SACD player as CD transport?

Thanks Calloway. The Dodson is in fact what I have, so good to hear it works well. Have you compared it with other transports in connection with the Dodson?

You need to call oade.com, they will give you that price, I assure you. You have to ask for it as well as asking for it at J&R.

In a brief trial, I preferred my Forsell transport to the SCD777ES as a transport, but the difference, to my ears, isn't that big, and you're talking about probably (at least in my view) one of the best transports out there. The Sony sure seems to be very stable and built like a tank, and while they may have cut some corners on the analog side (which I've had bypassed; check some of the other SACD threads if you're interested) I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the digital side. At $1500, with SACD capability, I think it's a bargain.

This begs the question, is it worth the extra $1500 for the SCD-1 over the 777, considering performance as an SACD player and as a CD transport for use with externl DAC?

i don't know what your outer limits on price might be, but accuphase has an incredibly good sacd transport/dac combination that will play all formats available (the transport does not play dvd-a but the dac is upgradeable to this source). the pair, dp-100/dc-101 retails for $28k. it is the best "redbook" playback combo i've ever heard and requires no preamp; indeed, it sounds best driven direct using a fully-digital attenuator on board.