I don't know what happened with the previous reviewer but my experience is completely different ... though it did take a short while to sort out my early issues.

My unit was not purchased new but was recently bought used from a great ebay consignment seller. Arrived well packed and appeared exactly as described. Rear label showed a Manufacturing date of November 2004. Popped the top to check out the internals and everything looked very well built although I had always held some reservations about the 5 disc play side changer design. The subsequent models such as the current W500C have had problems with this. But I figured this being a better built ES model and later models always being de-contented versions, some issues were bound to arise through the years.

Previously, I had always used twin tray models like the HK CDRs 2 and 20 because I preferred the internal recording with 2x-4x speed. The sound quality of the HKs was always impressive enough to keep me from buying a dedicated player. But these units dated to 1999-2000, so over time they grew flukey and I had already replaced the CDR20 previously with the older but better built CDR2. With both units now out of commission, I really thought it was time to either move to a HDD based digital server and a single drawer external recorder for 1x recording speed or go with something like the Yamaha HDR 1500 which offers both in one package but is still pricey. To my surprise, the Sony 2000ES showed up on Ebay at a reasonable 'Buy it now' price and while having appearance issues looked to be fine otherwise with excellent pics provided. So it was back to dual trays again for me except this time gaining a potentially worrisome 5 disc side.

Placed the unit in my system and I immediately tried out the recording function. Everything seemed to go well at 4x but I did notice some misalignment of the tracking numbers from the play/record sides on the display. Turns out the play side was skipping intermittently so chalk up one coaster. Hmmmmmm? Tried cleaning the lenses but nothing changed with the playback side. Contacted the seller but told him I would still work with the unit for a few days before the return window closed. Finally figured the unit had been mishandled in shipping (USPS) so I picked it up inside my cabinet and dropped it straight down the distance of my finger tips. Tried playback again and bingo! Everything then worked and the unit tracked just fine, even with discs it was having inordinate problems with previously. I suspect the ES unit does have a closer tolerance spec to older disc condition so I now tend to wipe all CDs thoroughly with a microfiber before placing in the trays.

Very happy to report the sound quality of this unit is better than the HKs. There is more Bass rendered and it is tighter and better defined tonally in my system. Mids/Highs are even more detailed but overall soundstaging through my Audyssey MultEQ XT enabled Onkyo PR-SC885 processor has somewhat less depth than with the HKs as sources. Soundstage width is still very good however. One touch recordings at high speed are indistinguishable to my ears from the originals ... and after all, that was the real point of the purchase. Playback quality is so good I can continue to avoid the expense of a higher end CD player. My untreated room and tight layout combine to keep my personal tastes in this regard less ambitious.

I can only hope this 2000ES unit will perform this well for a few more years and then I can finally move to a digital server based system.

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I purchased this unit from abt electronics in april 2005 for the first 3 months or so it performed okay, but afterwards i had troubles with disks finalization, recording on only one channel, awful playback. I tried to e-mail sony tech. support and they send back a lame reply about not using a commercial CD lens cleaner. Do Not buy this unit.

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