The XA7's sound is excellent. It sounds much more natural than the Lambda and Ultralink 2 combination that I just replaced. More amazingly, it compares favorably with esoteric models such as Mark Levinson's and Krell's that I recently auditioned. At only $3000 this model is an absolute bargain.

I have had previous top Sony models over the years, And the XA7ES is the best sounding player to date. The transport is precise and smooth with barely a whisper. I also have a Sony X707ES in my system, which I now use as my secondary player since buying the XA7ES. Both players are very good, But the XA7ES is a little sweeter sounding to the ears. I believe the XA7 is the best player in the $2-3k price range HANDS DOWN..... Deserves more than 5 stars!

A recent speaker upgrade also prompted the replacement of an ageing Nakamichi OMS5 Mk II CD player. The Nakamichi had given great service for some 11 years but is pretty old technology now.
I listened to players from Audiolab, Cyrus, Musical Fidelity, Marantz, Meridian, and Sony. Many were discarded quickly even though they were often located at different dealers in different systems. What was left were the Audiolab 8000CD, Meridian 508.20 and Sony XA7ES (all in different dealers). The Meridian was great but was a little bit beyond the amount of money that I wanted to spend compared to the Sony. (One might even question the wisdom of spending anything on Redbook CD players in the current digital environment which appears to be rapidly evolving towards DVD, 24/96 audio standard or not). In direct a-b comparisons with the Nakmichi, the Sony stood out against the Audiolab, particularly in respect to timbre, detail and soundstage. Extraction of detail from the disc was excellent.

So I bought the Sony XA7ES - now for the best part.

I have been living with it for only a few days now but I continue to be blown away by this machine more than I thought possible. Musical detail, soundstage etc are superb. It has truly revitalised my CD collection. Dare I say it digital disc can compete with vinyl.

In summary my search for a new player seems to confirm a lot of the recent postings in the rec.audio.opinion newsgroup re Meridian 508.20 vs Sony XA7ES. They are both great machines. Despite the likelihood of "this seasons new model" from Sony I have gome with the XA7ES and have not regretted it one bit (pun intended)

I would like to let everyone know just how airy these babys are. If you are looking for a pair of speakers which provides three dimensional sound staging and a sense of airiness of the instruments or singers, this is it.
You don't need a powerful amplifier to drive them (I'm using the AudioLab 8000S - 60 watts into 8 ohms) and the result is pure, uncoloured sound. I have also heard them on a VTL pre-power combination which sounds even more airy. You won't believe how good these speakers can sound with good tube amp until you've tried them. The bass (at 80 Hz) are quick and punchy but you won't feel that they are exagerated. Source is very important as every single little detail is pronouce faithfully with these speakers. I'm using the Marantz CD10.