Comparison: 2 Sony ES CD players vs Primare d30.2

mine is a bit later, not the heavy puck on the disc you describe, but after trying many, it was a Sony ES Series SACD/CD player that completed my search

Sony xa5400ES

I agree, what words to describe .... better?

my attempt

"

If someone you let go regrettably used you as a job reference, and you get a call, you respond "I cannot say enough good things about ..."

I truly cannot say enough good things about this Sony SCD-xa5400es.

Very familiar, very revealing content, ALL CDs, all SACDs: ALL OBVIOUSLY, SURPRISINGLY BETTER. Not Preferred, BETTER!

Andreas Vollenweider’s White Winds; sounds of the Eurythmics Underground Train; Distinction of ’No More Tears’ duet by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer; Richard Burton and the Martian Death Rays in Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds; ah, there’s a second mandolin behind Kate Wolf’s guitar; the distinction of different string types of the 3 guitars on Friday Night in San Francisco; and finally, what SACD people who have been hearing that I never heard properly until now.

FUNDAMENTALS. I think there is a tighter, firmer, more solid, ... start to the fundamental of Each and Every Note. Improved overtones, volume and time decay all follow that BETTER start. I have never heard a CD sound so good anywhere.

The 3 guitars on Friday Night in San Francisco, my favorite music to refine my cartridge’s anti-skate. I am very very familiar, love this music. I could not imagine the added degree of genuine realism this player got out of a standard CD.

I am sooooo glad I kept going on the DSD/no pcm conversion search, the unexpected big win here is the redbook cd output from it’s 8x oversampling filter.

SACD. Among others I have a series of Oscar Peterson performances, ’exclusively for my friends’. my prior listening conclusion was ’lower noise floor’, eh, I’m not spending a lot more for that. OH holy crap, first one I tried, Mellow Mood SACD, just landed in the room.

You know how a visitor says, "sounds like they are right there" and you know your system, you know it’s great, but no, right there it is not. This seemed like Oscar was playing my Uncle Johnnie’s piano right there!

I can keep slobbering, or go listen. Bye!

EVERYONE: get thee an xa5400es!!!"

I have the Sony XA20ES and have always considered it a sleeper CD player. It’s worth noting that SONY and Philips developed the CD format and I think Sony have always made fine audio gear.

BTW I am not doubting the 5400 is a great player, but the 20ES is a fraction of the cost and I have always been into budget gear for a steal of a price.

To the OP which Sony are you using now? Which one is the 35lb model?

I have one. Extremely satisfying if not quite my favorite source component overall. I have to say, too, that the 5400's DA section is at least as good if not better than any other stand-alone DA stage I've ever had in my system. But yeah, my favorite source component remains my phonograph. I gotta say, too, that I often get eminently satisfying sound from Qobuz.

BTW I am not doubting the 5400 is a great player, but the 20ES is a fraction of the cost and I have always been into budget gear for a steal of a price.

Sometimes these large corporations will actually utilize their considerable engineering talent and aim for a higher sonic target. I am glad Sony chose this path with their  higher quality XA 5400 ES player. A case where paying more gets you more. It has stood the test of time for its excellent sound quality.

Charles

I'll pick up a Sony SCD-xa5400es for the few SACD's I have

Can't believe I forgot to mention the model on the best Sony.

It's a XA7ES

Unfortunately Sony pulled the plug off for both ES line and the more prestigious Reference line, long time ago. 

I am a fan of big Sony players, owned in the past, XA707es, XA7es, SCD-1, XA777es. A joy to use and i bet all are still spinning as is my current XA9000es bought new back in 2004.

Unfortunately Sony pulled the plug...

As many companies have. If you are really digging a player, you might want to find a spare or two. I bought a used Pioneer Elite player from a guy I knew. It was an expensive player when new. I only got a few years out of it when the laser died. Lets hope you get many many years of enjoyment from yours.