Dev: the analog front end is made up of a Monaco Grandprix turntable and associated gear. While it is a VERY VERY impressive analog front end and something to behold, I find that I prefer the sound of my digital. Now I will say that I personally think that digital done right can be better than... thought I was going to go there didn't you? LOL Not opening that can of worms but in this case, yes I preferred the digital. This is not the first time I have had this experience. Some years ago I did a head to head with my Bidat with the Plus-Mod to another friends Sota Vacuum TT with a Lamm phono stage. I don't remember the arm or cartridge combination and I prefered the Bidat. NOW, I realize setup setup setup and it is possible that my friends turntables are not optimized... that I don't know.
I am not privy to a 77.1 (plus I don't spin discs anymore)so I have not been able to do a head to head comparison so I have no opinion :) Around the beginning of 2009 (if memory serves) I went fully to the camp of music servers. I sold my last cd player on this forum and never looked back. I automated everything with a Mac Mini, my iPhone and iPad, Plex, Remote and a NAS drive.
I am not privy to a 77.1 (plus I don't spin discs anymore)so I have not been able to do a head to head comparison so I have no opinion :) Around the beginning of 2009 (if memory serves) I went fully to the camp of music servers. I sold my last cd player on this forum and never looked back. I automated everything with a Mac Mini, my iPhone and iPad, Plex, Remote and a NAS drive.