Choosing a SACD player...please help

I really appreciate all the opinions, experience, and details. If I could make one more statment that sums up what I am looking for (which hearing from all of you has helped me to clarify) its this: I want superb redbook playback, with SACD as a bonus.

I'm getting closer, and i'll let you all know what happens. I hope this discussion has been useful to more 'goners' that just me. Thanks again,

I have narrowed it down to two players. I am either going to go with the Phillips 1000 and get some mods done, or, the Sony XA777ES (and maybe do some mods in the future).

This is a slam dunk! Get the Sony! Then save another couple of grand in the next two years and send it off to Modwright, and you might just have the best CD player in the world (read: MIGHT!) All I know is that I directly compared the 777 to the 9000 to the 1000, and the 777 was the clear winner in ALL aspects.

I was in your position and contemplated all SACD players that have been mentioned. I choose the Marantz SA14. From all the posts on Audiogon and Threads on AA, I believe all information suggests that for Redbook CD playback, the Marantz SA14 wins handsdown in stock form against anything else out there in your price range. Playing SACD, it's a toss up as to which sound one prefers. I've got about 150 hours of breakin on Redbook and 50 hours with SACD. My most recent CD player was a Cal Audio Delta/Alpha comb with NOS Mullard tubes. The Marantz blows the Cal comb away. I like you also have Thiel speakers. I'm running 22's. At 150 hours, I still need another 250 hours to go until complete break-in. If you can compare machines against one another, do so. Because of my geographic location I could not make comparisions. Thanks to all who post on these on-line forms.