What's the best Sony CD/SACD player?

OK, so what is an example of a proper decoding processor? And how many would perform better than the analog out of the 5400ES?

Also, if I have it right, the XA9000ES and XA777ES offer multi channel analog out, while the SCD777ES and 5400ES do not. It might be just me but I find the various Sony models with 777 in the name a bit confusing.

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.

After servicing by Sony Laredo the sound of my DVP-S9000ES is much improved -- since I got a PS3-80, I've used it only for stereo with video processing turned off. But the sound of my XA5400ES is superior. The 5400ES exhibits what might seem opposite ends of a dimension: The sound is much smoother than that of the DVP-S9000ES yet considerably more detailed. The XA5400ES also has much greater low frequency extension, yet the bass is if anything tighter. Depth of soundstage is superior.

Whereas with the DVP-S9000 ES I prefer using the DACs in my Proceed PDSD, with the XA5400ES I prefer using the analog XLR from the Sony to my PAV. I also have a 9100ES, but have for some reason always preferred the 9000. perhaps just because the 9000 is so handsome.

db

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