The original "7" series player, sold worldwide as a CDP-557ESD and in the US as a CDP-707ESD.

Still adorned with many a button and many a visible feature reminding us that this still was the 1980s.
Inside is a different story as the 557/707 holds the same aluminium Die-Cast base resting on a G-Base used in the Reference CDP-R1 drive.

No balanced output yet but an ultra-fast linear drive, dual PTs, solid aluminium lid door, copper-plated chassis and busses and everything, superimposed layers of steel and fine ceramics feet all make up for it.

The series that came from this one player became a set of bestsellers :
CDP-X7ESD
CDP-X77ES
CDP-X777ES
CDP-X779ES
CDP-X707ES.

The slightly lower-end models (still very much high-end) sold just as well, like the CDP-X505ES or the earlier CDP-X559ES.

If the digital-to-analogue section of the CDP-557ESD sounds a little old-fashioned nowadays, the drive section still is more than worthwhile !

The specs and chips you where to find.