I once owned Denon DVD-2500 player. I was happy with the product. But I had to return it since it didn't play CD-Rs. Then I replaced it with Sony 7700. WOW! It was like night and day. Both audio & video quality simply simply superior to the Denon player. So far it's the best DVD player I have seen or heard, although I didn't get a chance to audition top of the line Pioneer or Toshiba. But these two cost more also.

If you don't have progressive scan capability in your set,and want the best buy soon to dissapear, better get one now. At $500.00 they are a steal.

No progressive scan, so get a newer player for that I guess.

I recently upgraded to Component Video output on the 7700 with some Tributaries interconnects, and I must say on my Loewe Calida, I couldn't be happier with the picture. S-Video was already great, but the Component brings it up a notch or two. Detail seemed better, but the color was what made it for me. Balance appeared better here. They always say to use the highest performance connection your Video gear will support, and with what I saw, I agree whole heartly. This machine still amazes me with its CD playback prowess. Sure, it's no Theta or Copland..etc, but seriously, for just $500.00 for pictures and sound that are a time and half better than the current price, you can't pass it up. So if you need a great player for the bedroom system, or other non-progressive video setup, the 7700 should be on the top your to see list while they last. V.C.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RDV-985...and various Nad,Nakamichi,Tascam CD players with my Denon DCD-1650AR my current main CD player/transport.

Great video, does a wonderful job with CD's to.

None for me

Sorry to hear some of you are having problems. I have had my player for two years going on three with no problems of any kind. The performance has been excellent. Last year I purchase a Pioneer Elite PRO 610HD TV and with the assistance of "Video Essentials" I have tweek slightly better performance from the video. The rest of my set up consist of:

Sony TA-9000ES Pre-Amp - I have read about problems with this unit also. None for me. The universal complaint seems to be no one likes the remote. It does leave something to be desired, but I don't listen too or watch the remote.

Sony TAN-9000ES Amp - Once again no problems. I would recommend to anyone.


I am currently using Kimber Digital X cable for the digital output, AudioQuest Coral interconnects and AudioQuest Type 4 speaker wire (20ft).

All of my pieces where bought new. The Amp and Pre-Amp I got for a great price. I was once a Sony employee and would get discounts up to 40%. So from my perspective when it came down to the BANG for the buck I got the better end of the deal. In any case Sony is not being the best of the bunch nor the worst, but Sony seems to have as many fans as they do enemies.
I am not by any means trying to promote Sony. Theirs success does not benifit me what so ever. Just all things being equal, (IMO) they do produce good products. If you have good components including your TV, I don't think you would be disappointed with the this DVD's performance.
I have a collection of over 80 DVD's which include some of the titles mentioned in earlier reviews and I have'nt had any problems with playing them. Please keep in mind just because something is "new" fresh of the box doesn't mean that it will be in perfect working order. As stated earlier by some reviewers. Any and every company has the potential of releasing a few lemons (some more than others).
The bottom line is don't let someone elses bad expirences keep you from trying a good product that may meet your needs or exceed them.

For those of you wanting to buy one of these great DVD players, Crutchfield just took $300 of the price (down to $500). That's pretty good considering this thing listed at $1200 when it first came out.

I should get mine on 4/30 and hook it up. I will also post a follow-up after I've broken it in.

Video and Audio Quality

The motorized drop down front panel is a nuisance!!!

These are getting hard to find since Sony has discontinued this player. The dealers I spoke to said they were not aware of a compable replacement product from Sony, and that the DVP-S9000 will most likely be Sony's only "high performance" DVD player going forward. Tweeter.com had refurbished units for $500, but they are sold out now. They show up infrequently on Ebay. I did not buy one when they first came out because I thought they were grossly overpriced.

The DVP-S7700 replaced a Sony DVP-S360 in my main A/V rig. I had no problems with the S360, I was just looking for better performance, particularly in the audio area. The S7700's video is a little more detailed than the S360. The audio performance of the S7700 is a great improvement over the S360. The sound quality of the S7700 when playing audio CDs is excellent whereas the S360 was (to me) unbearable. I was quite surprised at the improvement in overall clarity, especially at the frequency extremes.

The DVP-S7700 is directly connected to my television using component video connections with Monster Cable Video 2 component video cable.

The only thing I don't like about this player is the motorized drop down faceplate. What was Sony thinking? Fortunately, there is a button to switch the faceplate into the "down" position permanently, and that is where I leave it!!!

I do not have a surround sound setup because I find sounds coming from the sides and rear of my viewing position to be distracting and unnatural. I use the projection tv's speakers for center fill. Due to the unique imaging properties of my loudspeakers, I really don't need a separate center channel speaker, or even a subwoofer.

Associated equipment:

Sony KP-61V86 61" Rear Projection TV
Sony TA-E900ES Preamp
Adcom 555 Mark II Power Amp
Polk Audio SDA-1B Loudspeakers

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A120U, Sony DVP-S360

easy menu, good remote

picture quality,sound quality

After extensive use of players from SONY, TOSHIBA, and DENON, I must say that this DVD player, although good, is not quite, the High End Machine is is touted to be. A DENON DVD-3700, 1800, and 3300 beat it quite handily in every way possible, and the are priced the same, and less. The 7700 was only marginally better that Toshibas 300 dollar DVD player and the sound pu out by both machines was prett much equal. The sound quality on all the Denon players was better (especially the 3700 and 3300) and the picture processing was WAY better on the DENON machines. Overall, I would say this player offers very litte in the way of superior quality. I do like the remote though. Why does everybody else make teeny remotes?

Good Picture. Solid construction.

