Sony SCD-C2000ES vs.222ES, 333ES and 555ES

I not familiar with the 2000 but I have a 333ES and I totally agree with Stereophile that it deserves a Class A rating in SACD mode. It really is an impressive format and this player sounds great. It is a 2-channel only version of the 555 and has the 5 filter settings like the 777 did.

Having said that, I have had an XA777ES player in my system and it sounds very different from my 333: More analytical, less airy, tighter bass and smaller soundstaging.

Arthur

Transnova,

I use several of the cheapo Sony 200 to 300 disc CD changers (one bit type DAC's). Although I feed the optical into an AKM DAC in the DSP. I made the switch to mega changers about ten years ago after extensive auditions to much higher priced players. The differences were too small for my "tin ears" to sweat about. I also tried carefully comparing the Sony 1 bit DAC chips to the better AKM DAC chips, also to no avail...I simply couldn't hear a difference. No doubt I should be panicked about "jitter" but frankly I just like listening to music rather than fussing around with CD jackets, finding albums and feeding players...a small computer and screen does all the work for me...lines up a playlist and queues the music up for continous CD play.

Sony make good products - even at the lower end, IMHO. And making a decent sounding CD player ain't exactly rocket science (at least not any more). Making a speaker with performance specifications as good as CD's and most electronics....now that is rocket science, as even the best speakers are not even close...a quick look at most 3rd order speaker harmonic distortion is pretty scary!

I also own a Sony 333ES, and from the day I brought it home in 2002 until now, I just cannot get over how great the sound is. I figured it would be a lightweight, thin sound, and that I'd most probably be using the 30 return option, but wanted to see what this SACD fuss was all about. Well, here I am today, with absolutely no intention of moving the Sony out of my system.

Had a friend demo'ing a piece of a equipment in my system a little over a year ago. He brought a much more expensive audiophile player, and just couldn't things right. After an hour of playing and becoming frustrated, I suggested I could probably fix it. The simple switch of the Sony back into the system (he initially looked at me as if I was crazy) fixed everything. And, I do mean everything. Though he still couldn't really believe it, it's hard to argue with that kind of success.

Like all components, the 333 is not perfect, it has its share of faults. It's not the last word in resolution, and in the right system, I can sometimes discern its timing and pacing can sound way off. But, obviously, I am a huge fan overall of this Sony.

That being said, I currently have several of the Consonance players - CD120 Linear, Reference 2.0 SACD, Reference 2.2, and Droplet. I'll get around to comparing them to the Sony in the near term...