Lightyear, What were you smoking right before you wrote your review? The DVP-S7700 is a DVD PLAYER, NOT A RECEIVER. It is also an exceptionally good player, Superior to much more expensive units. The picture is not quite as detailed as Denon's DVD 5000, but it's damn close. No other player that I've seen aproaches the Denon's or the Sony's picture quality. And I have seen Theta and Faroudja's players. Considering the price, the Sony is an absolute steal

Too bad it can NOT output proper video black from either the composite or Y/C ports. Use the pluge pattern on Video Essentials to verify this.

I like the DVP-7700S very much, however, you should buy a better S Video connection. It is not multi region compatible unless you buy one from Hong Kong, which is Pal/NTSC (as I was told by the dealer).To this date I have played on it Video CD's format which was recorded from a digital reciever on a Yamaha CDR-W. It didn't display a track number though.
I am very thankful to Sony for their 7700.

I just got my 7700 and I am very pleased with it. I upgraded from a Sony DVP-S500D because it was not capable of passing through DTS and I did not go for the new 550 because I don't like the look of it(I know..superficial). The picture quality is a slight improvment over the 500 as I was expecting. The build quality is much better than the 500, which it had better be for the price increase and based on how much it weighs. CD's sound significantly better on the 7700 and that is one aspect I am very pleased with. Now I know the sound quality is probably not on par with high end stand alone players but I do not have my golden ear yet and the price one needs to pay before hearing any kind of increase in sound quality is significant. But my primary use for it is to play movies and in that respect I have not seen a better player on the market and I am very pleased with it overall. 5 STARS

i have not actually compared this piece to other dvd players but the video quality is exceptional. i could not decide on the audio. did some comparision with my old harman kardon tl8500 cd player and surprising first impression was the hk sounded smoother. cant tell if its the analog outputs but the sound from the sony felt narrow and cramped. how do the new toshibas sound with hdcd decoding? i need a dvd player with exceptional sound.

Absolute state of the art DVD Player, that can be used for Audiophiles as well.The DTS Chip that the Player uses kicks major butt. Compared to the DVP 7000 from Sony this really is a millenium ahead. If you check the diffrence between the new players from Pioneer and compare `em with the Sony, you can scrap Pioneer, even if they have a new Logo. Buy it and i know you`ll agree with me...

After going back and forth between the Denon 5000 and the Sony 7700 dvd players, I finally opted to go with the Sony, and I must say, it is an amazing piece of hardware (not to say the Denon isn't, but it is $1200 more). The detail in the video is incredible. On my 50'' Hitachi Ultravision, blacks are very black, and colors are vivid, with no hint of bleed even with bright reds and yellows. The audio section is equally impressive. Dolby digital soundtracks have amazing detail, from explosions and gunfire to snow falling. It is all there. The pcm digital output is helping me to appreciate some of the cds that I havent listened to in quite a while. Cds become like new. Overall this is a great DVD player.

I finally get to do a review based on actually owning two products :) I recently bought the DVP-7700 about 2 months ago. My system consists of:
Main -B&W 801s Series III
Center - B&W HTM1
Rear - B&W 804s
Sub - Velodyne ULD18
Preamp- Citation 7.0 (Proceed AVP on the way :)
Amps - Citation 7.0 Fronts
Citation 5.0 Rear & Center & Shakers
DVD/CD - California Audio labs CL-20
- Sony DVP-7700
Tactile - 2 Aura Bass Shakers (soon to be 4)
Screen - Pioneer Elite 50"

Needless to say I am not a rich person(my system has been in the making now for about 7 years). I have put together what I think is a high quality system by slowly buying one item at a time. I have been searching to put together a system to recreate a live performance. Something that just plain gets you emotional listening to it. Yesterday it finally all came together..woohooo...Now you must be asking yourself how this just happened since I bought the Sony 2 months ago. Well lets begin with me getting the Auras 2 days ago. Since there is no section for them I will have to let you all in on something every system MUST have to get that LIVE feeling w/ out having to "crank" your system. I took the time to match their tactile feel to the output of the Velodyne. Then I made 4 different custom sound settings on the Citation Processor. On each I increased the Bass output by 3db. So get this Custom 1 0db, Custom 2 +3db, Custom 3 +6db, Custom 4 +9db and if you really want to feel things hit the bass boost one more time and you get +12db. Now w/ all this talk about bass and dbs you must be thinking I must be a total bass head. No. It just means that depending on the music/movie you may want more or less feeling. I made the custom settings so my guests can tailor the sound easily to their liking. Ok so that pretty much sums up the system setup.
Now on to the Sony. I have had it for a while now and am familiar w/ it. I was able to get one for $999. The video is the best I have ever had in my system and puts my older Pioneer Elite LD in the closet (well almost-looks great in my rack). I will no longer be buying LDs. Since my current processer lacks AC3 and DTS (recall I am waiting for the Proceed to come in and my opinions may totally change once it is set up) I can only comment on good ol Pro-logic (actually 6-Axis for all you familiar w/ Citation processing). The Sony's ablitiy w/ movies is w/ out question excellent.
However, its ability to play CDs left me feeling there must be more to stereo music that what this unit could do. I pretty much rate new equipment like this. If it makes me want to get out a bunch of CDs to see how they sound w/ the new equipment it is a winner. Well the Sony made me want to order a bunch more DVDs. Really folks you will not hear anyone really brag about this player's stereo ability that has heard a quality CD player.
The reason I can say that is because I just got a California Audio Labs CL-20 CD/DVD player yesterday. Now why would I buy a combo player when I already have one. Frist it plays HDCDs the Sony does not but the CL-20 does not play DTS and the Sony does. Even trade off since who knows where those formats are gona go. The other reason I got this player is that it was on Stereophiles Gradae A list for CD players (check out this months issue). Now the interesting this is that it cost me $2076. Does the CL-20 play DVDs better than the Sony? yes. Does it play them $1000 worth in difference to make that small difference worthwhile? Absolutely not. If you are looking for a killer DVD player for $1000 you can not find one better than the Sony. If you want to buy a combo DVD/CD player that can play BOTH CDs and DVDs extremely well go for the CL-20. It is up to you if you think you need to upgrade your CD player as well. At $2000 the CL-20 is a bargain. Look folks the CL-20 had me looking for CDs to play on it. It is a winner. I found room in my system for both of these guys. So as of yesterday I have finally hit the realism I have been searching for. The cool thing is that I now have it in DVD and in CD. Now if that proceed would just come in so I could see what the fuss AC3 & DTS is all about. Be back w/ an update then.

Sorry for the long story but I feel you really need the big picture to appreciate the difference both these players have made in my system.

One last thing. W/ out a really good system you would not hear or see the difference between these players near as much. However, they ARE very different BUT you need a darn good system to see/hear it.

One last thing any input on improving my system further E-mail me. I am always open for suggestions.

This is the 7th DVD player I've demo'd. I have had a toshiba 3006 since dvd came out and watch it daily. The 7700 is to me a step backward for Sony. To not include 0IRE and 24/96 digital out, is a big mistake. They took away features from the 7000 and they add garbage like audio filters. The picture is way to soft, colors are dull and the price is too high.

I've just purcahsed a Sony DVP-S7700 DVD and Music Fidelity X-24K. Can anyone tell me which type of cable is better from connecting the Sony DVP-S7700 digital out put to the Music Fidelity X-24K; using digitl coaxial cable or optical cable (assume the same price range of these two types of cable)?
Thanks for your information.
Jimmy See
Email : jimmy.see@hk.unisys.com