Sony CDP-X707ES 20-Bit Vintage and Rare CD Player - See Video

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Hands down our favorite Japanese vintage CD player. In gorgeous survivor condition with no signs of use.

The front display is very bright (also dimmable), all controls work and work very well, and the drive and tray mechanism works without drama.

Built like a tank and sounds amazing. Hard to understand how Sony ever made money on this piece.

Copper, aluminum and metal throughout without a hint of cheap plastic like subsequent models. Plus it's one of the earliest and very few players to offer XLR outputs.

We have a near complete set with the original Sony owner's manual and remote control. 

Tested, serviced, and working perfectly. 

Sony CDP-X707ES Owner's Manual

Click below to add our recommended matching cables from Kimber Kable, all brand new as SkyFi is an official Kimber dealer.

Ascent Series Hero Analog Interconnects (PAIR) - RCA Ultraplate or WBT Connectors

Ascent Series Hero Analog Interconnects (PAIR) - BALANCED XLR Connectors

D60 Digital Coaxial Interconnect (RCA/BNC Connectors)

OPT-1 Digital Optical Interconnect (TOSLINK Connectors)

Kimber Kable - Base Series PK14 Power Cord - Brand New

The Vintage Knob website, the authority on rare, unique, and special HiFi had this to say:

Sony CDP-X707ES (CDP-777ESJ)
The last of the classic ES line.
Or : the last of Sony's great years.
Or : bar none, one of the best compact disc players ever made.

The ultimate version of the "X7" series, built exactly like its direct predecessor (CDP-X779ES), but adding even better componentry, more Pulse DACs and a digital filter capable of 20bit resolution.

The mechanical base is also the same : based on the "G" compound with a complex mechanical silencing system. "G" base is somewhat reminiscent of the "Cerasin" base used in the CDP-555ESD landmark ; this ultimate one however rests on a sapphire bearing - a common practice in Sony's high-end mechanisms, be it for tape or CD.

Building to such exacting standards and with such fine work on textures, finish and "feeling" is not possible anymore - built today, an X707ES would cost 5000€, if not more...

As always, ES units appeared at least a year earlier in Japan (or later elsewhere ;-) so this explains the long production run of the X707ES, along the fact that, depending on the market considered, these sold like hotcakes : there is plenty of them in Germany and even more in Japan - the X707ES really is among the best and the non-billionaire audiophiles didn't make mistakes.

Unfortunately, after this last version, Sony went the way of cheaper and gradually lowered the quality of ES units which ultimately led to the dismissal of the whole series in some markets.

If the equivalent but FPM-charged CDP-XA7ES carried that quality, it wasn't replaced by anything with a "7" in it : the X707ES was, at Sony, the last statement for music, sans bean counters, sans wild marketing whatever and sans bat-like supersonic bandwidth.

The end.

Curtain.

The SkyFi Testing Process for CD Players:

We start with a visual inspection of all internal components to make sure that there are no signs of heat stress or damage. Capacitors are checked for telltale signs of predictive failure including bulging, shrunken wrappers, or physical leakage. We also inspect resistors and other passive components for signs of overheating. When the unit is first powered on we check the drawer mechanism function.

After the visual inspection we connect the CD Player RCA outputs to our Sencore PA81 Power Analyzer which simulates a real world input impedance and allows us to monitor the output on an oscilloscope. We start with a test CD with precision test signals to verify proper output on both channels. If the CD player has balanced outputs these are also tested at this time. If this check passes, we move onto evaluation with actual music CDs. We listen for clicks, skips, and drops during playback. At this time we also check the transport functions including skip, ff, rw, play, pause, repeat, and programming if applicable. If the unit has a remote control, all remote control functions are verified.

If the CD player is capable of SACD playback we test its ability to read SACD layers on multiple discs including standard and hybrid SACDs. At this time we also check the unit’s digital outputs where applicable. If SACD layers are being properly read we should see the digital outputs mute during playback. On redbook CD playback we verify that each digital output maintains proper lock on our bench DAC.

After bench testing is completed, CD players are set up for testing on our long term test rig. During extended testing we make sure that unit can play through several different discs from beginning to end with no skips or lock ups.