Sony CDP-101
(late 1982 - 1985)

Thanks to Sony's industrial clout and good marketing perspective, the 101 is without a doubt the most remembered 1st generation CD player. It should be kept in mind, however, that the hardware side of the format (which is what made it really new and different) came from Philips ; it is mainly the PCM coding and error correction schemes that Sony perfected for this Philips format.

Shown above with its optional and rare TAC-101 cabinet to give it a standard 43cm width - and provide a compartment to store the IR remote, too! The TAC-101 existed in black as well. Build-quality is equivalent to that of all 1st gen' players - nowadays unbelievable.
D/A was done by Sony's own chips, just like on the CDP-701ES. The slightly later and bigger CDP-501 (ES or not) used many common parts with the CDP-101. The back of the 101 holds a substantial transformer and heatsink, a pair of output plugs, "auto-pause" and "anti-shock" switches.
Some models sported a "sync out" minijack output as well. All versions had the mysterious "accessory" connector, planned for graphics to be output - CD after all only was the side result of Laserdisc reasearch :-)

If Sony's bigger players were all metal, the CDP-101, showing what the future held, has its enclosure made of hardened plastic with a glossy and slightly metallized finish - very much good-looking and not feeling plasticky at all. According to legend, the name "101" was chosen with the formats' coding scheme (0s and 1s) and because "101" is the PCM equivalent of "5" - and 5 is a lucky number in Japan.

I own two CDP-101, a dead one (really dead) and a fully NOS which has never ever been used ! Once this mod' will have been applied, my NOS CDP-101 and its RM-101 will have at least 15 years of life... 25 years after the fact.
Sound-wise, the 101 is part of the best 1st gen' players I have heard : deep, well-defined bass, lush highs and a midband which isn't all that bad. Where it fails, like all 1st gen' players, is on the fortes, when there suddenly is a big surge in dynamics. At that moment, one is reminded this is a 1st gen' player indeed : squashed, narrowed and blurry soundstage, grainy and overemphasized high tones.

Feel-of-use-wise, it is up to any early/mid 1990s ES player - in a different way, of course. The compactness adds to the feeling of solidity for if the case and front are of hardened plastic, all of the rest, transport pads included, is metal and metal only. Best of all : said pads are relay-driven so there is no mechanical click but a click from the relays inside only. That certainly ads to the magic for the 101 really gives the feeling it follows the commands non-mechanically, in an almost etheral manner.

The blend of materials, textures, finishes and color hues are part of Sony's all-time best, as partly shown in the image above (and not in the one below).