Sony SCD 777 vs. Wadia 830?

honestly the wadia is much better than the sony. But the Mark Levinson 39 blows them both away and you can also run the levinson directly to your amplifier. You can pick one up for about 3,200 on the used market and The one thing that makes it so much better is that it has an anologe volume control. Which gives it a nice smooth sound with liquid like mids. They also just released an upgrade for the 39 so down the road you dont have to sell your cd player just upgrade it. Good Luck

More honestly the Sony is the best buy. Have you heard SACD on a reference system? Some time ago I demo'd the Lev 39, Wadia 830 and 850, Goldmund 39xx, and BAT VK-D5. The D-5 was the keeper. Since then I have moved to the BAT VK-D5SE.
I also have a 777ES Sony in the same system, and after break-in it and at it's price point there's nothing that will better it on redbook playback. The Lev 39 is a 6 year old design, and getting long in the tooth. Wadia's future is still a tad iffy. As to SACD, recently a large conglomerate of record companies signed on, so hold your hat, the dam is about to burst with quality SACD issues.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

Beemer, What is your evidence of Wadia's future being a "tad iffy"