None what so ever.

CD player has an awsome to excellent sound. this CD players is some player. awsome

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sony es Cd players are all well built.

burn-in time

SCD-C333ES replaced a Roksan Caspian CDP. Sounded good out of the box but was a bit thin with a trace of brittleness in the upper registers. Letting the player burn itself in over the course of three months with normal play worked wonders. The bass filled out, the sound became sweeter and lost the trace of harshness. The 333's presentation now has a relaxed quality that makes it easy to listen to and encourages longer listening sessions.

The 333 is not in the same league with the 777ES or the SCD-1, but nobody is pretending it is. But, the 333 can hang with any player out there as far as price/performance ratio goes.

SACDs sound wonderful, of course, and CDs sound surprisingly good, as well. The sound is sweet, clear and detailed. Midrange is a strong suite: vocals sound smooth and natural. The entire presentation is very musical.

SACDs load quickly on this machine (appx 5 seconds). It's really nice to have the flexibility to fill the carousel with CDs and SACDs together. The 333 is built well, looks nice, works well and sounds superb. Just as an aside, if it weren't for the two 2-star ratings below, the 333 would rate higher than the 777ES. Great sound, great value - five stars!

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ead cd-1000 Roksan Caspian CDP

Excellent clarity and precise reproduction of sound across the entire range of instruments and vocals for traditional Compact Discs, plus the superior quality of the SACD format.

A bit slow to read information and start playing discs.

Before buying, I attempted to listen to all CD players in comparable price ranges as well as testing significantly more expensive units such as Cal Audio and Wadia. While there are obvious differences between units, the Sony SCD-333 ES was in my view superior to all comparable units in playing traditional compact discs, and quite competitive with much more expensive units. It is quite simply the best value that I found, with the added benefit of SACD.

The SACD format is a substantial improvement in the state of the art of sound reproduction. In my view it has increased clarity and a "natural" sound that is quite amazing. While the discs are not easily found, I have been very pleased with the price, selection and service available from HMV in Canada.

As others have noted it would be nice to be able to turn the unit on and off from the remote control.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with the unit. The Sony is used with an Audio Research LS-3 preamplifier, an Ayre V-3 power amplifier and B&W Nautilus 805 loudspeakers.

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Previously owned Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite, Sony ES.
Showroom and Home trials of Rotel, Cal Audio, Wadia.

Solid "regular" CD sound (adjustable no less), SACD capability

As noted, a bit "clunky" sounding whilst changing discs.

...and SACD is just the icing on the cake! I was on the fence between this unit and a Rega Planet (2000), and fell on the side of the Sony. It was a good call, as about 3 weeks into listening (at about 8 hours per day) it's smoothing out and becoming richer-sounding, too. To my ears it's not quite as rich-sounding as the Rega, however the system that I heard the Rega through (single-ended Cary power) no doubt helped out.

The thing is, that this is a great-sounding CD player (love those adjustable digital filters, usually #3 sounds the best to me) that has the added bonus of letting you load up 5 favorites and turning it loose. It doesn't look half as cool as the Rega, but like that line in Star Wars about the Falcon, "She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts!" That really sums up my feelings about this unit.

In uncertain digital times like these, I think this player is a great way to go. You get a CD player that sounds great, rich and smooth but with plenty of detail (and don't forget that you can tweak it a bit with those filters), you get the bonus of a changer (which I admit I've never had before, it's kinda fun) PLUS you get the SACD capability. Even if SACD ends up tanking, you really haven't lost anything as you will have a great CD player...

...and after picking up several SACD titles, I don't see how it can fail. They sound simply fantastic, there's an "ease" about how they sound that just draws you in and makes you focus. I get goosebumps hearing the details, but it's never clinical or harsh. I think that the discs themselves are obscenely priced, but I see Amazon has hit the under-$20 mark on some titles, so there's hope.

Okay, enough from me. If you were on the fence about SACD, give some serious consideration to the '333. Yeah, it's a Sony 5-disc changer, but it really does have it where it counts, and that's in the fantastic sound that pours forth. I'm very happy with my purchase, and would suggest that you'll be happy with it too. It's a winner.

