Problem with my Sony SCD-777ES


My Sony has developed a problem. It generally refuses to play SACDs, and when it will play them, it does so with a very audible mechanical clicking sound. A bit temperamental with redbook CDs as well.

Here in the SF Bay Area, Sony no longer has a repair depot that accepts customer drop-offs. I would need to ship the unit to them, which I would prefer to avoid if possible. To get counter service, I need to go to a Sony authorized service provider, but I wonder if any of these shops really know what they are doing with a unit like the 777.

Any thoughts?
Ag insider logo xs@2xdrubin
I will echo my own response. Send it back to Sony. The player should be able to play 24/7 with no problems. :-)
Drubin, I had a similiar issue with my SCD-1. It player for a while and then the signal stopped. The counter kept going as if it was tracking, just no signal. It tended to be intermittent so it was hard to figure. I first tried to clean the spindle but no luck. I finally sent it out and it turned out to be one of the motors. I had it replaced and all is right with the world again. I had Richard Kerns at Audiomod in Portland do my work. He turned it around in a week vs Sony and months. My warrents was voided when I had Richard modify my unit earlier, so I was reluctant to have Sony in there anyway. I might suggest you talk with him and maybe concider one of the modifications he offers, I promise you will not be unhappy with the results. You'll have a player you only prayed was avalible. Write me if you have any questions. J.D.
I have the same problem with my 10 months old 777ES. A while ago it began stopping and resuming to play after a couple of seconds in SACD mode. As of yesterday it refuses to play SACD all together. Sometimes it says NO DISC and sometimes it reads the TOC, starts to play and then stops and says NO DISC. I also noticed on rare ocasions short pauses in the "red book" mode. Is this happening to you guys too? On another note, a friend of mine made a copy of couple of CDs for me. The CDs play fine in my car and in my portable CD player. The 777ES completely refuses to even acknowledge them. Is this common? These are the only two "copies" of CDs I have ever had (out of about 1200 total). By the way, all my CDs are clean and have no scratches for those who think I should clean them and give the 777ES another try.
Interesting! With SACD I get the NO DISC message and also a hang in TOC read mode. I also get a lot of skipping with redbook CDs, a problem I never had with my Levinson or the two JVC CDPs I had before. However, I have had no trouble reading the few CDRs I've tried.

JD, just in case this turns out to be a major problem (not likely, but who knows), I think I should let Sony handle it under warranty. But I sure hope it doesn't take several months!