thoughts on Sony SCD-2000ES player?

[jerwin]

Curious about the largish selection of SACDs in my local record shop, and pissed off about the large amount of mechanical noise and tracking errors produced by old cd player, I recently acquired this player for my home theater. Unlike its non-ES cousin, this player does have a headphone jack, slightly better cosmetics, a better warranty, and possibly better electronics.

I haven't seen any reviews of this player, and by and large, it does sound impressive to my ears. But those experiences are by no means universal, and on certain discs, my headphones seem to bring out the worst in it. Maybe it's just my imagination.

So, any thoughts? Is the headphone jack useless? Are the DACs deficient? Does anybody on this forum have experience with this particular model?

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerwin Unlike its non-ES cousin, this player does have a headphone jack, slightly better cosmetics, a better warranty, and possibly better electronics.

Not to mention a dedicated set of L/R analog outputs, aside from the 5.1 outputs.

Long review of the C2000ES at stevehoffman.tv

 

[jerwin]

It just seemed that the headphone out (and the extra stereo out) didn't produce sound that measured out to that produced by the 5.1 jacks. (Right now, I'm trying to play a sacd to see if I can hear and describe the distortion, but it probably doesn't help that I'm playing an "anonymous 4" sacd.

Ah. here it comes now. It almost sounds like its clipping. Takes one out of the mood, it does.

 

[skyline889]

Well most of the Sony CD players weren't meant to be played through audiophile type headphones or for used primarily through the headphone jack, it will sound a lot better if you run it through an amp or a headphone amp.

 

[jerwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 Well most of the Sony CD players weren't meant to be played through audiophile type headphones or for used primarily through the headphone jack, it will sound a lot better if you run it through an amp or a headphone amp.

hmm. I had figured that if the ES designers went out of their way to include a headphone jack, it would be at least somewhat usable.

 

[skyline889]

I think it will be pretty decent compared to their other lines but if you are feeling dissapointed that's because it was primarily designed to be used in combination with an amplifier or a receiver.