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Sony ES

Nytechy said:
Mike,

A many of the CD players you list have SA equivalents. Do you have any experience of them, and are they any/as good?
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Are you asking about SACD players? I've only worked on a few of them. It's the high-end regular Redbook CD players from the 80's and early 90's that interest me most as they're what I consider to be the high water mark in terms of build quality.
 
I was just wondering whether there was any manufacturing crossover during the period when build-quality was optimal for the Redbook players, with the start of SACD in 1999 (mainly because the SACD players can actually be found cheaper now!)
 
That depend how you define things. For many once Phillips stopped making pro mechanisms the glory days were over. I'd agree with that for transports, but it was just the start of when better dacs began to be a thing.

Of course pine for the sound of old dac chips so they get to have their cake and eat it.
 
Always love a thread on this stuff. It looks amazing.

I've had a 690ES integrated and a TA-N55ES stereo power amplifier. Both fantastic.

My first CD player was a CDP 990 bought new from Salisbury hi fi in 1990. Lasted 10 years of heavy use before it stopped working.

I have toyed with running a pair of TA-N55ES in mono bridged mode with a big pair of conjugate load matched 4 ohm Kef Reference monitors, but I had heard they can run out of puff into 4 ohm loads and a Quad 606 is good enough to deter me from messing with it.
 
My little TEAC CD Player has gone wonky- thinking of getting another ES Cd Player...listening to my CDP X55ES ( wooden side cheeks version :)) and it still produces a highly musical sound.
 
Toby Jug said:
Thank you for the inspiration on this thread, and others on the forum. Today I have become the proud owner of a Sony 338ESD and it sounds wonderful.

Now maybe a player with the TDA1541 DAC :cool:
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The CDP338ESD is the player that made CDs sound good to me. My previous Arcam Delta 70.2 was harsh as you like.

Plus the CDP just looks so damn good and the build quality is superb, it has the famous copper buss bars too, how cool is that!

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They are not rare but getting harder to find and prices are rising. I got mine off this very site for £130, 9.5/10 for condition and has not missed a beat in the 5 years I've had it.

Watching the CD tray open and close is a thing of joy!
 
I have a TA N80ES power amp.Nice sounding 200 watt amp beast.Their flagship power amp of the early 1990s.
As far as CD players go I have owned a few of the ES players but the best sounding Sony CD player is the CDP 715 or CDP 715E [same thing].That is just a freak player with a very clear and 3D sound.
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jtgofish said:
I have a TA N80ES power amp.Nice sounding 200 watt amp beast.Their flagship power amp of the early 1990s.
As far as CD players go I have owned a few of the ES players but the best sounding Sony CD player is the CDP 715 or CDP 715E [same thing].That is just a freak player with a very clear and 3D sound.
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Looks like a proper 90s brute. Cost a pretty penny back then too, I'd imagine...
 
flatpopely said:
The CDP338ESD is the player that made CDs sound good to me. My previous Arcam Delta 70.2 was harsh as you like.

Plus the CDP just looks so damn good and the build quality is superb, it has the famous copper buss bars too, how cool is that!
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Mine still has the stickers over the rear screws so I might just leave as is, and imagine how good the inside looks :cool:
 
A few months ago, after spending a lot of time and money on my vinyl trip, I came to the realization that it's worth also to invest again in CD playback. I have a Philips CD-Pro2 based transport on order from a builder in Germany but as this is getting delayed due to issues with getting parts, I ended up last week getting this:

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I paid 400 EUR, and it is in absolute mint condition externally. Almost no wear. The CD tray shoots out and in like a rocket. Remote control in mint condition. A beauty. If only it had wood panels......

In my system, it sounds a lot better as transport than playing through the analogue output. From that perspective, I think my custom-made transport will outperform this unit once delivered (it better be, as I paid a lot more for it.....).

I do want to keep this unit though, just wondering if I should have it upgraded and refreshed on the internals. How far can it be taken?
 
Any transport will do, any decent dac with agnostic inputs will render the transport choice moot.
 
sq225917 said:
Any transport will do, any decent dac with agnostic inputs will render the transport choice moot.
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Before I got the 337ESD, I tried using a Sony bluray player I got my hands on, and I can assure you that both players DO NOT sound the same, all other elements being the same.
 
sq225917 said:
Any transport will do, any decent dac with agnostic inputs will render the transport choice moot.
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I also disagree - having tried a few CDPs digi out and dedicated transports, my preference is a vintage Micromega Duo transport. All int the same (vintage) DAC
 
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