Rrayda, it is quite the strange occurrence here on the agon, for the past month audiophiles have been writing in these threads about specific components I own today. I have a Sony XA-20es, and yes I bought it on eBay some 4 yrs ago I think?? It has been a great CD player but I have not used the internal DAC, I bought it for the unique stationary cd optical lens plus the transport looked exceptional. I have had it connected to a Benchmark USB DAC1 VI's the optical out. This combo has been fantastic.
Review: Sony CDP-XA20es CD Player
Category: Digital
Simply an exceptional component. For a company known for its worthless perks (read: bells and whistles), Sony has managed to deliver a very simple and innovative CD player here. Its single CD design with a truly unusual fixed laser transport system just smacks of audiophile eccentricity. And even better--it works. I have had the player for around 3 years now and have never had a single complaint to file. The player sounds outstanding within the context of my modest system. I have compared it directly to a Yamaha changer, a Sony DVD player, and a portable CD player--it beats the heck out of all of them. Smooth, clean, crisp, just like mature digital should be. For an extra little bit o' lovin, try hooking it directly up to your amplifier (I used a Parasound HCA-1000A) with its variable gain outputs--delicious. I use it to listen to all manner of music: rock, jazz, ambient, techno, punk, metal. It excels with all of them. Highly recommended.
Associated gear
Yamaha RX-V800 receiver
Paradigm 9SEmk3 loudspeakers
Audioquest Ruby interconnects
Similar products
Yamaha, denon CD changers
Simply an exceptional component. For a company known for its worthless perks (read: bells and whistles), Sony has managed to deliver a very simple and innovative CD player here. Its single CD design with a truly unusual fixed laser transport system just smacks of audiophile eccentricity. And even better--it works. I have had the player for around 3 years now and have never had a single complaint to file. The player sounds outstanding within the context of my modest system. I have compared it directly to a Yamaha changer, a Sony DVD player, and a portable CD player--it beats the heck out of all of them. Smooth, clean, crisp, just like mature digital should be. For an extra little bit o' lovin, try hooking it directly up to your amplifier (I used a Parasound HCA-1000A) with its variable gain outputs--delicious. I use it to listen to all manner of music: rock, jazz, ambient, techno, punk, metal. It excels with all of them. Highly recommended.
Associated gear
Yamaha RX-V800 receiver
Paradigm 9SEmk3 loudspeakers
Audioquest Ruby interconnects
Similar products
Yamaha, denon CD changers