Related gear includes Antique Sound Labs tube power, Cardas and Audioquest cabling, and Mordaunt-Short loudspeakers.

(One last thing: The break-in is CRITICAL. It didn't sound bad or anything right out of the box, but even after just 150 hours it's dramatically better. Patience... and good interconnects!)

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This is our first SACD player...

Looks, build quality is pretty good, SACD playback is fantastic compared to normal PCM recordings. But regular cd playback is pretty good on this player as well.

None for this amount of money. Some people have complained about the disk loader being clunky and noisy. I fully disagree. I think it is pretty smooth. Aiwa cd players are ten times as noisy and clunky. As are many other mass market brands and cheaper players.

Wow! I love this player! I was previously using a Toshiba DVD Player to play my CDs, which sucked so much, and this is a big improvement. I've had the opprounity to audition the similiar priced Rega and Arcam players. I think regular CD playback is just about as good with the 333ES and especially with plenty of burn in time. The similiarly priced Rotel sounded good but I also think playback is similiar.

SACD playback is a big step above standard compact disk, although I also greatly admire vinyl as well.

Captain Lionheart

Check out my website about home audio at: http://hawkenslair.tripod.com

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Rotel, Arcam, Rega, and a Toshiba DVD Player.

Everything. Great CD playback, astonishing SACD sound.Good build quality.

Changer mechanism a little loud, not enough SACD software

If you want the best sound in an under $1000 cd player, this is the one to get. If it had no SACD, I don't think you could match its cd playback. If you want near state of art sound and want to experiment with SACD, get this. The SACD capability is essentially free, and the sound is astonishing. This 35 year audio veteran has never heard anything as accurate as this SACD, not HDCD, XRCD, direct to disc lps, or any of the other media of the last 30 years. I think this is the future. I hope the other record companies get behind it.

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Over 50 mid to high end CD players, dacs

Build quality,looks and ofcourse SACD performance.

Terrible break-in period

I was impressed to first hear SACD with the Sony. Huge soundstage,warm sweet sound at high db levels and totally dynamic. Cant wait till it gets broken in like a new pair of shoes. I chose the Sony because these guys know about the cd player what Michael Jordan knows about basketball. I mean they co-invented it 20 years ago! I figured that they are truely pioneers when it comes to cd audio. DSD is a quantum leap in d/a conversion. Maybe one day DVD movies will be the same but that would be too much data to hold on one disc for them.

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dvp 9000es

GREAT SOUND IN ALL COMPATIBLE FORMATS,ALSO PLAYS CDR'S AND
CDRW'S.

DOESN'T DO MULTICHANNEL SACD'S,BUT I KNEW THAT WHEN I BOUGHT
THE PLAYER.

GREAT SOUND, AMAZING CONVENIENCE FOR LONG LISTENING SESSIONS
BECAUSE OF 5-DISC CAROUSEL CONVENIENCE AND THE ABILITY TO
CHANGE OTHER DISCS WHILE LISTENING. EXCEPT FOR THE INABILITY
TO PLAY IN MULTICHANNEL SURROUND, WHICH I KNEW WHEN I BOUGHT
THE PLAYER, I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS. AM PLANNING TO ADD THE NEW
SONY SCD-555ES MULTICHANNEL CHANGER TO MY MAIN MULTICHANNEL
SYSTEM WHEN I FIND A REASONABLE BARGAIN PRICE FOR IT.

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SONY DV-9000ES DVD/SACD PLAYER

5 year Sony warranty

Too much plastic

The Good Guys! still has these in stock for $ 399, but many of their stores do not have them locally. They will allow you to special order them (you must pay the $ 399 when you order it at the store - they will not take phone orders).

None to post

See Summary

The Sony SCD333 when connectecd did not work.The compact disc tray did not open. It was in a contuine play mode with out anty cd's in the tray. Called Sony the had me on hold for over a 1/2 hour, could not slove the problem. So much for there quality control. Let the buyer beware. Brought the SCD333 back to Sony in NYC, told me only a few techs can work on the ES models. They will ship it back when repaired.Did not even give me a brand new one. If you are looking to buy one wait another year until it catches on.Hope no else has this problem.

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Product to new to compare.