Sony CDP-C601ES CD-changer

Like other Sony ES components, it has a copper-clad frame and very sturdy internal construction, and its front panel is made from aluminum plate. It also has plenty of features, including thirty-two-track multidisc programming, disc and carousel repeat, disc and carousel random playback, and direct-access track selection. Home recordists will appreciate the peak-search function, for level-setting assistance when recording CD's from the analog outputs, and the tape-length sequencing function with programmable-speed fader.

On the back panel you'll find an optical digital output (a coaxial output is used on the other three changers with digital outputs) and fixed and variable analog outputs. Under the hood are a number of high-tech touches, such as newly designed anti-jitter circuitry and a digital filter that dithers its 45-bit internal data down to 20-bit data for digestion by the changer's HDLC low-bit D/A converters with third-order noise shaping.

The disc drawer barely emerges from the cabinet, so you have to load and unload discs one at a time. It is an easy matter to rotate the platter to the next disc position with the Disc Skip button, however. Even better, the drawer always opens to the last-played disc. That's especially handy when playing a single disc: The changer essentially ignores the other four platter positions and becomes a singledisc machine. The CDP-C601ES's transport mechanism is protected against shipping damage with a transport screw. Its disc drawer seemed the most solid in the group-its stability enhanced by its limited opening distance-and the mechanism was fairly quiet when changing discs.

The Sony changer was the testbench king. It placed first in frequency response, de-emphasis accuracy, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), distortion, low-level D/A linearity, and defect tracking, which are among the most important of measured benchmarks.