MikeG

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from J&R Electronics NY

Summary:
The reliabilty of this unit has been nothing short of abysmal. It has been in and out of the shop constantly since new with problems related to reading of discs and endless cycling in random play mode. To make matters worse, Sony Canada has performed a series of botched fixes that actually made the situation worse and now refuses to honour the warranty or even return emails. In short this product is is a complete piece of garbage and Sony's attitude toward customer relations is about the same. I will never buy another Sony product again.

Strengths:
Great sound

Weaknesses:
Reliability and Sony's poor response to a legitimate warranty issue

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha CDC 775 (great product!)

Price Paid:  $488.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
A very niice carousel player, well made with excellent fit and finish. This was a big improvement over the NAD 515, which was a highly-rated grain-free unit as well. Very good with redbook CDs; excellent with SACDs. Also a good platform for upgrades as well. Better than many units costing more than $1000.e

Strengths:
Good definition, wide response. Smooth and relatively free from grain. Very easy to use.n

Weaknesses:
Perhaps a little slow from CD to CD, but nothing too troublesome. Software may not support some hybrid SACDs, all of mine work.p

Similar Products Used:
NAD 515, Some old Kenwood. @

Price Paid:  $488.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
I decided last week (after some quirkiness with my HK DVD5) that I wanted a good dedicated CD player to maximize my musical enjoyment. I was considering the NAD C541 which I auditioned in the store and was very impressed with. I was also considering the Cambridge Audio D500 SE which I have not auditioned. I actually visited Tweeter to look at entertainment centers and CD racks, but I caught wind of Miles Davis on an SACD demo. The player that was going at the time was the 555ES, but at $7xx was a little out of the budget picture, and I was skeptical that Sony could play redbook CDs like the NAD. Nevertheless, I was tempted by the way the separation in SACD was so good that you could literally hear the order in which Herbie was laying his fingers down comping behind Miles solo on So What. I noticed the 333ES piece in the corner with no price tag underneath. I went home, read the glowing reviews here and returned to Tweeter with a few CDs to listen to this close-out floor model. I was stunned. I had to audition it at home. I''ve only had about 3 hours total devoted to listening so far, but it smokes what I''m used to whether I''m playing regular 16-bit discs, 24-bit discs, 20-bit discs, or the SACD sampler included in the box. Saxophones from the Dirty Dozen to George Coleman on the RVG Maiden Voyage sound far more three dimensional than I''ve EVER heard before. The sound of pianos and guitars is so spatious you think your head is in the sound hole of the guitar or right in front of the piano. There''s more bass than I''m used to, but it is detailed bass. On Miles live recording My Funny Valentine Plus Four, Ron Carter''s bass has more texture, for example. Anyone who says this player is harsh makes me wonder what cables they are using. If anything, it MIGHT lack edge where edge is required, but it is hard for me to judge that since edgey music generally wouldn''t be my thing anyway. Ergonomically, one complaint...you can''t power it down from the remote. Oh well...I''ll gladly walk the 10 feet to turn this on or off...I suppose I could put it on a switchable outlet of my NAD receiver too if that started to bother me. Since I did no side-by-side comparison, I can''t say how it would come out against an NAD CD player or the Cambridge. I''m statisfied enough to avoid the hassle of bringing those home and taking them back to "be sure."

Strengths:
My living room is alive with the sound of music! Great bang for my buck, but I wouldn''t/couldn''t have paid the original retail.

Weaknesses:
I have to walk 10 feet to hear it, but it''s worth the walk.

Similar Products Used:
HK DVD5 (does that really count?), HK FL8400 with Audio Alchemy outboard DAC. I''m done with Harman Kardon, though...hopefully Sony ES will hold-up better for me with the longer warranty.

Price Paid:  $420.00 from HiFi House in Pa.

Summary:
This being my 1st audiophile quality cd player[Stereophile B], I am very impressed.Open soundstage and very transparent,tight bass and wonderfully clear mids and highs. SACD is a significant evolution in sound enhancement,and yet redbook cd''s sound excellent on this player also.I highly recommend the sony scd 333es,it sounds great. Current system: Jolida JD1501 Sony C333es NAD 4155 Wharfedale Emerald 97 JPS Labs/DH Labs

Strengths:
Build quality, 5 play, SACD/cd/cd-r, price, transparency, & overall sound quality.

Weaknesses:
slow shuffle play

Similar Products Used:
inexpensive workhorse Technics

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I''m very impressed with this machine since I''ve dumped my digital amp and gone back to analogue. Even with conventional cd''s it still sounds smoother and more detailed especially at the high frequency levels. Some of my old rock cd''s however sound crappy in the lower regions. Like the previous review I''m a little ticked with the SACD software. I recall Sony telling us that they were bringing out 4 new titles every month but where are they ? Also the ones on the market currently are mostly remastered from 40 year old recordings. This may appeal to a few people but hardly to the masses. So for $400 I''ll keep this as a somewhat expensive regular cd player.

Strengths:
Wide frequency response, well made.

Weaknesses:
Takes forever to load, noisy mechanism, limited SACD titles.

Similar Products Used:
NAD C370 intergrated Amp Gershman RX-20 speakers