The only drawback for some buyers may be that the 7700 doesn't have DD or DTS decoders on-board. There are several cheaper models out there that do include both decoders, but I don't think that should influence your decision.
I've lived with the 7700 for 3 months now, and do not regret my decision at all. I'm upgrading my rating, because I cannot see a drawback to this unit, except for the silly jog feature on the remote. Both picture and audio quality are top-notch, and access to scenes is very fast. Very solid machine.

price v. performance

none.....so far

For a price v. performance there is no comparison. This is perhaps my favorite component, also newest and has surpassed all my expectations. I compared this against the aforementioned and dollar for dollar there is no comparison.

Here is my lowdown:
Denon- sweet picture and THX but just too expensive for not great CD sound.
McIntosh- great player but nothing overwhelming for that much money.
Rotel- underwhelming and was expecting so much
Nakamici- sound was pretty good(not as good as sony) but the picture was not in the same league.

I have a Yamaha receiver, B&W speakers, Yamaha CD player (being replaced by the 7700)and Toshiba TV, it even makes the Toshiba look good (the TV was the high end about 3 years ago but until now lacked clarity from a video source).

At the current price I would buy this if you have a lesser player and throw the other one on your other TV, probably what I'll do with the 7700 when I see the new Sony 9000es.

Similar Products Used:

looked at: denon 5000, McIntosh 831, Rotel and Nakamici and Pioneer dv09

WOW! This is the coolest DVD player I've tried. But also the most expensive. Picture and audio quality of this player is fabulous. But I have a question that I hope other reviewers here can answer me:
( I live in Europe )When playing NTSC disc's there's no colour in S-Video Out, but I get colours only when using SCART RGB. Why is that so???

Picture quality, sound quality

Remote ergonomics

I find the picture quality to be outstanding. My goal is to recreate a film quality picture in the home within the constraints of my moderate budget.The 7700 provides the best recreation I have experienced to date.

The sound quality on both CD and 24/96 DVD is excellent. A significant improvement in imaging, bass detail and sweetness. There may be better stand alone CD players which improve upon this Sony, but I have not heard them and suspect the cost would be dramatically greater.

I agree with the previous complaints regarding the ergonomics of the remote. I am not affected by lack of 24/96 digital output. I have no intent of moving to any surround system and I am hard pressed to imagine I could improve on the DACs in this player.

I feel the build quality is excellent for the current retail price.

If you are in the market for a high quality, readily available DVD player, and your primary criteria is picture quality and 2 channel sounld, the 7700 would be an excellent choice.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD3108 and SD3109

www.msbtech.com offer the unit with progressive scan, and also add a 24/96 output option. No there is no question - the best player at any price.

Picture quality, sound quality

Remote ergonomics

I find the picture quality to be outstanding. My goal is to recreate a film quality picture in the home within the constraints of my moderate budget.The 7700 provides the best recreation I have experienced to date.

The sound quality on both CD and 24/96 DVD is excellent. A significant improvement in imaging, bass detail and sweetness. There may be better stand alone CD players which improve upon this Sony, but I have not heard them and suspect the cost would be dramatically greater.

I agree with the previous complaints regarding the ergonomics of the remote. I am not affected by lack of 24/96 digital output. I have no intent of moving to any surround system and I am hard pressed to imagine I could improve on the DACs in this player.

I feel the build quality is excellent for the current retail price.

If you are in the market for a high quality, readily available DVD player, and your primary criteria is picture quality and 2 channel sounld, the 7700 would be an excellent choice.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD3108 and SD3109

Looks

So and so picture quality. Thin sound without any real bass weight. Annoying remote.

Don't belive the hype.It is hard to find a decent sounding DVD player and this is not the one. Check out the Rotel.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RDV 985

I have had this unit for 3 months now and am very, very pleased with its performance. Sound quality is far better than any stand-alone CD player I have ever owned. I am also very pleased with the video performance when playing DVD’s, which was the main reason for my purchase of this unit.
In the beginning I had a problem when playing CD’s, but thanks to a helpful poster on this site’s message boards, I have alleviated that problem. It appears that my system setup was catching some electronic ‘noise’ when the 7700 was switching from DVD to CD output. This was alleviated by simply hooking up the unit to the CD input of my Pre/Pro and selecting “CD” instead of “DVD” when playing CD’s. For DVD playback there were no problems at all.

Picture quality is very good to outstanding, but you can get almost the same picture quality from any number of models and makes that cost half as much or less. For me, picture quality wasn’t as important as the units build quality. The 7700’s build quality is excellent! On almost every unit that I have auditioned, when I would place a DVD or CD into the unit’s tray it would jiggle, or shift, or move in some small way. Not so with the 7700. It is as solid as one could, and SHOULD expect from a high quality unit. Also, the flip-down faceplate helps keep dust out, which in my house is a necessary feature.

All in all, this unit is everything I expected and then some. Recommended.

Review System:
Adcom GTP 740 (Pre/Pro)
Adcom GFA 5500 (2 channel Amp)
B&W Nautilus 803 (speakers)
Monster Cable (interconnects and speaker cable)
Panasonic 31” TV (S-Video connects)

I waited a long time to get this DVD player. I've rented Toshiba DVD players on and off and the first thing I noticed was the Sony is built like a tank.
The Toshiba's weighted about 7 pounds but the Sony has got to weight at least
18 pounds.The picture quality from a DTS demo disc was fantastic. The dragon
in Dragonheart looked almost three dimensional.The sound quality is outstanding too. I've read a couple of reviews on DTS DVD's at other sites and heard the same thing off my demo DTS disc. The sound is way louder than Dolby Digital and the surrounds are more active and much louder. If Dolby Digital was mixed
at the same level I doubt you could tell a difference. However I do like the way DTS does there surround sound. Back the the Sony this player is a winner
and it cost only 900 dollars.

Can someone please tell me whether the S7700 can output a 24/96 bitstream via its digital coaxial or optical output? If I'm not wrong it downconverts to 48, please confirm.