I think it would be VERY difficult to beat without spending big dollas. I have heard my old xa-7ES (the 777's predecesor) against a levinson 36, and there was a very small improvement. I hear much more from a cable change. I was thinking of buying the 36 until I heard it and decided the difference was negligible.
Moving on to more current standards, I also loaned my new SCD-1 to a friend who has the levinson 360S. He said there was barely a difference with the levinson being 'maybe' a little better. I know in my own listening of other's systems that these sony's are 98% of anything out there. The only thing I have heard that is SIGNIFICANTLY better is the 192 mhz upsampling DCS/Delius upsamping Digital compuer/DAC.
If you are a tube guy, you might have a great preference for a tube driven output. That does change the character of the presentation fairly significantly.
Check out Dan Wright's website - www.modwright.com. His website has some comparison data. Dan himself gives some very honest opinions on upsamplers (he hotrods them) verses contemporary cd players.
Moving on to more current standards, I also loaned my new SCD-1 to a friend who has the levinson 360S. He said there was barely a difference with the levinson being 'maybe' a little better. I know in my own listening of other's systems that these sony's are 98% of anything out there. The only thing I have heard that is SIGNIFICANTLY better is the 192 mhz upsampling DCS/Delius upsamping Digital compuer/DAC.
If you are a tube guy, you might have a great preference for a tube driven output. That does change the character of the presentation fairly significantly.
Check out Dan Wright's website - www.modwright.com. His website has some comparison data. Dan himself gives some very honest opinions on upsamplers (he hotrods them) verses contemporary cd players.