Sony SCD 777ES Really that Good???

On redbook CD, I imagine your transport, as modified, and a GOOD dac, can outperform the Sony in its stock form, principally because the Sony's analog output stage sounds like, well, a Sony, good but not great. Figure the sound quality of the Sony to be in the Wadia 830/850 league, probably. But your transport/dac can't play SACD, which significantly outperforms CD when played through the same output stage, and if you modify the Sony with the superclock, etc. (see the various threads now about modifying SACD players) it will outperform most if not all CD players out there, depending on how much you're willing to pay to have changed.

Atranz: You can. The Sony is a very good transport, and has a coax digital output which will send a 16/44 redbook signal (NOT a DSD signal, though). If you have a really good DAC, it can actually make CDs sound closer to SACD from the Sony's DAC, which I think is why a lot of people don't see what the real difference is between the two technologies, and why some people claim CD is as good or better than SACD. Play them through the same output stage and the differences are there, but a top notch analog stage can make CD quite good in its own right.