[Phil]

I was just minding my own buisness window shopping in Tottenham Court Road, London. When I suddenly saw, amongst the usual current cd portables the infamous circa 1995 D-777 discman (so beloved by Duncan and Redshifter et al.) in a shop window. When inside I was told that the dealer had recently bought directly from Sony a load of refurbished/graded hi-fi which included around six! as new, D-777 units. Complete with all accessories. Price was marked at £145 but I got it down to £135. I believe they were around £350 back in '95. Being fussy and a bit suspicious I asked to see several units. He brought out four( I don't think this was all of them) . Three were in original if a bit battered boxes the other was in a plain brown box. All were taped with Sony's official ( I checked with them, see later) refurbished labels with booking in details( when they had been returned to Sony. Which in I think all cases was either '99 or 2000).Inside however most of the items looked brand spanking new. power supplies, remote, batteries, manuals etc were mostly unwrapped. There were a few minor differences though ( which I believe is normal with refurbised goods). For example only two included the original leatherette case( a staggering £26 to replace be warned all you current owners!) In which case the soft felt/ leatherette bag supplied with the later and equally expensive D-905 had been included instead. By the way ( sorry I tend to meander) I believe Vertigo once stated that the lid on the D-777 was made of carbon fibre. Is this really so I've never been able to find clear evidence for this apart from it's price! and similarity to the later D-900/5 which certainly does have one. Maybe someone could translate the info from the Japanese site. Anyway only one of the units, which had a small paint chip on its case( maybe that proves its not carbon fibre!) was anything but perfect and as new. I of course bought one with an original case and can report it works perfectly . I rang Sony to check what refurbished meant with regards to their products and was assured that as long as it had the official sticker it would be as good if not better than new as it would have been through in reality two manufacture checks and that because of this refurbised/graded items hardly ever came back for repair. They admitted most of the staff buys graded gear. So if you want a 'better' than new classic get down to Arena electronics ( no18) tel 0207 580 5380 quickly. I may get a second for posterity. I'll compare with my other portables soon ( see profile) and will report. Phew that was a bit long!

 

[aeberbach]

Wow, good score! If I hadn't just bought one from Odeen I'd be calling international right now.

 

[redshifter]

hi phil,
congrats, you'll love it. the lid is actually made from sony's "bionetic" material. if you aren't using an amp, try this: set the d777 volume to 7 and use the remote's volume control to attenuate the level (of course listening through the remote). it's an old trick and works great to get that nice bass. you can purchase a micro-mini plug adapter for the remote, too.

everyone else:
snap one up if you can. the d777 just rocks.

 

[coolvij]

Phil - perhaps if you bought another unit - before they are all gone - you could sell it to someone in the States......not me......but......I'm sure SOMEONE is interested.

 

[Duncan]

Great info, and... GREAT price Phil...

I went into the Sony Centre on Tottenham Court Road a few weeks back, and saw a DE-905 for £279... was gonna buy it, but if the D777 is at that low a price... Hmm... might be putting some money in there direction...

Don't get me wrong, mine still works perfectly, but i'd be mortified if it ever died, and i didn't have another suitably good CDP to replace it......

 

[Phil]

I've taken up coolvij suggestion and bought a second D-777, the other one with original case ( sorry Duncan!) So if ever any of you Head-Fi/wizers would like one, next time you(or a friend) are in London. I'll be happy to sell it at the same price I bought it for ( I've kept the receipt ). I don't though want to get involved with sending it abroad. But it'll be here unused if anyones ever interested. Otherwise I'll still be happy just to keep it as a spare.

 

[coolvij]

Phil: Yipee! Now, I just have to get a plane ticket to London........

 

[chadbang]

I'm in agony. I've been checking ebay for a month for a d-777! I wish you would reconsider shipping (of course, I am in Bangkok, but regular mail gets here fine). Would set of Grado RS-80s in exchange for shipping help convince you?

 

[Phil]

hi chadbang, I'm afraid my second spare D-777 has already been bought by my brother one look at the sleek lines got him writing a check!.
I would have anyway suggested you contact the shop I got them from. Arena as I expect they unlike myself can take a credit card order. Hopefully they still have a couple left? Give them a ring asap. When I tried to receive and pay for a Sony D-303 privately from Italy. It took over 3 months to finally sort out .It was a nightmare I'll never repeat. Cash sent got lost/stolen, the Discman was kept by customs for ages was damaged it just wasn't worth the hassle and that was between to European countries!.

 

[chadbang]

No problem, Phil. Well, the hunt continues (that's a big part of the fun anyway

)

 

[tvhead]

I finally saw a picture of the d-777. For some odd reason I thought it was going to look older than it does. I just pictured this ancient sony cd player a college friend had. Anyways, I think it is the cd player I keep seeing on display at Fry's. Well, most likely I've mistaken it for a similar looking cd player. They are also the only non mail order dealer I know that still sells Sony V6s.