-are-there presentation that horns give.
The kicker is how good it is at 'redbook' playback. One of the few things I miss about my former life is how my LP rig played the Sheffield Lab recording of Harry James 'The King James Edition'.I truly miss it. VPI, ET-II, NYAL, Muse, Acoustat did something special to that black disc. The CD never came close. But I fired it up tonite and heard, once again the soaring overtones and shimmery 'bite' of Mr. James trumpet. He was 72 when that recording was made. Amazing.And the drum work as well as all the sidemen, outstanding. Hard to find, though.

Point being that no matter if Toshiba has this or that next year, or DVD-Q takes over or we listen to those pointy crystal things on the Sci-Fi channel, this player and others of it's type are here now, make incredible music and are dirt cheap. Subtract the $200 price from that of a Classe or Planet and there's $500 left over for software.
Seriouly.

I was using a 10 year old Sony CD player. I don't have money to be buying these hi-end cd players. The only thing I really did not like about my 10 year old Sony was that there was no remote and it wasn't even an option with this model (no chance of buying a universal remote). So last night I went out and bought the Sony CE775.

I too had heard some good things about this player and that the mods make it even better if I so choose to do them. I only payed $179 at Circuit City. It does seem to be a little brighter than my old one but since I use horns as well it isn't bad (IMO). I haven't bought any of those SACD's and not sure if I will. I may buy 1 just to try it after reading your comments. I don't have any plans to use the multi-channel stuff though. My intentions are to use it for 2 channel audio only.

I agree with you that if SACD dies I still have a 5 disc CD player with a remote!

Thanks for your comments.

Alfredo Abate

cheers,

george

I picked up one of these after the midwest audiofest also. I have like 5 SACD's, but I'm not sure I'll be buying more. They're nice, but... nothing overwhelming (that was just listening with my HD600's though). Once I have my horns finished, I'll be able to do some comparisons on pieces I'm familiar with... if more difference shows up then.... who knows?

For now, I'm sticking with CD. But I do like the 775 a lot.

Charlie

When I first hooked the 777 up I was a little surprised - the CD was ok but the SACD was an eye opener. After a LONG break-in period things got even better. SACD playback was like nothing I had ever heard from shiny silver computer disks before. There was image depth, air, wood instruments sounded like wood, vocals sounded right, there was subtlety, the soundstage didn't collapse when things got quiet. Computer disks where now making music. No "CD ice pick in the forehead" fatigue, no running for the turntable to get some relief.

I've only done a little direct comparison between SACD and vinyl and honestly can't say which I prefer on the albums I have in both formats but I'm sure not packing the turntable away any time soon! It's still my main source for music listening and although SACD might be there too, vinyl still absolutely smokes CD's - at least for me, in my system.

The 777 is actually a pretty damn good CD player too. I've noticed a bit of midrange forwardness in my system - not really there with vinyl, not too bad with SACD and at times nasty with CD. I use a 300B SET amp and Altec 604 speakers that are horn loaded above 1500hz. I thought this forwardness was the small, bright listening room I have, the Altec horns and the CD's. I just spent some time dampening the room and the problem is almost gone. CD is now not so bad but SACD and vinyl - a little bit of magic.

I sure hope SACD survives as its great to see a format that for me can do what vinyl can. There are hundreds of tiles available already with more being released every week. Sure, they are not all albums I would have bought before SACD but this has been a good thing for me - I am trying and absolutely loving music I wouldn't have considered in the CD only days. I'm happy with the 777 purchase - a good CD player and SACD - a format that makes music.

Just my overly long opinion. Bill Fortier