Review: Sony CDP-707esd CD Player

The Sony CDP-707ESD is simply the finest commercial CD player I've owned. The playback is gentle, smooth, clear, and sweeping in its ability to extrapolate details from a simple 16 bit 44 khz CD. This is not a player for those who want to take out their ociloscopes and measure the player's ability to infuse digital processing elements into a music format that has long been forgotten for supposedly superior audio formats. The problem is that those bafoons at record labels are unable to discern cnsumer loyalty from their own self-indulgent willingness to keep insulting the consumer with more ill consceived formats--like the new Dual Format DVDs with CD audio on one side and somewhat improved "high resolution" audio on the other. At least every standard CD and CD-R I place in the 707ESD plays to magical audiophile proportions. The music that comes out of the 707ESD is truly upconverted into the fine art that music lovers perceive "the music" to be. This is a player meant to be treated gently, and enjoyed for a long time. It is a phenomenal tank weighing 40 pounds that incorporates refined audio filters, Burr Brown 18 bit DACs, super fine power supplies with heavy shielding and dampening, and a superb craftmanship that is simply uncanny. I found mine on eBay for $425 in mint condition--with its like new box, manual, and remote. I can say that the Denon DCD 1650AR , which I also own, does not compare with the 707ESD. A comparison of both yielded a Denon DCD 1650AR that was harsh sounding, and hurried somehow. The DCD 1650AR worries too much about upconverting data bits in a seemingly wrong direction. The Sony CDP-707ESD simply plays the music and transforms it into a comfortable and warm sweet spot that takes one into a new realm unexplored. Classical pieces, like Pictures at an Exhibition from the SACD hybrid disc, came out resoundingly triumphant, with deep lines of low frequency orchestral maneuvres while delivering a resiliant sense of being there! With rock music, the 707ESD reproduced a finer detail than I have ever heard on a plain CD. The Who's Who's Next and Elton John's Captain Fantastic both sounded practically as high in detail and sweet quality as the SACD versions did on my Denon DVD 2900 Universal player. Let me just add that the Denon DVD 2900 player is not the unit I use for standard CD listening. If you manage to isolate one of these "vintage" CD players, be advised that you will miss out on a true upward step by not purchasing a 707ESD--even if heavily used. I can say the same for the quality on a Sony CDP-X339ES albeit an inferior machine by construction and component standards. The CDP-X339ES appears to be the one-step down machine below the X707ES. The X339ES also brought out a powerful and sweet sound that is just too good to be true. I hope folks don't feel that I'm biased for Sony CD players. Far from it. In fact, I don't like the fact that Sony no longer makes the parts for most of these high-end CD players. But I must admit that the sound coming out of these better built players was truly aimed at those of us who listen to the music--but not for those who only study the components we play music on. In my opinion, standard CDs are here to stay. And a good player is needed to savor the sweetness that can be gleaned from what is now becoming a neglected format.