looks, build quality, features, disc naming

none

Recently bought a Marantz SR- 7000 for home theater,using a Toshiba SD-3109 DVD player but ended up listening to more music than movies. So I needed a cd changer looked for 2 months finally buying the Sony CDP-70ES. Looked at Marantz CC-3000 and CC-4000 neither had direct track access on the unit, (hardly ever use remote).Also didn't seem to be built as well as the Sony and did't look as good. Bought it at jandr music world for $215.00 plus 10.00 s&h,they are an authorized Sony ES dealer. I'm very satisfied with the unit. For the price, Quality and features I don't think there is a better cd changer.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CC-3000, CC-4000

No on/off power button in remote.

It is a good unit. I forgot to mention about the lack of an off/on button in the remote. However, if you hooked the power cord of your player to the back power inlet of your receiver, then you won't have to get up to turn the cd player on and off. I don't see this as an inconvinience, the only thing it is that every time your receiver is on, your cd player will be on too. That's it.

Because the first time I gave it an overall rating of 4 for the slow motion during cd shuffle, I will give it a 5 this time, because I don't feel this is a problem to me.

nice sound and good features

mechanical problems

Some of the reviewers for the CDP-CA7ES, which this model replaced, complained about the player 'eating disks'. This morning I had the same problem when I tried to go from disk one to two(?) with the tray full. It sounded like it tried to drop the cd onto a spot that already had a CD. Well, long story short, it beat up the CD pretty bad -two songs won't play. This unit does sound nice, not stellar, but I wonder if Sony has fixed the problems that plagued it's predecessor. You should read some of the reviews for the CDP-CA7ES. I would give it a two, because I feel I'm going to have to send it in, but based on other reviewers opinion, it's sound, and the chance that I just happened to get a rare bad apple, I'll give it a three.
I should wait and see if it happens again, before posting this, but I wanted to warn any potential buyers asap.

Similar Products Used:

sony, magnavox

Direct Disk/Track Access, Display, CD Text/Memo, Looks

A bit slow on track selection

I originally purchased this unit and then returned it for the Denon simply so I'd have a matching system. I really missed the features of the sony and finally returned the Denon for the Sony. So here is a comparison between the Sony and the Denon, and the results that eventually put the Sony player in my HT system.

Build:
I rate the Build for these units about the same. With the tray extended, the Denon seemed a bit more flimsy. The Denon did have a couple more feet on the bottom which made it a bit more stable on the shelf.

Outputs:
The Denon has a coaxial out(no optical), and the Sony has optical out(no coaxial). I really think they should include both types on each unit.

Features:
The biggest thing I look for in the features is play mode selection, and the display. The problem I had here with the Denon is that the shuffle(the mode I most commonly use) was only located on the remote. The Denon also lacked the direct disc/track selection of the Sony which makes programming a snap and less time consuming. And finally the display, the big track number on the Denon overpowered the other information, making it difficult to figure out what else was going on from a distance. Carefully looking at the display I noticed there were a lot of other displays which are not used on this unit, like "Karaoke". The display on the Denon is also very bright, nice for checking CDs in the middle of the night, but wish it had a dimmer. The Sony display is very well layed out, and matches the rest of the Sony ES components. For both units it would be nice if there was a power switch selectable by remote. I like to see all features found on the front of the unit, to be on the remote as well and vis versa.

Sound:
Though the Denon has the HDCD decoding, I believe the Sony produced clearer sound, maybe the 117 db S/N ratio of the sony? Both for HDCDs and standards CDs, I think the Sony excelled in this category. Of course I'm a firm believer that you have to listen for yourself, as we each hear different things. However I could easily pick out different instruments in a given song on the Sony, that just seemed a bit muddled on the Denon.

CD Selection and Tray Movement:
When selecting CD for paly, the Denon was a bit faster. On the Sony you kinda look at it, and say "okay start now" and a couple seconds later it starts. Both units however in shuffle play seemed to perform at the same rate. The tray movement on the Sony is smooth and quiet which didn't seem the case on the Denon, when cycling through discs they seemed to jitter around, and made a clunking sound. The movement of the Sony seems better controlled.

