In terms of sound quality for the price the xa1 is tough. I read some of the earlier reviews here and all along I thought it was just my player that was eating my discs. The first xa1 I got for x-mas, ate my first disc I put in it. After shaking the player and messing with the tray I fianally got the disc out and returned the player to the store the next day. Then I had to wait about three weeks for the store to get their shipment from sony in. My second xa1 has been doing fine for the past two weeks. Just today it decided it too was hungry for CDs. I'm returning it tomorrow. My replacement is probably going to be the NAD 515. I really wish I didn't have to give my Sony up, I was very happy with the sound quality, but 2 strikes and you're out in my book. Sound for the money I'd give it a 5, but for all the inconvenience I'm going to have to give it a 2. As much engineering that goes into this equipment you'd think that Sony would have made sure that problems like this would not occur, especially from their ES line.

Please save your money and keep your distance from thispeice of garbage. I purchased one without ever seeing one
in person and was absoloutely shocked at the poor build quality
of this unit. It has the fit and finish of an $89 fisher player
from wal-mart. On top of the build quality the thing absoloutely
EATS discs and refuses to spit them out unless held upside down and
shaken like your trying to break it.

Purchased mail order on June 8. Began eating discs on June 22. Great sound,but poorest build quality and quality control I've seen on a piece of audio equipment in a long time. Sony should be ashamed of themselves for trying to pass this off as an ES piece of equipment. Exchanged for a CA7ES Sony CD changer which sounds better and has much better build quality.

Comments on the XA1ES- In terms of sound quality, the unit is great! Detailed, well controlled bass, nice treble...
- Build quality is terrible...
- CDs fall out of disc tray and into cd player if drawer is opened quickly
- My laser failed to track after 1 1/2 years.

All in all, even though the player sounds nice, I would look elsewhere due to its mechanical flaws.

Just picked one up at the local Sony outlet for an unbelievable $140! Might have been a demo. Sound quality is superb...clean, crisp highs with a good sense of "air". Bass very deep and solid, no hype. Astonishingly quiet and smooth. Best audio purchase I have made in years!

I was skeptical about the increase in sound quality from higher priced CD players (remember I'm a casual listener). It was difficult to compare players, let alone do side-by-side comparisons, since every shop had them playing thru different amps and speakers. After listening to many low-end players and quite a few of the upper crust brands I settled on the XA1ES because the differences I could hear in the higher priced players I could also hear in this model.
Its a sinlge play with minimal bells and whistles so it fits my style (I'm not even sure where the remote is anymore). It purportedly shares many of the internal components of the rest of the ES line, and I bought it for a great price from OneCall.

The Sony CDP-XA1ES (CDP-561E in Europe) is one of the top player in its price range. It sounds open and transparent, and the bass is solid and deep. The top end and the midrange are very smooth and detailed. The Sony sounds much better than many players under US$400, and it does not sound like a budget player.For comparsion, the Sony sounds better than Harmon Kardon HD710 and NAD 510.
The only player in the price range sounds as good as the Sony is the Marantz CD63mkII(discontinue). Therefore, if you are looking a cd player in this price range, check out the Sony CDP-XA1ES.

I bought the XA 1ES a few months ago, choosing it because of it's superior sound Quality and low price (I paid about 280 bucks). Alas, my roomate and
I, both being serious musicians and owning a large collection, put the CD player
on 10-18 hour shifts per day. This caused some sort of malfunction that kept the player from scanning the discs. This is a huge disappointment to me. I have been borrowing a friend's changer, and I really miss the convenience and sound quality of my sony. By the way, single players in my opinion are far superior to any changer in any way (yes, even convenience). Sony's been a little lax in getting it back to me, and I'm really looking forward to getting that thing back.

Quite subtle, solid low end, good imaging. Natural vocals and piano. Love the 20 button panel to select tracks.

no problems to date (since Jan '98) doesn't eat my disks

I've used this thing for over three years. It's been perfectly reliable and has not eaten any disks. Had some speaker problems and didn't realize it. Thought it was the CD player and went out auditioning Arcam Alphas and Rotel 971. Took the Sony along so I could compare. It came off just fine against the more pricey competition. Made me realize it wasn't the CD. Found a rubbing voice coil on a midrange. After getting the speakers re-organized, the Sony really impressed me. Smooth, clean highs, solid low end and a lot of air and space in the soundfield. Very nice imaging and a good sense of depth. I find the controls and display very convenient. I judge naturalness principally on piano and male and female vocals. The live sounds we hear most often. THe XA1ES does a nice job on piano and vocals. Handclaps and cymbals are also tough tests, and they come off very well, too.

Similar Products Used:

Sony XE-500, Onkyo

Good sound at a great price

None for this price.

I bought this CD player 2 years ago and I have been very happy with it. . Good bass, good transient response and pretty good imaging for the price. I bought this based on the stereophile review. So far I have never had a problem with this player (CDP- XA1ES) and I listen to a lot of music
and have used a variety of CDs on it including heavily scratched CDs, CD-RWs, CD-Rs which a lot of my friends players couldn't recognize. I have a feeling the people having trouble with disks being eaten are most probably not inserting the CDs in correctly or simply just don't know how to operate a player appropriately. I have no complaints with the structural rigidity of this component as you really cannot expect much more rigidity at this price and it is better than most players at that price.