2. digital
  3. 989638153

I heard the new 777ES SACD player

While at the NY Hi-Fi show I had a chance to hear a bunch of the new SACD players slated for release later this year. Yes, there is a new 777es and it's a front loading, multi-channel job but it doesn't play DVD's. It's a little more sleek than the original 777 and has comparible build quality but I give the nod to the original 777 as far as build goes. The Sony rep said it's basically the same unit except for the processor chip and the loading mechanisim. IT's considered to be their new flagship player and it retails for $3,000 so you know that we should be able to find it for anywhere from $2,200 to $2,500. Also it loads quicker than the original 777 as well. The sound was impressive although I couldn't audition the original against the new one. So all of you guys who jacked up the prices on your original 777 to $2,000 plus can come back down to earth because the multi-channel, audio only 777 is here and it's a beauty.
martice
martice OP
103 posts
 
I agree that the new 777es doesn't look as exotic as the first model, however it by no means looks cheap or less sturdy than the original. Infact, I would have to say that it looks more like a CD player much like the Marantz SACD player looks more like a CD player than the 777es. If you turn the 777es off (original model) to the everyday "Joe" they wouldn't know what it was. Does the new 777es look more exotic? Yes! Does it look better? Well that's a matter of taste. Another, thing the top loading feature to me takes up too much upper rack space and they have gotten rid of that puck device as well. Do I really need the puck to hold my SACD steady? Will I hear a difference without one? Did it do any good for the sound when it came to the XA-20es cd player? Sony cut off a lot of the fat and went with what they knew worked and that was machine that will remind everyone of the best CD player that they ever made... The XA-7es!!!
morasp10b3
38 posts
 
Did they say if it does 16/44 upsampling to DSD? Someone on Audioasylum said that it did.
tommart
72 posts
 
Remember, the original SCD-777ES listed for $3,500. The new 777 lists for $500 less, has bass management and multichannel option. It still plays stereo. However, the real test will be when someone is able to compare the sonics of each.
jschrimpf
32 posts
 
I attended the SACD panel discussion at the NYC Stereophile show. Here's the way that Sony explained their SACD introduction stategy: 1. Appeal to(and listen to) the audiophile community. 2. Have some software introduced for initial adopters of the format. 3. Introduce more reasonably priced players with surround capability for the general public. 4. As more SACD machines are sold, many more SACD titles will be released by Sony music along with releases from additional labels. 5. Sony is willing to license any manufacturer interested in introducing an SACD player.

It seems that Sony's two initial players were styled to appeal to high end sensibilities and now Sony is initiating their plan to make SACD a more mass market product. The features and styling of the new players(including the new 777ES)seem to support more mass market familiarity. Sony plans to have 14 different SACD players available by the end of the year- including DVD players and Dream System players with SACD playback capability. A salesman at Oade Brothers Electronics said that they expect at least 2000 SACD software titles to be available within a year.
metaphysics
192 posts
 
Did Sony mention any plans for another high-end player? I hoping they'll put out something that loads faster but has superlative sonics.
More to discover