CDP-302ES
(1984 - 1986)

Fourth generation CD player : still only the "subcode output" instead of the coaxial 75Ohm digital PCM output of the bigger but contemporary CDP-552ESD.
The rest, inside, is pretty close if rather less expensively built : no copper-plated chassis and less stringent componentry... but still very solid and long lasting overall assembly. All metal, of course.

The BU mechanism/drive doesn't look like those in the later X7 players but the system is the same : magnetic linear rails, super-fast movements and, again, very long life. There are 5 or 6 versions of the BU drive, the first of which came with this generation of Sony CD players (CDP-552ESD and CDP-502ES), the most simple version being the one in the 302ES, named BU-1. Sony named its CD drives as did Philips (CDM-x) but these naturally had nothing to do with Philips :) The last Sony CDM was the CDM-26, as used in the CDP-R10 masterpiece - and only in that one.

It should be noted that the "CDM" name, as used by Sony and unlike Philips, comprises everything from the loading assembly (tray, motor etc), the BU aluminium base (several versions there too) up to the spindle motor, laser diode and related PCBs : Sony's CDM represent more of an internal assembly code name than the CD drive itself. And, again, there is nothing by, of or from Philips there.

The d/a section inside the 302ES is nearly all-Sony, ending with one 16-bit CX-20152. The entire audio board is the same as the one in the little non-ES CDP-102 which was mainly sold within Liberty systems in Japan.

It should be noted that when the japanese catalog from which these images are taken from was published (june 1985), the original 1983 ES CD players still were available for sale and advertised as such : CDP-701ES and CDP-501ES - longevity, again.

Detailed specs, componentry and images you can find here.