My audio system is made up of a NAD Power envelope receiver/preamp hooked up to an ADCOM GFA 5800 series Ear perking power house of an amplifier.. also a set of first generation 1978 KLIPSCH- KG2 2-way speakers, these have an impressive 330watt RMS RATING, & Tested they are almost capable of 2 ohms however rated @ 4 (very clean) I was offered to buy the CA8ES ES meaning - ELEVATED STANDARD.. With its impressive specifications 115 dB signal to noise ratio, with a super low distortion rating of (0.0022% THD.),is very impressive for the money and in general. Ive heard other much more expensive cd players that are no better & It really does sound sweet . Great job Sony. Great product !!! Really brought my audio system to life & was a welcomed addition

Only 1 weakness to point out & this is after playing the unit for long periods of time sometimes the disc carrousel will randomly keep spinning when trying to exchange discs, I have to tap on the center of the carossel for it to stop, & one more minor flaw to point out, while Operating the unit without the remote you cannot fast forward threw a track?? All in all the Sony CDP - CA8ES CD player surpasses MY expectations OF QUALITY & Performed exceptionally well.

Choice of variable out

Will not play some disks - oscillation

The sound of this unit kills my old Rotel 965 single bit player. The remote drives the variable outputs which has helped me hang on to my older pre-amp.

It's not all good news with this player.
I have had problems with certain disks that seem to oscillate and therefore the player just pumps our noise to the speakers. No, this in not a skipping sound, it is oscillating. The disks in question never had a problem on my Rotel 965, Philips CD-650 or my Panasonic portable.

I hope Sony can do something about this.

Excellent sound and disc compatability

Unreliable; very poor customer service

I purchased the unit in June, 1998 and although it sounds great, the fluorescent display has failed numerous times. It has been returned to the Sony Store at least 4 times and currently it has been gone for 4 months. I have demanded a replacement unit but have been given evasive and unsatisfactory responses by Sony customer service for the past 2 months. Be very wary of purchasing Sony products without understanding their repair and replacement policies, even ES products. It appears that U.S. Sony customers receive more prompt and courteous service. "ES" certainly does not stand for excellent service in Canada.

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Various Sony and Technics players

This is Sony's mid-range ES series 5-disc changer (U.S. $550). The CA7ES represents the entry model ($349) and the CA9ES is the top model ($700). Sonically, the CA8ES and CA9ES are virtually indistinguishable, although the CA9ES features discreet power supplies for the digital and analog circuits. Construction and ergonomics are first-rate, and evidently Sony agrees because all ES components now carry a 5-year parts and labor warranty. My system consists of a Jolida SJ-302a integrated amp (you really should have one of these) and Vandersteen 1C speakers (these are also a must). Immediately, I was very impressed with the tightness of bass and presence of midrange compared to other CD players in this price range. The imaging was also first rate and the sound was surprisingly free of digital harshness for a CD player at this price point. After listening to several players (single and changers), I have concluded that you really cannot surpass the sonics of the Sony without spending $1200 or more. Also, the transport was very quiet and operated much more smoothly than other changers I have encountered. Finally, this player has no problem with discs that would not play in other players. If you are considering CD players in this price range, the CA8ES should definitely be among those you are considering. The fact that this player is warranted for five years, represents an outstanding value, and truly provides 90% of the sonic quality of the very best CD players available earns it five stars.

This is the middle unit of Sony's ES 5 disc carousel line. Sound quality is good. Nothing to fault, but nothing to wow you, either, very smooth and laid back with resonably tight bass. Mechanically, operation of the carousel is also smooth and fairly quiet, with none of the sometime frightening grinding noises that emit from from CD changers. Time to change between discs is 8-9 seconds. You can change 4 of the discs while playing the 5th, and the drawer opens far enough to access two discs at a time. The controls you would want to use while the drawer is open are intellegently placed to the right of the drawer rather than under it. Overall, the player feels very sturdy (it weighs close to 16 lbs.) with an aluminum, rather than plastic, front plate. Warranty is 3 years.
The changer has a decent array of convenience features, including direct track access on the front of the unit, rather than just from the remote.Other features include 32 track programing (which you can program a varible length pause in your set to allow time to switch sides of a cassette), varible line-out and headphone volume, and non-repeating random play.
However,what earned the CDP-CA8ES a place in my system is the changer's ability to play discs that simply would not play on other players. Several discs that would send my old CDP-C85ES into spasms will play fine on the CDP-CA8ES. I have tried these discs in other players, and with rare exceptions, would give every one I tried trouble. In fact, I have not found a disc in my 600+ collection that the new Sony could not track. No matter how good sound quality is, or how many features a player has, it is all nullified if you can't play what you want in it.
Overall then, a fine combination of good sound, decent features, quality construction and excellent trackabilaty.

