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Sony's XA777ES CD: competitive sound or obsolete?

I have seen at least a dozen of the Sony XA777ES CD players for sale on AG over the last year. Build quality is outstanding; but, is the player just another outdated piece of technology from the last decade???. (It was originally issued in 2001 at a retail of $3000)

I am sure somebody somewhere has got a few mods for this tank, but is/was the standard player worth the money, let alone upgrades, or is it a ticking time bomb of service problems?? Supposedly, this model has exceptional sound quality on both red book CD's and SACD ( which can't be many available)

Personally, I don't give a shit about its title or track identification feature or other boutique accessory features Will appreciate any feedback about the current value of the player. Thanks, Jim
sunnyjim

Showing 1 response by mulveling

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mulveling
2,079 posts
 
I've heard a few of the high-end Sony ES SACD machines from the early 2000's, though not specifically the XA777 model (though I have heard the other higher-end 777 and owned the SCD-1). And I'd agree that the Redbook playback is uniformly mediocre, in fact below-average by today's standards. For example, I owned an SCD-1 that was easily beaten by my Meridian G08 (v1) in Redbook playback. And now I have an NAD M51 that I think is quite a bit better than what I remember getting from the G08.

But that's un-modded. Good modding can bring these back to relevance. And some of those Sony players certainly had great build quality. Another example: I have a Denon 3910 with Modwright Ultimate Truth mods. I used to own a stock 3910, and its Redbook quality was poor. The Modwright 3910, on the other hand, is very respectable; it can compete with the NAD M51, and adds a slightly sweeter sound to Redbook, though the M51 is a little more detailed. I prefer both of these to the Eximus DP-1 DAC on Redbook.

I also had a Sony ES 5-disc changer from the mid-1990's (un-modded), and that was actually more analog sounding than their higher-end 2000's models (i.e. I'd rather listen to Redbook on it vs. an unmodded SCD-1). It absolutely can't compete with the resolution of today's DACs, but it was an enjoyable listen on the cheap.
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