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Here are a few things that annoy me about the player that made me only give it 4 stars. You either get this machine or you will pay a LOT more. You also can change discs in the drawer while a CD continues to play. It's also almost 1/3 of the price. This could be a compromise for those that like disc to disc shuffle play.
It uses 3 custom Burr Brown DAC's with 192khz sampling rates. #2. I haven't had the other one long enough to see if it will also display this problem. With standard Redbook CD's, the sound is also very good. Heck at this price, pick a couple up in case one breaks.
If it get's worse, I'll have to send it back to Sony for repair. :) Very nice. (Headphone jack, dedicated two channel output, gold jacks, etc). In a nutshell I really like this player. In reading reviews it seems that you either love this machine or hate it based upon it's reliability. I should also mention it has a handy jog/shuttle dial on the front that allows you to quickly access tracks or change menu items; just not on the remote. Again - this player is so cheap it is almost a throw away product.
#1. The sound quality is vastly superior to standard CD's. There is no power off or CD drawer open/close on the remote. (ES stands for "Elevated Standard") The CE595 uses the same audio board and same drive mechanism as the 2000ES; it just doesn't have all the bells and whistles.
I purchased two of these players - both through Sony as refurbished units. This machine has almost the same stuff inside as the more expensive 2000ES. Pick one up before they aren't made anymore. I suspect that's why there are so many refurbished ones on the market from Sony. These are more minor quibbles than major problems.
I got them at ridiculously low prices. It doesn't do this very often, but it has done it twice on one of my machines. This is how SACD was really meant to be listened to. I'm sure you can find standalone CD players for a lot more money that sound better, but not at this price point. If you have the ability to have a multi-channel speaker setup, I highly recommend picking this player up and getting some SACD's.
The directions are a little cryptic, but once you figure them out it is pretty straight forward. Some people got caught with defective units. The sound quality will blow you away. Others have reported this also. For example, if you only have two speakers, you can set it up to default to 2 channel track mode when playing SACD's.
Yes, it has some quirks, but I can live with them for the incredible price. #3. Occasionally when playing an SACD it will drop out all sound for a few seconds. This is an excellent player for the money. It is slow to initially start reading a disc. In my opinion SACD's won't be around forever and that's a shame.
With SACD's it has incredible sound, especially in multi-channel mode. It has a good menu system to configure the player the way you want. I don't, so it isn't a big deal to me. Regarding SACD's, there isn't any competition at this price point. (So you will get some exercise going back and forth) There also isn't a direct track access capability, but if you have another Sony remote with direct track access, it will work with this machine.
I can play twenty discs, five at a time, and it goes on and on unlike my past machine that played three and quit. I especially appreciated the advice and quick response I received from the manufacturer. Found I could attach the machine to my radio. I can spend an entire afternoon just listening to Anna Karinina with its twenty some discs. Thanks to him, I'm very satisfied. At first the controls were lconfused and the machine jumped from cd to cd but it must have been a problem with my inexperience as after two attempts, it worked fine. Really great machine.
I don't know why they don't just reuse that remote. Knowing the hassle of repairs on any electronics, I decided to figure out the problem myself. The remote is very limited. I guess I'm out $150, too, because I can't get it to do a thing.
I have had this player for almost 2 years now, and it just started acting-up with the same problems as the other reviews. I was never even able to find anything I listen to on SACD to even use that feature. Thank god I kept the excellent remote from my old Sony player that I bought over 10 years ago which works with this one. It first started skipping on the first tracks, and then would just stop mid-track.
Apparently, the player has a major flaw and should probably be shelved by Sony.I also agree that when it was working that it did seem to take forever to read the discs, therefore, shuffle is useless because you could wait up to 20 seconds for the next song. Anyway, Sony really messed up on this one. And now it won't read the discs at all. I had it running perfect yesterday, but wouldn't read the discs again today.
This is the last time I try to save a little money. I was never satisfied with this player--from the moment I hooked it up to the moment it crapped out less than a year after I paid for it. With electronic items I've discovered over the years that you get what you pay for.
It's 1 inch deeper so it sticks out the back, but this is not seen.Like other reviewers, I noted the brighter sound too. Heat.
I'm looking to buy more SACD's and since most of my collection is classical, I have some good choices. I understand wine and cheeses mellow, but I suspect in this case, it's the human ear adjusting to a brighter sound and that becomes the new norm.No problems with this unit.
My 17 year old Sony CD player started to get CD's stuck that required a good thump to get the door open. Dust.
Either way, my current CD's sound the best in years. This new players is a good value and a perfect match for my "stack" set up.
I would ask, how is it a piece of electronic gear can "mellow" with use.
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