Sony CDP-X7ESD
(1987 - 1989)

The first "7" series player and a fair departure from the internal structure of the previous CDP-557ESD (aka CDP-707ESD in the US).

The mechanism, optical block and base were the same, just as the Burr Brown PCM-58 digital-to-analogue converter ; the pair of balanced outputs was a novelty.
The build quality was truly stupendous and the finish and feel of use is beyond anything ever produced - a real work of art, milimeter by milimeter, surface by surface, volume by volume. All this remains, twenty years after the fact - yes : twenty !
Launched in Japan in late 1987 and shown along the CDP-557ESD for a few months before finally taking over. The next model was the fairly similar -but PULSE-equipped- CDP-X77ES.

If the later "7" players refined their abilities toward a more neutral tonal balance, the constant eBay bidding on these is a proof that this was no cheap jap'crap - used as a CD drive, it still beats the pants off the cheaply made optical blocks nowadays available. And given the way hifi is going it will continue to do so for quite a while.