All I can say is I love this unit to death. It sound great and looks great. I ue the digital outputs to play DTS CD's. Wow!I used to own the Sony DVP S7000 DVD player but had to exchange it for one that would play DTS DVD's when they become available. This changer performs just as well on CD's as the DVD player did. It is the best changer I have heard for under $1000.
I got such a great deal on this that I couldn't refuse.
It must be auditioned !!!

I purchased my Denon DCM460 for listening(mostly classical) and tocouple to a comparable tape deck. The macine was a horror story.It emited a
high frequency sound that drove me to distraction. Denon service was of no help.Finally after one month it froze up. I then purchased a Sony CDP8es.
Aside from its inability to directly control a tape deck,it was a good choice.
there is no coloration to the music.I have used this machine for one year now and I would reccomend it.(yes I have auditioned the Cal Audio ikon with hdcd-it
distorts music and the adcom 700-cheap drawer)The Sony is the best for the money

Simply put, the Sony CA8ES is the best CD player I have ever had, well up to this point. Its digital filter and a 115db of signal to noise ratio is better than most CD players costing much more. For about $400, sony has found a way to produce clean sound with tight bass response. There is only subtle background noise at very high volumes and best of all its a great looking CD player. Remenber, Sony has a 5 year warranty on these cd players.

Build quality, reliability, 5 year warrantee

overly critical sound

I wanted something that would work well with my my hand built Seas driver based speakers (my self made pride and joy), my Adcom GTP 500 II preamp and Adcom Gfp 5300 Amp. I took home a bunch of stuff from various local stores, under the understanding that I could return what didn't suit my home system upon testing. The Yamaha natural sound was the cheapest but strangely it swung the best with Harry Connick Junior. The Marantz was the unit recommended by Stereo Review as the absolute best for low money in the single play CD division and the carousel being the same unit with the addition of the carousel unit, according to the manufacturer. The Marantz was almost unlistenable, having no bass, no drive and downright dull. The Sony stood out as being a good comprimise, with analytical sound, good bass and a musical overview. I wish it had swung with a slightly less forgiving sound but all is a trade off. By the way, of the five CD players I tried all were completly different in their musical interpretation with no player sounding much like any other. Proof that everything has it's sonic signature. The Sony had the best interpretation of wood as in clarinets, and especially wooden percusive latin instruments. Others in our listening group agreed, as the differences were easy to detect. You don't need golden ears to spot the differences. The unit has performed flawlessly in the last three years and upon opening the unit, everything seemed very well constructed, not like the lacksidaisical build quality of so many others including my beloved bargain Adcom preamp.

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Yamaha natural sound, Marantz

Sound, Look, Price

Skipping...

I purchased this unit from the Sony Factory Outlet store in Birch Run outlet mall in Michigan. I paid $300 for it. When I brought it back home, I noticed that the unit skipped once a while... may be once in few hours. I went back to the store and asked for exchange (They won't refund your money). Second one was the same. It skipped once a while. So I went back there again and the third one did the same. Three units in a row!!! Be careful if you are buying this from sony outlet.

I decided to keep the third one (Since they won't refund my money), because it was the cleanest among the three. Two were made in Malaysia, and thisone was made in Japan. I have used it for 3 years now.

It sounds really good. Period. No "best-buy" brand CD player will match the sound of this Middle range ES player. Plays ALL kinds of discs. All the CDR's (Not CDRW) can be played without any problem.

If it didn't skip, i'd give full 5 stars.. but I am fairly happy with it. If I purchase another CD player, it'll be XA7ES.

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none