Stereophile's rating system for any component is just the opinion of a few (at most) reviewers-- nothing more and nothing less. I discovered long ago not to get hung up on their ratings.
I heard SACD via the Sony 777ES (in a good system) recently and was not particularly impressed. The music was classical-- the owner (a friend) said the SACDs were more "analog" like. But I could not hear that and much prefer my Levinson M37 transport and 360S DAC. On CDs the 777ES was OK but not great. I agree with Fatparrot in that SACD is not much of format at all due to lack of software.
I can recommend the Levinson 39 as an excellent CD player, with the 37/360S combo being only slightly better. Good Luck and Cheers. Craig
I heard SACD via the Sony 777ES (in a good system) recently and was not particularly impressed. The music was classical-- the owner (a friend) said the SACDs were more "analog" like. But I could not hear that and much prefer my Levinson M37 transport and 360S DAC. On CDs the 777ES was OK but not great. I agree with Fatparrot in that SACD is not much of format at all due to lack of software.
I can recommend the Levinson 39 as an excellent CD player, with the 37/360S combo being only slightly better. Good Luck and Cheers. Craig