JSW, that looks like a nice player. I wish they'd sell us chaum-paiiin coloured stuff over here. It's a shame you have to pay so much for it. My 555ES changer which is proably in the ballpark as far as quality only cost me $625 from an internet discounter. When the 555ES first appeared Sony was asking $1700 for it, but when sales lagged they lowered the prices, actually twice, on all three ES models here.
My 555 is a really decent redbook player too, even using the internal DAC's. I bet it's the same for the 333. The U.K. 333 looks like the flagship XA777ES model here except not dreary black! The remote looks identical to what comes with the decks here.
SACD is gaining momentum here. Universal has 50 rock and pop HYBRID titles slated for release. They own Verve now and they have a flock of jazz titles on tap there. The hybrid capable plants are running 24-7 getting the 22 Stones titles out right now. There's a bit of a lull in other releases till that lot is done. The Sony single-layer titles keep coming out steadily but I don't buy many of them. It's sort of pitiful that Sony is, by and largely, putting out such mediocre discs for their own format.
I think you should definitely consider the 333. I'm sure it'll run circles around the Pioneer 747. My 555 will. Best wishes!