No CD-R capability. No HDCD capability. No progressive-scan capablity. Very poorly designed remote. Very limited function access from the front panel. I would like to have seen at least a skip function on the front panel.

I kept this player for a week and sold it.
Although the picture quality is very good I was very disappointed to discover that it will not play CD-R. I know that most reviewers will disagree with my low rating because this player is intended for video - not audio. My answer to that is Sony shouldn't have placed the CD logo on the player. I have been a very loyal Sony buyer all my life. I have recently become disgruntled with them. They have become the micro-soft of the electronics industry. They are very powerful and because they also sell music they do not want customers to be able to listen to recorded CDs. (I've heard the excuse regarding optimized laser frequencies and I'm not buying it) Some of us like to record selections and own the source CDs. Sony is also dragging their feet in HDTV. They were the first to have a direct-view (16:9) HDTV. Now Sony has pulled it off the (US) market entirely and is the only major manufacturer that doesn't have a direct-view 16:9 HDTV (or HDTV-ready TV) available in the US. Sony actually has a 36" direct-view (16:9) but I have seen it only in Japan. It took Sony over a year (after Toshiba) to come out with a progressive scan DVD player, then only at $1500. But it includes SACD right? So tell me that's not also intended for Audio. But still no CD-R or HDCD capabilities, no multi-channel capabilities for SACD. And of course no DVD-Audio because that's a competing format. Will SACD become another Beta story? If we want SACD we must settle for a player that does not support mult-channel (how much longer will that take?) and is lacking in other important features. Beta is much better than VHS but we are stuck with VHS because of Sony's marketing blunders. SACD may be better, or have more potential, than DVD-Audio. Sony will probably do something to cause it to fail, then blame it on us consumers for not being smart enough to buy into their format.

My System:
Toshiba SD-9200 Progressive-Scan DVD/CD/HDCD/DVD-Audio/CD-R Player
Toshiba 40H80 40" HDTV-ready TV
Denon DTR-2000 DAT player/recorder
Pioneer CLD-D406 Video Laser Disc player
Sony SLV-R5UC Super-VHS VCR
Sony SLHF-750 Super-Beta VCR
Parasound AVC-2500u THX controller/processor
Rotel RMB-1095 5-channel THX amplifier
Proac Studio 1 speakers
B&W CDM CNT center-channel speaker
Proac Super Tablettes surround speakers
Entec SW-2 subwoofers

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-9200

I particularly like the motorized door and the cool looks.

Lousy Remote

I must agree with the reviewers who thought the picture from this player is too soft. I sometimes use a very good quality Mitsubishi VCR and the improvement when using the Sony DVD is not that great. It really is not a sharp DVD player. The rotary rewind controls on the remote are clumsy and it skips excessively when playing audio CD's...(The third Sony player I've owned that does this.) I have no complaint about the sound quality. If I had paid full price for it I would have given it 1 Star. But since it was discounted I'll give it 2 Stars. More and more I'm finding Sony products to be over rated and over priced.

Similar Products Used:

N0NE

Picture and Audio Quality, Superior Player for both DVD's and CD's, Sturdy Build.

Remote Ergonomics, Lack of nice "extras" as those with the Sony DVP-725D

First off, I checked out alot of the brands that there is on the market. I first decided to go for the 725D but I know I just would've cursed myself for not buying Sony's reference model.

Anyway, the picture and sound quality are absolutely superb, it even plays my CD's with a better quality than my stand-alone player that now is a dust-collector in the basement (it was a crappy one anyway).

As for the build, Sony have made much noise about the quality build of this product and I've tested it to. I grabbed the player while playing a disc and gave it a good shake for over a minute and the picture didn't even jitter a bit, that's what I call a sturdy build.

Now for the cons, when I first packed up the stuff I went "Who! Who the hell placed a brick in my box?". Later I realized that it was a remote having the potential of killing my aunty with (and she's a big woman I tell you). The ergonomics of the remote suck actually, it doesn't feel right in the hand and wheres that thumb extender when I need it.

As for the functions. For the price, I think that Sony could have pushed in some extras like capability of taking screenshots and say a 200 disc memory and other fancy stuff, but hell...I was aware of that before I bought it and I was after the sound and picture playback quality and not fancy stuff, but I wish there was some built in toys to play with.

My System
---------
Sony DVP-7700
Sony STR-DA50ES
Paradigm Phantom V2 Front
Paradigm Titan V2 Back
Paradigm CC-350 Center
Paradigm PS-1000 Sub

Similar Products Used:

*none*

Lex van der Sluys from The Hague in Holland
All the international tests are very much in favour of this machine. The famous German Magazine ‘Stereoplay’ even made it their reference player regarding the dolby digital properties. After a listening test I decided to buy the machine. At home I connected the machine to my Citation 21 preamplifier and my Citation 22 amplifier. My speakers are Quadral Amun’s (with their famous ribbon tweeter). For the interconnects I use the famous Van Den Hul D-102 III Hybrid. The loudspeaker cables are Van Den Hul CS 122 Hybrid.

The video and sound of this DVD player are top notch. The sound is full, rich, subtle, reveals all the details in the music, without sharpness or too much emphasis on the high frequencies. You can experience a sound that you can normally hear from ABSURD expensive high-end stereo equipments! For the first time I could also experience the fantastic qualities from my Citations and my Quadral speakers. WOW! This machine is truly a HIGH END product for a low-end price. The DVP S7700 sets new standards!

So, this all results in postponing the purchase of an AV receiver like the Yamaha DSP A1 or Denon AVR 5700. By the way, my Marantz 63 MK III KI CD player is for sale.