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Ayre CX-7eMP vs Sony SCD-XA5400ES vs Oppo BDP 95

I own an Ayre CX-7eMP and have been very satisfied with its sound on Redbook CDs. I recently bought an Epson 8700UB projector (awesome) and started considering buying the new Oppo BDP-95 to replace my current Denon BluRay transport for improved picture quality and streaming from Netflix.

Since the BDP-95 is differentially balanced through its XLR connections and has "State of the Art" DACs and a Rotel toroidal transformer, I was hoping that it might replace the Ayre for Redbook CD playback ( as well as playing SACD) in addition to serving as a top-notch BluRay player/streamer.

Unfortunately, several posts on the BDP-95 on AVSForum indicate that the BDP-95 does not equal the sound quality of hi-end dedicated CDPs like the Ayre, so this may change my plans.

I then noticed that there is a good deal of positive buzz about the Sony SCD-XA5400ES as a dedicated CD/SACD player. One poster on Stereophile.com even stated that the XA5400ES was much better sounding than his CX-5eMP.

I could buy the XA5400ES for 2 channel playback AND the Oppo BDP-93 (non-audiophile version of the BDP-95) for BluRay for roughly what I could sell my Ayre CX-7eMP for. I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has directly compared sound of the CX-7eMP or CX-5eMP to the XA5400ES and/or the Oppo DMP-95.

Thanks as always for your help.

Dave
128x128dlcockrum

Showing 1 response by intrator

intrator
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I have an AyreCX5eMP, XASony5400ES, and Linn Ikemi CD players. They sound good, from best first in this list. The gap between AyreCX5eMP and XASony5400ES is that the Ayre has none of the digital grit or glare, very sweet sound analog like, bigger soundstage, and is more engaging. It makes CDs sound good, SACDs better, and is stunning on 24 bit 176-192kHz files ripped to DVD-audio discs. But the Ayre costs 5 times more than the Sony so this is not surprising.

The Linn is not nearly as good, but has very nice sense of pace and timing.
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