In Reply to: Thanks for complicating my life! ;-) posted by Bruce from DC on May 13, 2005 at 07:48:01:
Hi Bruce,I've not listened to the 777ES, but I currently own the SCD555ES and the Benchmark. I purchased the Sony first, because I wanted to do the SACD thing. SACD on my 555 was better in every way than my prior experience with Redbook. Presence and immediacy, transparency/lack of grain, imaging, soundstage, etc. Frankly, Redbook on the Sony was a disappointment compared to my old, dead (for the umpteenth time) Cal Audio Labs Aria Mk 3 (long sad saga). I had ordered a headphone amp from my dealer, went in to pick it up. He had just received his first shipment of Benchmarks, and asked me to listen. It took all of 20 seconds of listening before I decided to buy (very unusual behavior for obsessive little me). Brought it home, ran a glass fiber toslink from the Sony to the Benchmark, and was absolutely blown away by what it could do using the 555 as a transport for Redbook. To make a long story short, in my system, I feel that Redbook on the Benchmark is sonically superior to SACD on my Sony. I haven't bought SACDs since. The ones I have get used on the Redbook layer. If you already have a lot of CDs, I would seriously consider the Benchmark.
Regards,
Greg
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Follow Ups
- Sony/Benchmark - Gak! 17:14:13 05/13/05 (0)