What's the "worst" cdp for the money?

guss2 says, "What does that make an un-modded Denon 2900,a clock radio?"

perhaps, but it's at least a player well worth modifying. i had mine redesigned completely and it is absolutely amazing. sorry if i insulted a player that you like, it's just my opinion.

sony scd777es... one of the worst sounding players i've ever heard in my system. i'll never understand what other see in this 50# boombox.

"Sound,build quality,transport and modification potential all go to the 777ES,IMO."

please don't take this the wrong way, but i'll put the sonic proformance of my 2900 up against any scd777es, stock or modified. the old sony is simply out of its league here.

well, not to be difficult, but i did hear a modified pioneer 563a ($500 total) head to head against the scd777es here in my system. that was the day i removed the sony from my system. i was embarassed for the sony. and i dissagree about the modification potencial of the sony over the denon... no more volly from me.

"Exaggerating is actually really pretty much a woman thing. My wife does it, like, a million times a day."

i'm not sure what this is in responce to, but that's funny.

" the difference between a $500 cd player and a $5000 cd player is not very big"

you haven't listened to the right players yet. i've never been a big fan of wadia, krell, shanling or many other high dollar players. however, imho it's a different ballgame all together when you're talking about mods or all-out redesigns. i've got about five grand into my current player and after listening to it next to set ups like the meitnerand the zanden, i'm very pleased with my investment.

"there is always the audiophile safe word "synergy" wich is the end to any debate, an overused word IMHO"

i disagree with that. in fact, the speakers i'm listening to right now (dynaudio 1.3 mkIIs wired with silver in teflon) didn't impress me at all in a friends system, but i love them in mine. i can say the same thing about a lot of equipment as well. i think synergy and proper impedance matching is very important.

i made no assumptions... i just don't agree with your statement:"the difference between a $500 cd player and a $5000 cd player is not very big" i think the difference is pretty big depending on what $5000 player you're listening to. i've had players in my system ranging from $150 to well over $5000. some of the big buck machines were not impressive at all and some, like the one i own currently are awesome... ymmv