scd 777es sacd sony mod worth it?

Detloff, ya shoulda contacted me, I would've given you Jerry's number; hope the Audience mod is to your liking, it's gotten good feedback. I had the same feelings about the 777ES, that's why I went for my mod; it was nice sounding but lacked that "aliveness" I get from the Audio Logic. Kubla, Musicslug's advice is worth emphasizing, you'll void the warranty with any mod. Ozment's is reversible fairly easily, but I'm harboring no false expectations about warranty repairs. As it is, given Sony's customer service reputation, maybe I'm not giving up that much after all......

Actually, Mes, I pretty much did that before I decided to go with the mod. After breaking in the Sony, I felt that, while it was very good, I wasn't getting quite the resolution and life I got from my admittedly more expensive Forsell/Audio Logic combo. So I ran the Sony with Redbook CDs both as a player and as a transport through the Audio Logic DAC, using the same interconnects, and came to the conclusion that there was an improvement to be had, probably minor in overall objective terms but major from my subjective point of view. Originally I had wanted Jerry to rig me up a DSD digital out so I could run the Sony's DSD signal through my DAC (the Audio Logic can theoretically decode a DSD signal); he wasn't willing to do that until a standard industry interface was established, but he did offer me the option of his outboard analog stage, which in my typical impatience I took and have been happy with ever since. So I was fortunate to have a pretty good idea of what the modified unit would sound like. If I hadn't, I might have hesitated, at least till I could have heard a modified unit, but the mod I've got convinces me that, as good as the stock units are, there are improvements that can be made if you want them. Whether they're worth the cost is your call, obviously. Just my two cents...

Samcard, take a look at my posts here and on other SACD threads. In short, Jerry Ozment can add his tubed output stage from the Audio Logic DAC to the 777ES, with a separate analog power supply, and bypass its analog stage. I'm very happy with the result. SACD sounds "different" from a good turntable to me in that it lacks analog's warmth, but it sounds similar to a turntable in terms of openness and ease of presentation (something I never felt CD gets right), and better than a turntable in ultimate dynamics and fidelity to the source. I still ultimately prefer my turntable when I want to relax and get lost in the music, but SACD is very close. I don't know if it will ever be more than a niche product, which is a shame as it is a step forward from CD, in my book.

Detloff, you're right about the differences between the 80s vs. the 500s. Did you spring for the JP200???? I saw one for sale on the 'Gon but couldn't pull the trigger and look my wife in the eye! On the question of dynamics, I doubt if many of us really have the systems that can take full advantage of the theoretical dynamic range of SACD, but for what it's worth, (a) I've always felt vinyl's dynamics were better than Cd's, probably because of the harshness of CD's at loud levels which makes it tough for me to listen to them at the loudest levels, and (b) SACD's dynamics can outdo vinyl's, on my system, because that harshness is gone.

Detloff, kindly let me know when you tire of the JP200 (although I could break down at some point too and get one)! My analog front end is a Basis Ovation, using a Walker Motor Drive for speed control, a Graham 2.2 Deluxe arm and a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge. Right now the Koetsu is having slight hum problems, I think it's before the preamp (I got a Koetsu step-up to try to increase the output to get over the hum, which only amplified the hum) so I'm trying to move things around to get rid of it. Sorry to go off topic... By the way, the JP200 should be able to hold up extremely well to those fff passages, its greatest strength in my mind was that it was rock solid no matter how complex the music got. Try the Delos Mahler 2 when you get your SACD player back, it may only be a 20-bit master but it is one of the best SACD's out there of a full orchestra letting loose.

Well Detloff, I'm glad to see you got your player back and that the mod seems to be worth the money. Let me know if you agree or disagree with me about how SACD done right stacks up to vinyl. I recently upgraded my Ovation with the Debut platter/bearing/vacuum, and I still think SACD is similar to it in many ways--better in some, not quite as engaging in others, but clearly a level up from even upsampled CD. And something I can listen to in the same listening session as vinyl without a letdown.

Detlof, although I know my answer to this question (I haven't sold the Forsell/Purcell/Audio Logic 2400), how does your modded 777 sound on Redbook CD? Are the mods that good that they make regular CDs listenable to you? And I can see you have my reaction to the sound of SACD on the orchestral pieces.