Sony XA 777 vs modified Denon ?

Sony SCD XA 777Es is not an Audiophile player people. On redbook CDs It sounds dark , veiled, with a congested soundstage that only extends between the speakers, and complete lack of soundstage depth. Timberal accuracy and imaging are abismal. This is a hyped up player by those who either have very bright sounding amp or preamps or those who or those who need their hearing checked. I bought one and after the initial burn in of 3 weeks it still sounded like crap. My previously highly modified Ah!4000 with the Upsampler just cleaned the floor with this player. In fact RedBook CDs sounded better on the Ah! as comapred to the same version on SACD( very well recorded hyprid discs from Chesky and Telarc and harmonia Mundi. I have an Atmasphere amp, a Bent Audio passive pre and a Lowther speakers...Don't waste your money. I don't much about the Denon, but if it's not a multichannel player, you are probably ok. As for SACD on the sony, it's just ok..I have heard better CD play back on Redbook CDs from an old CEC player from 1998.

Pardales,
Thanks much for your input, it is very helpful. It is exactly the type of answer I was looking for from someone who has owned all of the players I was looking at.

Frano

I can give you one such set of comparisons as I used to own a 333, then I owned an XA777, then I owned an Exemplar 2900. In short, the XA777 was far superior to the 333 on SACD and redbook. The Exemplar Denon was far superior to the XA777 on redbook and equivalent to the XA777 on SACD. This is, of course, my opinion.

You do not have an easy decision to make. Decide what formats are most important to you and also, decide what your comfort level is with owning modified CD players. Once you understand that it will help clear up your choices. And, as always, listen for yourself if in any way possible. Good Luck,