I have a sony SCD777ES. At first, Redbook playback was good, but nothing special. Trick with these is they need a solid 400+ hours of break-in. Now I feel the Redbook side is near equal with my BAT VKD5. Still have more break-in to go however. You may want to check out AudioAsylum, the whole enchilada with the Sony SACD players has been covered in their "hi-rez" forum.
Second option, and one that many have taken, is use a high quality outboard DAC with the Sony, and enjoy. It would appear from my reading that the Dodson currently appears to be the DAC of choice. Regardless, I bought my 777 early last fall, and at a price at which I could practically double if I wanted to sell it today! I now have 30+ SACD's, and growing, ands I love the format.
Paul
Second option, and one that many have taken, is use a high quality outboard DAC with the Sony, and enjoy. It would appear from my reading that the Dodson currently appears to be the DAC of choice. Regardless, I bought my 777 early last fall, and at a price at which I could practically double if I wanted to sell it today! I now have 30+ SACD's, and growing, ands I love the format.
Paul