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thanks! for sharing. PM sent. Hope you are well and enjoying good music today. Happy Listening!
thanks! for sharing. PM sent. Hope you are well and enjoying good music today. Happy Listening!
Sony SCD-XA5400ES-Best SACD for under $10,000
This Sony player supplanted my Ayre C5-XE 3, which I still have, months ago. I paid $6000 for the Ayre after determining that it was the best-sounding unit for under $10,000. The Sony blows it away!!!
A unit costing $1500 besting all others under $10,000? That is exactly what it does!
For reference, I am using Audio Research electronics and Vandersteen speakers and subwoofers (about $30,000); a similar system has repeatedly been lauded as "best of show" at CES, so we are NOT talking second-rate stuff here.
This Sony is the only SACD/Cd player I have EVER heard that puts a classical piano live in my living room; nothing I ever had before even comes close.
This unit is a small miracle. I would have gladly paid $8000 for it, but if they want to give the thing away for $1500, who am I to argue?
This unit is going to send the engineers at Audio Research, Luxman, Esoteric, and Ayre back to the drawing board; their current units at 4 to 5 times the price are not even close. Some engineer at Sony is a freaking genius!!!
A unit costing $1500 besting all others under $10,000? That is exactly what it does!
For reference, I am using Audio Research electronics and Vandersteen speakers and subwoofers (about $30,000); a similar system has repeatedly been lauded as "best of show" at CES, so we are NOT talking second-rate stuff here.
This Sony is the only SACD/Cd player I have EVER heard that puts a classical piano live in my living room; nothing I ever had before even comes close.
This unit is a small miracle. I would have gladly paid $8000 for it, but if they want to give the thing away for $1500, who am I to argue?
This unit is going to send the engineers at Audio Research, Luxman, Esoteric, and Ayre back to the drawing board; their current units at 4 to 5 times the price are not even close. Some engineer at Sony is a freaking genius!!!
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Not an issue with the units I’ve owned, but I did find a replacement spinner that has made me very happy since! I purchased a Yamaha CD-S2100 and have found it to be exceptional and reliable. It does have a quite robust transport mechanism which is definitely light years beyond the Sony. For $2999 it is a heavyweight player with accurate tonality and clean extension with terrific soundstaging. FWIW |
Old thread but I listened to my Modwright 5400 this weekend. Compared to my Spiral Groove + Goldfinger Statement / AMG v12 + Benz LP-S into ARC Ref 2se....the Modwright held its own. Not as much detail as the Chord Hugo or the Goldfinger Statement, but very musical -- a twin sound sibling to the AMG v12 table with Benz LP-S cartridge. A hint of warmth, and very organic natural harmonics. The Modwright is still my favorite disc spinner. |
Current audiogon ad by modwright stating it is their best digital offering. For price of a good interconnect they do a mod that is out of this workd good! ModWright Sony XA-5400ES Truth Mods Our best digital offering, period! Also the best and last CD/SACD player that Sony will produce! THIS AD IS FOR A MODIFICATION ONLY. CUSTOMER MUST SUPPLY SONY XA-5400ES PLAYER. 120V OR 220V PLAYERS MAY BOTH BE MODIFIED. Price: $1995 (modification only). Customer Feedback: "Big, open, spacious soundstage. Exceptional layering front to back with palpable images(I mean... |
Dan at Modwright had his exceptional tech look into an actual unit today. Inside the 5400 transport there are two T800mal fuses. So those are in fact slow blow. Also, the power supply to the modwright 5400 unit has a mismarking on the back. It is not a 1amp fuse, per Dan the Sony 5400 Modwright power supply takes a 3 amp slow blow fuse, which is what I placed in there. This is why I love buying American hi-fi brands. The actual owners are responsive and hands on. |
Rhyno, I just put one of the new Audio Magic Liquid Air Fuses in my PS for the MW 5400 about 2 weeks ago. It did not make a huge difference over the stock fuse in my estimation. It seemed to impart a bit of an improvement in dynamics, but did not make a huge difference. I got more bang out of replacing the stock fuses in my Cary 500 MB amps and in my Magnepan 3.7's than I did on the power supply for the ModWright. I have yet to replace the stock fuses in the player, but I do plan on doing that at some point. |
I also asked Dan about this a while ago. He offered guidance on the fuse for the power supply but did not know the proper fuse value for the player per se. I also have not yet removed the cover to see for myself, but I will eventually want to replace the fuses with the new audio magic liquid air fuses. Good of Dan to have someone look into this. It seems unusual for a front end unit to use slow-blow fuses. |
Podeschi, Have you removed the existing fuse on the Modwright? If it has a F on the label it is a fast-blow fuse, if it has a T or S on it is a slow-blow. It may also be imprinted on the fuse housing. If it doesn't have a marking, and the fuse filament within is a thin wire it is a fast-blow fuse. If you see a thick wire that may have a small spring on one end it is a slow-blow fuse. |
I knew I was missing something. No doubt the the Supreme fuse makes a difference. I find that they sound better with the arrows in the player pointing toward the front of the player and the arrow pointing toward the back of the power supply. They are worth the cost and sound very open, organic with improved extension and mid-bass. |
