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Rega Saturn or Sony XA5400: Sound or features?

The original Rega Saturn is discontinued, but continues to get positive customer reviews on this site and others. It came to market in 2006. I am curious what might be the better value, Sony's XA5400ES or the Rega Saturn. The Sony has more features including the ability to play HDCD, SACD's. I am more interested in the best sound. For the record, the Sony 5400 represents later technology than the Rega

I am downsizing my system to two components besides the speakers: an integrated amp and CD player. So I want to get the best sound possible without spending $3000 for a new or even used player.
sunnyjim

Showing 1 response by metralla

metralla
945 posts
 
I would not worry about HDCD.

I don't know if the Sony will provide a significant improvement in sound quality over the Rega. All I know is that I've owned the 5400 for 3 years or more, and it's been reliable and glitch free.

I have a Sony 333ES and a Sony XA777ES, both decent SACD players, particularly the latter - and in my case, this unit was very much modified; but there is something special to the sound from the 5400, especially on CD where they seem to have done some magic.

Regards,
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