Ultimate ES CD player of the last "classic" years, last evolution of the CDP-XA7ES with, give or take, the same mechanical build quality.
Three R-Core transformers (the same as in the CDP-MS1 / CDP-X5000 or SCD-1 / SCD-777ES) but not the big two-in-one Twin Core molded into a resin block as in the original XA7ES.
The other power-supplies are also somewhat reduced and definitely gone was the luxury of copper-plating the chassis as in the "real" X7 players of the 1980s, 1990s and said XA7ES.
The digital-to-analogue section is similar to that of the CDP-XA7ES : same Pulse and Current Pulse ICs.
Where the CDP-XA55ES really changes is in the added 24bit VC24 filtering and S-TACT signal treatment : the former for tailoring the low-pass filter's frequency response, the latter to refine the way digital signals are deciphered, handled and transmitted.
S-TACT :
The Synchronous Time Accuracy Controller pulse generator reads the pulse code data and forms the pulse waveform accordingly.
The pulse is formed using the clock generator, which is controlled by a quartz oscillator. For this reason, the pulse formed using S-TACT is extremely precise, and therefore generally referred to as quartz precision. Conventional systems incorporate digital calculating devices like a noise shaper on the clock generator side.
VC24 :
VC24 is a 24bit digital filter which, through sampling math, allows to overcome the abrupt low-pass characteristic of its curve above 20kHz... and therefore "play" with the higher part of its curve to "tailor" a bit the highs' frequency response. Four custom curves are preset, plus the normal/regular one.
The Feed Forward filter/function of the XA7ES is here cumulated/integrated to the VC24 chip.
S-TACT and VC24 are covered in the TECH sections of the SCD-1 TVK page - see there for the detailed details.
Other niceties inherited from the CDP-XA7ES are the cast-iron off-center feet (for less vibration transmission through layout symmetry), the Frame & Beam chassis, the all-DC analogue signal path and a reinforced diecast zinc base supporting the optical pickup.
Gone however were, for instance, the second anti-vibration top plate, the XLR and FET-charged outputs or SEPP headphones' amp : if the CDP-XA55ES shared the same KSS-273A (or 273B ?) laser as the original XA7ES, it "only" was an X5 and not an X7.
Pity Sony didn't carry a decade long evolution like those of the X7 series for the XA7 or XA5. But then, in 1999, SACD was finally there !
All about the chips inside the CDP-XA55ES, right here.
The FPM tray/display assembly, with the steel puck.
All images on this page come from a november 1999 general catalog assembling CD, Cassette, DAT, LD, MUSE and SACD.
Until 1997, each of these segments had their own catalogs ; by 1999, DAT, Cassette, LD and MUSE were on their way out and therefore added to what was left : CD's last moments and SACD's early moments.
Introduced in 1994, the CDP-XA7ES was still in this late 1999 catalog, and still costing 250,000¥ - almost three times the price of an XA55ES !
The KSS-273B resting on its (fixed) zinc diecast base.
Always strange to see the lasers of the 1980s and 1990s X7s keeping track with huge magnetic rails and the entire spinning CD + motor being moved by lightweight plastic gears...
The five VC24 preset response :
#0 Standard
conventional Full Feed Forward filter
wide range & wide expansion
#1 Clear
...
#2 Plain
requantization noiseless filter, direct 8fs
vivid & powerful
#3 : Fine
...
#4 Silky
7th order Butterworth, direct 8fs
warm & deep sound with feeling of atmosphere.
Inside : even if the transformers are placed on a copper plate, the rest is much more "populated" and shows largely reduced servo & audio power-supply sections...
Alas, no images could be sourced from the Sony DIGIC magazine : after late 1997, Sony only published a slimmed down version of DIGIC online on its own servers and therefore everything after that date has vanished forever.