Blueskiespbd I also like using the super black hole with my Sony 5400. I would highly recommend putting the HiFi Tuning supreme fuses in your Sony... and preamp for that matter. I first put 2 0.8 amp slow blow small fuses in the Sony ( big improvement ) and after 4 weeks decided to get one for my int. amp now after another 5 weeks I cannot believe how wonderful even a regular CD sounds like. These fuses do need at least 80 hours of play-time to breakin. Note, I also put Xtreme cables quicksilver gold on the ends of the fuses and this also is said take 3 weeks to break in at about 80% level.I have no doubt that the quicksilver gold is enhancing the fuses effect. I had also put an Audio Prism Ground Control ( RCA) on the Sony and it was very worthwhile teak, but not on the order of improvement as the fuses and at higher cost. |
"Did your conclusion come from comparison or are you just tired of hearing about it?" First of all, this player retailed for $1,500 and the OP asked if it was the best player under $10,000!! Really?? What does that say about all the high end stuff between those price points? And it seems as if everyone who bought the Sony, immediately had it modded! If it's such a great player, why the modifications? No, I am not tired of hearing about it. Everyone has a right to post as they see fit. When the Sony hype was at it's peak, I was in the market for a SACD player. The Sony was almost impossible to find new, so I got the Onkyo C-S5VL instead for $369. I have no regrets, but if I could have found a 5400 from Sony or another online dealer at that time, I would have bought it. I'm glad I didn't find one. You said you heard a subtle difference when you got the 5400, I cannot say I hear the differences between CD players. And they do seem to have a bad habit of just failing. My Marantz failed after 8 years, paid 300 for it. If I had paid thousands, I would be one unhappy camper. If I spend big monmey on anything, it will be speakers. I just don't think there is, nor do I hear, a big differenc between the other electronic stuff. So to answer your question, If I had a 5400, I would be happy with it, and with my electronics, and start saving for speakers! I realize there are people who possess much better hearing than I do. I currently have a Marantz SA 8001 and the Onkyo C-S5VL and a Marantz CD 5004. Don't ask. BTW, you can remember what I said from a year ago? I will have to start being more careful. :) |
Did your conclusion come from comparison or are you just tired of hearing about it? I am asking this because I think you made a similar comment when I was shopping for a cd player last year. I gotta say the 5400 made a sutle difference for me... but my preamp made a HUGE difference. So based on your strong opinion...if you had a 5400, would you upgrade it or would the $ be spent on a different player? |
Fc911c email me at [email protected] |
Yep. I was...well I am shocked at the difference the Thor ta1000 linestage made in my system. I bought the 5400 with intentions of having the Modwright upgrades done in the future. My next step is to try some different tubes and see where that gets me. Gotta say I am enjoying music again more than obsessing over the sound. :) |
Hi Mcpherson Cd is connected to an Emotiva Usp-1, to the linkwitz EQ/XO for the Orions speakers and from the eq/xo to two Outlaw 7125 amps. One amp driving each speaker using four of the seven channels. VPI Scoutmaster II TT w/ Dyna DV20X2, my pc feeding a small home made Bantam dac which sounds fantastic. Very weird I think it cost about $70.00 in parts and it sounds as good if not better than the sony. Cables used are Blue Jeans, AA Black Mamba II. I know what you are saying I have changed one component in the chain and it sounded completely differant. |
Fc The bass in my system became very bloated,bland,muddy...cant think of any other words; when I upgraded to the 5400 from an old multidisc changer that I was using "digital out" Anyway I recently replaced a receiver with a good preamp and the whole sound of system changed including the bass. More defined and punch.. I think it is tough sometimes to attribute sound to a particular component unless you are talking about A/B comparison. What is the rest of your system? |
Guys, Had my MW 5400 modded with Bybee Musicrails and Audio Magic Gen ZX and the sound is "UNBELIEVABLE"! You can litterly walk into the soundstage and touch the performers, you get the musicians are in your room type of feeling. More to follow but if you don't have this upgrade I recommend you consider this. I rate this upgrade over any tweaks or component changes I have ever conducted. You will be blown away! |
Anybody here compared the Modwright Sony to the VSE Sony? Comments? Is it simply tubes vs no tubes? I'm considering the VSE mod on a Yamaha CD-S2000 to go along w/my Modwright Transporter. Just looking for a more neutral source, single box, front end to 'flavor' my system. Both mods cost the same, so I was wondering what the net effect was of each & it seems that the Sony is the player w/the most chance of being heard in each configuration. Thanx. |
Mitch2...Hi-rez streaming will never surpass the best of what SACD has to offer. The disadvantage of DS devices is that you do not have the variable choice of the best world class SACD players that sell for over $ 30K that will give you the very warm, rich, smooth, analog character. I have listen to DS from online source's, too cold for my taste even though the sound is very dynamic, very low noise and very clean. Also, the new SHM-SACD single layer disc format has taken SACD to a whole new performance level which will be extremely hard to beat by any other format including DS streaming. Two of the finest sounding SACD players on the market that will smoke DS is the Accuphase DP-700 and the Luxman D-08. Play SHM single layer disc on these players and you will forget about DS. |