So there you have it, I'm really pleased with my purchase of "this" Sony ES product(something I can't say about the V444ES that I purchased at the same time), I've always done well with the Sony disc players, and this one seems to be no exception.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 370

Great sound, useful features, CD naming/text

Doesn't show CD names while playing

Great sound! I am really glad I let my wife talk me into spending a little more and getting an ES unit. (she's a keeper too!) I had a problem with the first unit I recieved from Crutchfield, but true to thier reputation, they sent me a new unit, 2nd day air. I can't say enough good things about thier customer service! I have used this player 4-8 hours a day for about 5 months now and have had zero problems. My grandkids even left it on repeat while we were on vacation for a week with no ill affects. My only complaint (other than the poor manual) is that the numbers on the disc tray are hard to read. I fixed that with a silver paint pen. I could have got this cheaper by shopping around, but the great customer service at Crutchfield is worth the price in my opinion.

Similar Products Used:

Sony cdp-291

Good build, great warranty, awesome sound, shuffle play

Sometimes on shuffle play, it takes the player a while to begin playing

I am sure that a lot of people can relate. I think i have some sort of infection that makes me spend all of my money on my music/home theater system. I am a poor graduate student who lives paycheck to paycheck, yet i still find room in my VERY limited budget to have spent about $3000 on my system. The time fianly came to upgrade my cd player and I went in to my local home theater dealer and took a listen to the cdp-ca70 ES and compared it to a yamaha player. Well the price was right for the sony and the sound was even better. I listen to it connected to a yamaha rx-v793 digital reciever hooked up to a pair of paradigm monitor 3's and a ps-1000 sub and it is like i am listening to new recordings. I think that this is the best cd changer you can get for the money, so it gets a 5 for value, and a 4 for overall because of the weakness mentioned before and because i did not listen to $1500 players that are probably better

Similar Products Used:

this is my first changer, it replaces a $130 sony player that was about 9 or 10 years old (still works as well as the day i bought it.

Build

No panel dimmer, sound not as clean as Denon DCM-370

I just recently entered the market for a new CD player because UPS broke my old Yamaha changer. Reading the reviews on this site, the decision whether to purchase the Denon or the Sony became quite difficult so I bought both players to compare in my home. As far as sound goes, both players sound good. However, I found that the Denon player was clearer, especially towards the upper end of the sound spectrum. For example, listening to Pearl Jam on both players, I found that the cymbals were very well defined on the Denon player, but with the sony, I had a harder time hearing when the cymbal was hit and when it was silenced. Listening to the Denon more, I became privy to the fact that clearer does not necessarily mean better. In one song I was listening to, the snare rim taps became very annoying in my ear whereas on the Sony, they weren't quite as harsh. I own B&W speakers (see list at bottom), which are typically bright, so the Denon player could sound better on another set of speakers. As far as build, the Denon's tray movement simply scared me. If you ever check out the player, listen to it's mechanical movements, and watch the try spin around when loading CD's. The tray jerks from one position to the next as if it is already close to breaking. The Sony, on the other hand, is quiet, and seems very smooth and controlled. Features are not a big deal with me. In fact, I was a little disappointed in how many useless features the Sony has. I will never use the auto fade in/out feature, which just seems to me to just clutter the remote and face panel. Unfortunately, neither player has a panel dimmer, and they are both quite bright (the Denon is the brighter of the two). Finally, the fact that the Denon has only a 1 year warranty compared to the 3 year the comes with the Sony sealed the envelope. Since I hate spending money, I can't give this unit a 5-star value rating. As a summary, while the Denon sounds better, the mechanics and warranty of the Sony make it the better, more reliable player for me.

My system:
Denon AVR-2800
This Sony Player
B&W DM302 (fronts)
B&W CC2 (center)
Polk Audio cheap speakers (back) - for movies only.
KLH ASW10/100 Sub

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM-370

Excellent music reproduction for the price, lots of features, sony ES built quality

power button missing on the remote

This CD player sounds good right out of the box...and it got better after the initial running in period.
Sound is crystal clear, highs and lows are clean and well define. It just sounds right. discovered new music on the same CDs. Sound quality was much better than my toshiba SD 3109 dvd player. I auditioned 80ES at the dealer, but could not differentiate in the sound quality, so that didnt justify the additional $200. I got mine from J&R for $214.
so far I m very satisfied with the player.