Sony SCD 777ES Really that Good???

A friend of mine has the 9000 and took my SCD 777ES home for a couple of days. His girlfriend sat down and listened. A couple of minutes into the session she said she would be willing to work some overtime to help pay for the SCD 777ES. The 9000 is a good player but the 777 is that much better. As far as Albertporters comments go; I have about as much invested in my analog rigs as the 777 costs but the Sota Star/ Rega RB 900/ Benz Glider still sound better. I still find analog to sound much more like live music.

Can I use a regular 2 DAC on this player?
The reason I ask is to get the best of both worlds.
On regular CD, the SCD77ES will function as a transport and receive the benefit of my DAC. On SACD I just feed it directly to my pre-amp.
Any info is appreciated.

Atranz: You can. The Sony is a very good transport, and has a coax digital output which will send a 16/44 redbook signal (NOT a DSD signal, though). If you have a really good DAC, it can actually make CDs sound closer to SACD from the Sony's DAC, which I think is why a lot of people don't see what the real difference is between the two technologies, and why some people claim CD is as good or better than SACD. Play them through the same output stage and the differences are there, but a top notch analog stage can make CD quite good in its own right.

Thank you Rcprince...That is what I will do.