From what I read about The MJ-707D and the Elite version, years ago, they had the exact same sound. As far as I'm concerned Pioneer Elite has always meant better built and not neccessarily better sounding or better picture. This was the case with some of their laserdisc players like the Elite...
As I stated earlier in this growing thread, I've never had a problem with my Pioneer MJ-707D, which is exactly the same as the Elite version but not as well built.
Etown (remember them?) rated the MJ-17D the best MD player as far as sound quality was concerned. This was a couple years back...