When you say ladder, you mean R-2R ladder DACs?

Yep.

How does the AMR compare to the other CD players you/your friend have tried?

without a question, the CD-77 is one of the best sources i've heard. it's been a long time since i've heard most of the top contenders, excluding the APL 3.0, but firmly believe the CD-77 is something i'd more seriously consider than the others especially if the Reimyo didn't exist. the price increase is a big turn off and the potential affect it should have on the used market. i'll ask my friend or hopefully he'll post his thoughts here as well, but i got the sense he thought very highly of the CD-77 and more so than the other players he had heard. in the big picture these players are at the top of their game and all fantastic sounding source and truly at this level one could argue it's a lot about personal preferences and to a certain extent the type of system it's going in too.

There is a Reimyo CDP-777 up at a'gon today $7800:

AudiogoN ForSale: Combak Reimyo CDP 777

i believe it's being re-listed for the second time -- around the same time it original went up about a month ago another one went up first for about two hundred less and sold for it's asking price within a week.

retail price of the DAP-999EX

Is the DAP-999EX the same DAC as the CDP-777, seems like it is? This would be nice for a computer setup since the CDP does not have digital input.

the DAC chip is the same as far as i know, but the internal DAP-777 photos i saw weren't even as nearly impressive as the insides of my CDP-777.

There have been some minor improvements(?)/changes to the CD77.

From the UK distributor:-

There have been some minor improvements(?)/changes to the CD77.

None of these changes fully accounts for the

retail price of the DAP-999EX

Sounds like a pretty interesting dac. Quite pricey though. Might pick one up in the future if they start hitting audiogon at used prices.

AudiogoN ForSale: AMR CD-77.