The first and very well built ES unit and THE high-end best-seller in Japan in 1983/1984.

One of the very few 1980s component that, although adorned with many a button, manages to remain elegant.

The all-metal quality is in it for something :
felt-covered 3 to 4mm anodized aluminium plates, steel chassis, copper everywhere and massive copper-plated heatsinking.

The finish is in it for something, too :
a work on textures and colors à la Sony (still unmatched by anyone, anywhere, anytime) and a feel of use which Sony carried on so well until the last of the X7 CD players and the original 1999 SACD bestsellers : SCD-1 and SCD-777ES.

However, the multi-display programming is a bit nightmarish and the sound now isn't on par with said X7 players.

Long-term-wise, problems may come from the encased LPF which are previsibly not available anymore.
ICs are all Sony, like on the CDP-101 or Yamaha CD-1 ; the d/a IC was at first the CX890, then the CX20017.

The optical block itself, however, despite its Sony name (KSC-100A) is a Toshiba OPH-32. Strange. And the ailing STK6922 are also present :(

Although Sony never made a dedicated ESPRIT CD player (or tuner, or turntable...), the CDP-701ES was the one accompanying the last of the ESPRIT series : APM-4, TA-N902 and TA-E901.