Sony CDP-X333ES is playing with great dynamics range and clear sound ,fantastic midrange,absolute open and airy bass,and hi frequency in the most gentle way,compared to X555ES because of FET class A analog filter output of this unit,the sound is maybe a little more plastic,which could also be a matter of taste ,but with identical dynamic range ,X333ES is a great CD Player considered from any point of view.

It's almost impossible to find a CD player these days with such a solid build quality.
Every inch of this unit is absolute quality. I had a very hard time carrying this up to my apartment unit because this thing weights a ton! All the buttons are working perfectly, no problems with the monitor, the tray comes in and out without making a sound. Hard to believe after 20+ years it still feels new.

Hooked it up to my system and was absolutely shocked on how wonderful the sound was. I did a lot of reading online before the purchase and was always skeptical of the great reviews on the old Sony ES line. Boy oh boy had I not listened to the community I would never have had the privilege to appreciate the wonders of Japanese engineering at its pinnacle.

The sound was detailed, great midrange, and delivers bass unlike anything I've heard before.

Definitely something to consider picking up. It's a shame that you can't find something of this quality out there anymore.

This Sony looks very impressive, gorgeous looking unit, and weighs probably about 30lbs or so, that is my guess. It is the heaviest cd player that I have ever had in my system.

And it sounds even better then it looks. First thing I noticed was the tremendous bass and midrange to die for, specially the vocals.

On every other cd player, music sounded like recorded music, but this Sony X333ES made it sounds live, it has that "Dose" of live music. On familiar recordings, I could picture the singer right there behind the microphone.

Overall, very warm yet engaging sound and non-fatigue, you can listen to for hours and will not get tired.

I bought mine at a very reasonable price.

Buy one if you can and I assure you that you would agree with me on everything that I have said above regarding this CD player.