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