What is the Sony SCD-XA777ES?


I just visited the Sony Employee Store and saw that they have a whole slew of new SACD player models to compliment the SCD-1, SCD-333ES and SCD-777ES.

They now have an SCD-222ES, SCD-555ES, SCD-CE775, SCD-XE670 and an SCD-XA777ES. I'm not sure if the CE775 and XE670 are actually SACD players.

But the item that grabbed my attention was the XA777ES. The listed retail is $3000.00. The discontinued SCD-777ES is now no longer listed there. Is the SCD-XA777ES a replacement for the SCD-777ES?

If so, what differentiates it from the 777ES? Does anyone know if it has balanced outputs like the SCD-1 or even a digital out? Is this a completely different box from the SCD-1? I tried accessing the spec page for it, but there's nothing listed there.

I was thinking of buying a SCD-777ES, but now I don't know what to do. Anyone here anything?
gunbei
The 222 and 555 at the Sony Store are actually 5 disc SACD carousel players. They are listed as C222ES and C555ES. It seems this 555ES is not the same one being raved about in England. I think the 555ES unit in Europe is a slimmed down single disc player similar to the 777ES we had here.
The XA777ES is a multichannel SACD player that will replace the SCD-777ES. It is also front loading instead of top-loading.
Madnut,

Thanks for the feedback. Have you heard anything of the sound or build quality compared to SCD-777ES? I wanted also to clarify, that when I said I went to the Sony Employee Store they didn't have the physical units there yet. They have them listed on their online store.