Sonically, the Sony is as good as it gets. It is much more natural and musical than the Sonic Frontiers unit that I recently sold. It has to be considered one of the greatest bargains ever, when you take into account its low price and unmatched build quality. Easily a five star rating

I have only one word that describes the CDP-XA7ES: GREAT!!!!!!
In context of a $10K "Multi-Sourced" System though, it would not fit in, as it will soak up a great deal of the system budget, If I were spending $20K-$25K, it would be my choice hands down.

I am getting ready to buy a cd player within the next month, and I am going to buy a Pioneer Elite PD-65. So, for a brief write-up on the CDP-XA7ES, see the review on the Pioneer PD-65.

The Pioneer Elite PD-65 is a better fit for my system.



Overall Rating of the Sony CDP-XA7ES: Five Stars!!

Approximate Price: $3,000.00 (And, worth every penny).

This is what all CD players should sound like. I auditioned it with Audiolab 8000CD/DAC but felt that the Sony sounded more classy and precise. The new transport is really a wonder and it is rock SOLID! Build quality impeccable! Can't imagine it's from Sony. Linked it to a Krell KAV300i and Focus Audio FA78, it makes music MUSIC! 5 Star undoubtably!

A very good friend recently purchased a SONY XA7ES CD player (New for about $1900) He was at first disappointed in the sound: he felt that it was a little dry sounding. he was not sure if was the CD player or his associated gear.Thus, we decided to audition the XA7ES in my system:
ARC PH2; ORACLE mk 5/ZETA/LYRA Lydian; ARC LS2B mkII; ARC D115 mkII; MG 3.3 (Modified); CAL TERCET mkIII (Mod); XLO/Burmeister cables; Seismic sink, power cond, etc. We were extremely impressed with the SONY. It was excellent in most respects, except, perhaps,for a little softness in the midbass. The highest compliment I can give the XA7ES, is that it got out of the way of the music reproduction: i.e. I simply enjoyed the smoothness, unetched detail, soundstaging and musicality of the reproduction, without focusing on any particular aspect of the music. In short, it was lifelike and coherent. I am not a big CD fan, but I was very impressed. In terms of sheer musicality it is a winner (is'nt that what it is all about?)I have heard the big Levinson combo (31/30.5) and found the sound very uninvolving. The XA7ES performance is certainly close to or is on par with other outstanding CD players, that I have auditioned, such as the Meridian 508.24, ARC CD2, Wadia 860/850, Krell 300CD.
For the price, approximately $2000 retail, it is a steal.

Since I see no comparison of the Sony against the Resolution Audio CD-50, I figure I have better speak up. The CD50 retails at $3,000 also but the similarity ends here. The CD50 outperformed a Theta data-basic 2pc.system.
The area where the CD50 separates itself from current digital tecknology, is
in its ability to recreate harmonic structute of music. It is like a magnet when
it comes to retreiving detail, We are talking smooth extended detail in highs
as well as lows. Soundstagin is stagering, Gobs of wall to wall sound with
accurate placement. But the midrange is where it really soars. As mentioned before the harmonics of voices and tonality are incredible.The sound is so natural it almost sounds Analog. But the best is yet to come. Ready.....
This unit has a passive remote attenuation controll, in analog domain!!!!!
Yes, you can bypass a preamp and get evry bit of RESOLUTION. this isn't a cheap variable out like in the Sony or other models, this is an extremely accurate volume controll. It also spports Balanced outs as well as RCA. It has digital
outs and unlike the Sony. This is open architecture, meaning that you dont wait
3 months for Technology to change and have to give your unit away at pennies for
your dollar. Just send it in for an upgrade ala Levinson. I feel this is one of
those rare products that redefine price per value. Give it a try.
saying goes the best preamp is no preamp. It also includes Balanced outs as well
as RCA outs

