What's the best Sony CD/SACD player?


Hi all, there's been a bunch of talk lately about Sony's latest 5400ES SACD player. I have a 9100ES DVD player I use for both video and audio. What are peoples' opinions on the best new or used Sony for CD/SACD sources?

Specifically, what about the new 5400ES, the XA-9000ES, the 777ES, vs my 9100ES? They all seem available for around $1000.00.

What else would people suggest in that price range for 90% RBCD and 10% SACD? The rest of my system is Linn. I'm also thinking about a used Linn Unidisk SC.

Thanks!
bmdduck

Showing 3 responses by audioman58

The 5400 is a clear winner I have 1,000s of hours voicing sysytems and especially with modificationsand capacitors.
The 5400 platform once runin which takes some 500 hours to fully run in I played mine 4 weeks straight and have heard subltle differences after 3 weeks a very natural warm tone with excellent inner detail and very taught Bass.
I am going after the max potential ,for 1 music direct sell 1 ampslow blow Hifituning fuses ,a clear improvement ,a solid digital power cord and quality cables also 3 damping sheets buy 3 for the transport and all over the top cover and sides , .I al replacing all the stock electrolytic capacitors with the Nichicon fineGold series
also the Best clock and regulator board out there by far the Terra Firma clock modificationwhich is a revelation .
The 5400 have a excellent platform to build on as several Modding companys are douing this ,the dual R core transformers are excellent as well as the Burr Brown 1796 dac ,the opamps are also BB.for under $2k in Modds this unit will go toe to toe with ANY player in the $10k range with No problem. I heard one 2 weeks ago ,I brought my player as a direct comparison,it was destroyed compared to.
The word High quality Analog and natural are the only ways I can describe the sound in a brief term well worth the expense IMO.
I Must admit when I am wrong, While out west on business I had the opportunity to hear Dan Modwrights new modification upgrades for the Sony 5400 sacd player.
As good as the Terra firma clock was ,the Modwrights had a much more
3 dimentional presentation ,using the 6sn7 Vacuum tube for the analog section was a excellent choice a warm very
involving sound with tons of layering around the instruments I am sure the seperate power supply also had lots to do with the solid tight Bass which was also Vacuum tube.
Dan said he is using the latest Audiocom 4 superclock
from the U.K and custom building his own regulation for the Masterclock.I gave him the deposit and have sent my unit for the superb upgrade it is the best I have heard
to date for under $10k.
Check out just how extensive Modwrights total rebuild of the Sony 5400 is,a steal for the amount of musical enjoyment you get itsound better than anything at 5x this ,and this is no exageration.
http://www.modwright.com/modifications/15