10 year old PS Audio transport and DAC totally outclassed a Sony SCD-XA777es in my system when playing back red book cd's.. The PS combo soundstage extended from wall to wall and floor to ceiling 21 feet by 9 feet. The Sony stage barely extended past the edges of my still almost Dunlavy SC4's.. When I used the Sony, only as a transport and the 10 year old PS as the dac the sound became much improved when compared to playing the Sony as a solo device. In total on red book cd's the PS combo sounded better than the Sony as a transport and the PS DAC. The Sony had been in use for some 6 months so it was fully broken in. This comparison was done with three other people present and we all agreed on the same results. Tom
Review: Sony SCD-XA777es CD Player
Category: Digital
This unit is by far the best CD player that I have heard. For Red Book CD playback it surpasses Sony's previous reference standard the CDP-XA7ES and the Mark Levinson No. 39, both of which I owned for a number of years and which in their day were as good as anything available. It is very nearly the equal of analog output of the separate Levinson 360S D/A converter. So much so that I don't route the digital output through the D/A in my system.
I would classify the difference between the two (360S vs. XA777ES) being that the Sony is slightly more analytical and less warm then the Levinson, but certainly not bright or synthetic sounding in any way. It just doesn't quite have that analog feel the standalone D/A gives.
As for SACD playback I think the unit is unmatched by anything available today and certainly anything even remotely in it's price range ($3000 list, but street price in the $1700-1900 range). The build quality is as good as any high end components I have seen. It also incorporates both 2 and 5 channel playback. The only drawback I can find is that it does not provide balanced outputs.
The SACD playback makes me want to forget about my record collection. Ever since I purchased it I have been buying every SACD of my musical tastes I can find. The new Rolling Stones remasters are particularly good, and since I had them (and in some case still do have them) on vinyl (my age is showing) I can say the SACD player gives every bit of the smoothness and tonality of the analog recording with all of the advantages of the digital format.
The remote, although rather simple by today's standards gets the job done. In some respects it's rather refreshing not to have to read the entire manual first to figure out how to use it. And all the functions are available on the front of the CD player, although most people will probably have to refer to the manual at least once to understand how to use some of them.
In summary this is an outstanding component and an even more outstanding value in high-end audio.
Associated gear
Mark Levinson 39, 360s, 380S, 333, 434s, Legacy Focus and Martin Logan ReQuest.
Similar products
Mark Levinson 39, Sony SCD-555ES, CDP-XA7ES
This unit is by far the best CD player that I have heard. For Red Book CD playback it surpasses Sony's previous reference standard the CDP-XA7ES and the Mark Levinson No. 39, both of which I owned for a number of years and which in their day were as good as anything available. It is very nearly the equal of analog output of the separate Levinson 360S D/A converter. So much so that I don't route the digital output through the D/A in my system.
I would classify the difference between the two (360S vs. XA777ES) being that the Sony is slightly more analytical and less warm then the Levinson, but certainly not bright or synthetic sounding in any way. It just doesn't quite have that analog feel the standalone D/A gives.
As for SACD playback I think the unit is unmatched by anything available today and certainly anything even remotely in it's price range ($3000 list, but street price in the $1700-1900 range). The build quality is as good as any high end components I have seen. It also incorporates both 2 and 5 channel playback. The only drawback I can find is that it does not provide balanced outputs.
The SACD playback makes me want to forget about my record collection. Ever since I purchased it I have been buying every SACD of my musical tastes I can find. The new Rolling Stones remasters are particularly good, and since I had them (and in some case still do have them) on vinyl (my age is showing) I can say the SACD player gives every bit of the smoothness and tonality of the analog recording with all of the advantages of the digital format.
The remote, although rather simple by today's standards gets the job done. In some respects it's rather refreshing not to have to read the entire manual first to figure out how to use it. And all the functions are available on the front of the CD player, although most people will probably have to refer to the manual at least once to understand how to use some of them.
In summary this is an outstanding component and an even more outstanding value in high-end audio.
Associated gear
Mark Levinson 39, 360s, 380S, 333, 434s, Legacy Focus and Martin Logan ReQuest.
Similar products
Mark Levinson 39, Sony SCD-555ES, CDP-XA7ES