After reading recent comments on the XA7ES I felt compelled to throw in my two cents worth. I recently purchased a new XA7 and was initially impressed with the sound. Lots of detail, wide stage, good imaging, good dynamics, good depth, deep but undefined bass, good sense of rythym. After a few days, I noticed I was getting fatigued after short listening sessions. I determined I was hearing a digital "glare", "brightness", or "harshness", what ever label you choose, in the midrange and lower treble. It was very obvious when listening to female vocals. Buy the end of one week I knew I had to sell the Sony. Even my wife, who is not an audiophile commented on the harshness of the sound comming from the Sony compared to other digital front ends I have owned. It was really too bad, I loved the build quality and I had great expectations for the Sony in spite of warnings from fellow audiophiles who felt the Sony might not satisfy my requirements. I replaced the Sony with a BAT VK-D5 which is a wonderful player. Yes it is $1500 more than the Sony, but I feel the difference in price is worth it for the listening enjoyment the BAT provides. It is the best digital I have ever heard, as close to analog as digital can get. I am a midrange fanatic who listens to a lot of female vocals, and nothing does it more naturally. I run the BAT directly into a David Berning ZH270 OTL tube amp, driving a pair of Speaker Art Odysee EE speakers. Amazing transparency, detail, resolution, dynamics, imaging, staging, and the most natural, palpable mids you will ever hear. (and that's all with the stock 6922's in the BAT, I can't wait to try some NOS tubes!) I know lot's of folks love the Sony, it certainly has a lot of good qualities. I have also talked to many former XA7ES owners who shared the same observation as I did regarding the harshness in the mids.

I recently purchased an XA7ES. Simply stated, it is as fine a CD Player as I have ever listened to, regardless of price. No CD player under $10,000 can come close to the performance of this unit. Some above that price can match it (or perhaps very slightly better it), but the differences are so minute as to be non-sensical. There is no reason to spend more than this on a CD Player in my view. The sound is absolutely extraordinary. I would not have believed Sony could produce a product such as this had I not listened to it myself over the last month. People who are posting negative reviews of this machine either purchased a defective unit or don't know what they are talking about. The combination of detail, clarity, smoothness and warmth (you can't believe it's a CD Player) are breathtaking.

I agree with Jack. The Krell KAV300cd, while being a neutral sounding player with excellent low level resolution and bags of bass (actually, it may have too much bass!) is damn too mechanical sounding. It sounds more like hifi than music. I believe Mr. Margolis is still in the stage of audiophile evolution where he is still easily awed by *hifi wow effects* and high end brand bias.
Others who blame the Sony for having an electronic sound are waaay off IMHO. I believe what they have instead are electronic sounding associated gear especially those who laud the musical BUT bland, too warmish, too bloomy sounding SFCD-1 that synergistically matches with their cold and dry sounding components.

The Sony is an inherently sweet and smooth sounding cd player with a rather forward and full sounding midband. It does not sound as focused and as silent as most high end cd players, but it does sound more like live music where pin-point imaging and absolute velvety black silence does not really exist IMHO. It does not have the resolution of some high end players but what it has is more than enough to paint a very credible and very coherent facsimile of live music. Its #1 drawback is its slightly off timing - it's slightly slow, and its awesome and authoritative bass is a bit loose but these can easily be corrected by a bit of tweaking.

The only CDPs that I found superior to the Sony is the Krell KPS20i/L and Wadia 16. These are easily significantly more expensive. And yes, the Sony has a much better build quality than either of the two above! My friend Jack Greenhouse also jettisoned his Mark Levinson #39 in favor of the XA7ES.

Since the XA7ES can now be had for about $2k, and even less here in Asia, I have no choice but to award it 5 stars.

I have owned two Sony XA7es, and while is has some very good sound qualities, I the midrange still has a somewhat electronic sound. I know some will disgree, but I have talked to persons who have sold there Sony and this is the reason why.. Of course if you have never heard very good midrange then you might can live with the sound of the Sony.

Dk,is right. I have owned 2 sony xa7es. One used and well broken in and one new.Both had this brightness in the midrange that is tiring on the ears. I wanted to love mine, that's why I tried two. Out the door they went, in came a Sonic Frontiers SLCD-1--Ahhh