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I compared Arcam FMJ CD37 & Sony XA5400ES

I recently auditioned in my home for two weeks the new Arcam SACD Player.
My impressions were that it sounded like excellent hifi but was warm sounding in my system.I found it a distraction and had difficulity enjoying the music at times,listeing to the presentation.
I currently own the Sony XA5400ES and it is only out of the box a few hours.
I prefer the Sony over the FMJ CD37
The Music is transparent,uncolored & sounds authentic.
The bass is lacking but I'm certain it will improve.
My goodness for $1150 this is a wonderful SACD/CD Player.
I will try to answer any follow up questions on the two Players.

AP

AP
fishing716

Showing 2 responses by prsmccarty

prsmccarty
23 posts
 
Funny, I just sold my 5400ES and bought a CD37. The Sony was too thin in the midrange and not warm enough for my otherwise neutral system. Sounds like I made the right move!
prsmccarty
23 posts
 
My biggest issue with the Sony was slightly recessed mid-range with accentuated upper mids. I'm guessing the rest of your system has some warmth to it? Mine is pretty flat and just takes on the character of the source. Mostly it was the upper mid bump that eventually wore on my nerves. Otherwise I agree it is an awesome player. I've never heard such control, dynamics, and detail in a player of that cost. Alas, I was forever tweaking the system to get it to behave the way I wanted and eventually decided I should be reading about music and buying cd's instead of reading reviews and buying power cables so I moved on. My Arcam is due to arrive today so we'll see if I made a mistake. When I auditioned the less expensive Arcam CD17 in my system it sounded just like my old XA7ES, that's what got me to pull the trigger on the CD37.
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