Sony XA-7es and the 777es

Someone was just selling Sony Model DVP-S9000 units on Ebay for $1600.00. They had a gold face that was claimed to only be available on the Japanese market. MSRP was claimed to be around $2300.00. Is this an older version, or the Japanese version of this player? It was quite striking with the champagne/gold front.

having owned a sacd777 and currently xa7es,back to back playing standard cd's there is no comparison.I sold the 777 after less then a month.the benefit of sacd's is not worth the price,with so few titles to choose from.

Dekay - I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that Sony tends to release some of their highest end ES stuff in Champagne. They also then charge a couple hundred dollars more for 'em. AFAIK, there is no difference in sonics, and the 'pretty' versions are easier to find in Japan and Europe.

Anybody else have any opinions/info on the Sony 9000 es? I have a 777es and actually like it considerably, both the standard cd and SACD. Thanx, mes

I mean't to say "I've heard opposing opinions on their sonics. " One guy says A is better, the other B is better.
The guy I bought my XA7ES replaced it with an SCD-1. He said the SCD-1 sounded better for regular CD's. I've also heard a few people say the XA7 is better.