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Sony ESD cd players vs modern units

I have two ES players, the X7ESD and the X55ES. Both are extremely well built, heavy, quality players with great sound. The X7ESD had some issues, but is working fine at the moment. I am aware, though, the lasers are unobtainable, so its only a matter of time.

With the continued high prices of these ES units (check eBay, wow!), it puzzles me why some company has not come out with replacement lasers, at least for the X7/X77/X777 models. I would definitely buy a couple replacement lasers, if they were available.
 
Congrats on the 608ESD. Got 1 too in December from original owner. Very pleased with it, great sound. Enjoy!:music:
 
wu6fiend said:
With the continued high prices of these ES units (check eBay, wow!), it puzzles me why some company has not come out with replacement lasers, at least for the X7/X77/X777 models. I would definitely buy a couple replacement lasers, if they were available.
Click to expand...

Good point.
 
I have a Denon DCD820 - said to be the one where Denon finally got right - Designed in the Denon U.K. labs and then made in Japan. It uses a Sony transport and the laser modules are readily available (I changed the one in this player last year). Comparing it to my Cambridge Audio 550C, it sounds very respectable. The sound from the CA is slightly sharper, but not by much, and the Wolfson DACS that it uses are renown for their clarity anyway. The Denons go for reasonable prices and they seem to be pretty reliable for an 80s machine.
 
I know this is kind of an old thread but it had some helpful information especially the link to the laserology page the advice page made my 507ES player behave much better.
 
I just picked up an X33ES from a buddy for free. I’ve cleaned up all of the guides and rails, performed a laser clean and am now waiting for a belt. The little fabric disc on the clamp should be fixed too, it slips. I’ve already confirmed it works tho, reads and plays discs just fine.
Sound-wise, it’s fine as an early pulse DAC unit, and sounds better than many of the multi disc players from later in the decade and into the next.
 
I have the Sony XA20ES player. It is 20 years old and is still performing flawlessly. It's only digital output is optical, but I have an adaptive box that converts that to SPDIF-(Sony Philips Digital InterFace) coaxial for my AVA DAC. With some material, it could make me a digitall convert (from vinyl;), but then reality sets in. The source of the material is not the suspect, rather the guy (and the band) that did the recording(s).
 
Powertech said:
I have a Denon DCD820 - said to be the one where Denon finally got right - Designed in the Denon U.K. labs and then made in Japan. It uses a Sony transport and the laser modules are readily available (I changed the one in this player last year). Comparing it to my Cambridge Audio 550C, it sounds very respectable. The sound from the CA is slightly sharper, but not by much, and the Wolfson DACS that it uses are renown for their clarity anyway. The Denons go for reasonable prices and they seem to be pretty reliable for an 80s machine.
Click to expand...
I think you meant the DCD-825, right? The DCD-820 was its predecessor and didn't have, in my knowledge, any design
input from the British Denon team...
 
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