Price Paid:  $1800.00 from a great dealer

Summary:
Love the product, great SACD, Great CD. All said before. Question? I am getting a lot of "No Disk" readings when putting in a cd. Open it and try again and it plays, anyone else getting this and any solutions> Thanks

Strengths:
Great sound on cd and SACD

Weaknesses:
Question above

Price Paid:  $1500.00 from used market..audiogo

Summary:
Good SACD sound and build quality..

Its CD presentation has a shaper and more distinct "Frames" and "outlines" at the first few mini seconds of every note and every attacks. But everything within the frames and outlines could be a bit more lush and vibrant. I am talking about a stronger ambiance that is possible with other CDPs that cost less that 777es... besides this, I don't have too much to be picky about.. Also, naturalness and sweetness could be better in other CDP(above is for CD)...

It's SACD sound has a bit cold feelings. I guess if you like your system warm, warmer sounding amps and speakers are a must for both CD and SACD....Yes , speaker can sound warm with mainly Scanspeak or other paper cone and soft dome tweeters...

Overall, both CD and SACD can have a bit more beefy feelings...

No need for me to mention the strength of SACD. All audiophiles have read plenty reviews...

Strengths:
CD: good extention at high and low. clean and clear presentation.. good pace and dynamic
SACD: very close to SA-1, u know the review already..i don't need to say more. a five star for SACD...

Weaknesses:
CD:not natural or not warm enough. a bit more ambiance will help. a bit disappointing.. It's possible that other new class b CDPs can be better in some aspects or even better at most aspects..

SACD: a bit more warmth is possible, but it's my taste and it is my bias.

Similar Products Used:
SA-1

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Current System:
Sony SCD-777ES and CDP-XA555ES -> Proceed PAV preamplifier->Plinius 250MK4 amplifier ->Jamo Concert 8 loudspeakers

Sony SCD-777ES CD performance:
Quiet background, smooth, good timing, but lacks body and tonal depth. On direct comparison, bettered by Marantz CD-10 (more body, but less detail) and Sony CDP-XA555ES (better in all areas except not as smooth in tops).

Sony SCD-777ES SACD performance:
Very smooth, did I say smooth, relaxed inviting sound, detailed, but maybe too smooth and still lacks a bit of tonal depth. Bettered by Marantz SA-14 when SCD-777ES was not completely run-in – personal comparisons recommended.

Sony SCD-777ES run-in:
The SCD-777ES took longer to run-in than any other product I have used. Unlike other products that tend to gradually improve, the SCD-777ES has a more definite transition. Before running-in, it sounded thin, lacking in bass punch and wrong in the upper frequencies. After running-in, the bass became tight and fuller while the tops smoothed out. Unfortunately lack of body and tonal depth never quite disappeared.

Sony CDP-XA555ES CD performance:
Warm, well judged tonal balance, excellent timing, but just a slightest of edge on tops.

Marantz SA-14 performance:
On comparison to Sony-777ES, warm, full bodied sound, particularly in bass.

Tweaking the SCD-777ES:
The technical manual shows this to be a well-engineered player. I suspect some of the CD performance problems (lack of body and tonal depth) are due to the over zealous filtering (2 stage GIC filter). I upgraded I/V the opamp from OPA2604 to LM6172 that resulted in a minor gain in detail.

Strengths:
Very smooth detailed for both SACD and CD playback.
Well built statement product.

Weaknesses:
As a SACD player perhaps a bit too smooth.
As a CD player lacks body and tonal depth. Bettered by good cheaper CD players.

Similar Products Used:
Sony CDP-338ES, Sony CDP-XA555ES, Marantz SA-14, Marantz CD-10, Arcam Alpha 9

Price Paid:  $3600.00

Summary:
This review is for the SCD-XA777ES-a SACD multi-channel player. I've only used it in stereo mode so far, which utilizes more DAC's (and gives the best sound)than when using it in multi-channel mode-sound is great for CD's, but simply awesome for SACD. The instruments sound "real"-even the 1959 recording of Miles Davis sounds as if he were in my room-air around the instruments, tremendous soundstage and headroom-it really is unbelievable how great it sounds.CD's on "reference" systems sound like crap-after hearing SACD's its hard to close your eyes and imagine CD's are live. The XA-777ES is built like a tank, not the usual sony crap. Compared to The SCD-1, CD's too close for me to call, sacd's equally awesome-yet 777ES is 1 grand less. One problem-you need 8 interconnects to maximally use the machine: 2 RCA's for the stereo (which uses the most DAC's and gives you the best sound) + 6 for the multichannel mode-unfortunately you CAN'T play multichannel SACD's through the stereo output, and you can't send the stereo SACD's to just 2 of the outputs of the multichannel!! (I think you can send it to 2 channels+ a sub, but I haven't tried that yet-My system:
SCDXA777ES
Integra RDC-7-also an awsesome machine and a bargain-much better than my Rotel RSP 985
Rotel 1095 multichannel AMP
Nautilus 803 fronts
Monster M1001 interconnects
MonsterM1.4S biwire speaker cables
Still looking for a DVD-A player
Definitive Tech BPX surround speakers and Nautilus HTM1 center-not set up yet
Monster power regulator/conditioner
In Summary, I've heard much more expensive systems that don't sound as good -SACD makes that much of a vast difference.

Strengths:
Awesome sound, build, price

Weaknesses:
Logic of the circuitry requiring 8 interconnects + a possible digital cable

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I'll say it again: KEEP THE MACHINE ON at all times and there will be THE END of the "crackling" noise! Mine has been on for about a year and I can't remember the last time I heard a crackle. Or, like someone below has suggested, keep it in a WELL ventilated area OR keep the unit elevated on vibra-pods or such.