Sony ES CD Player Cult--which sound best

Apparently my finger are dyslexic and can't correctly spell RETAIL. Sorry.

Mike

My favorite is the 608es which is now 12 yrs. old and has over 6500 hrs on it without any break-downs, talk about reliability! This player has extremely extended and defined bass, excellent pace and rythm. It is lacking somewhat in the area of "air" and transparency which is only obvious in a high resolution system. I also have a 77es which is better in some ways, ie in the areas of transparency but overall not quite as musical. The build quality on the 77es is very impressive with the I-beam frame, high quality boards, and copper plated chassis. It too has been perfectly reliable. I auditioned one of the later Sony's with the fixed laser in both my systems and found it was not an improvement in either case. I don't recall the model number but it was the second to the top.

I used the XA7 for awhile, first as a CD player and then as a transport. It's a great transport for the money on the used market when placed on a good isolation platform! Built-in DAC is a little too cool and sterile for my taste though. Just MHO.

I can't say about those Sony CD players, but I can say my 777ES SACD makes for a much better transport than my Sony 7000 DVD player.

have been using 77es for ten years. mounted on zoethecus stand it is killer. play trough tube preamp and 300b mono amps. bliss.later models do not sound different enough to bother about. feel no need to upgrade. spending my time collecting fast disappearing vinyl.