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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!!!
wa6itd
prsmccarty
23 posts
 
My Tag Heuer tells me we've spent far too much time talking about watches.
I just bought a 5400 ES to replace my beloved XA7ES and although the build quality really pales in comparison with the XA7 (like comparing a can of Altoids to an iPhone), the 5400 sounds as good or better, in many respects, than the player it is replacing. I'm only on second day of break-in, but I'm thinking it's a keeper.
blackscorpio
1 posts
 
Hello.

I have Sony Xa9000ES for 5 years, and until now I was very happy..the only strange thing that I discover was that the sound from the analog outputs are worse than from the digital outputs.. I also open it, and took off the i-link cable, and still the sound from the digital outputs are still more real..much much better.

Anyone have XA5400ES and XA9000ES and can compare them, using the digital outputs on the XA9000ES?

I am buying XA5400ES anyway..but just to be sure.

Thanks,

Joao
prsmccarty
23 posts
 
Update after 100hrs of continuous play...HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.
Yeah, bass is great, midrange is neutral, instrument timbres seem very accurate, BUT... soundstage is narrow and shallow. Barely two-dimensional. Presentation is so forward that when listening to jazz I feel like I'm the drummer, and orchestral cymbal clashes fly out of the speakers like ninja throwing stars. Lacks weight when compared to my XA7ES, and dynamics seem to choke in the high frequencies. I'll be shocked if this player can transform enough to make me want to keep it. I stand by what I said earlier about improving on my old player in several key areas but when viewed as a whole, performance is lacking.
Already sold my XA7ES. I feel like an idiot tonight. Big MISTAKE.
sequence56
73 posts
 
The Sony 5400 needs some 4-500 hours to break in, as mine reveals.
prsmccarty
23 posts
 
Well, since I've already admitted to being an idiot, here's another update. My previous cd player had a captive power cable so I didn't have an extra cable lying around the house. I was forced to fire up the 5400 with the 3 cent power cable they packed in the box. I caught up with a friend last night who had an extra cable I could borrow and it remedied 90% of what I described in my previous post. Soundstage is still a little shallow but wider now, and dynamics issues have been fixed. Presentation is still a little forward but I'm not ducking throwing stars anymore and the soloists aren't sitting in my lap.
I am hopeful again and will give it another week before I freak out. Sony should be ashamed of themselves throwing that cable in the box. I know that no self-respecting audiophile intends to use that cable permanently but it ought to AT LEAST be usable! Maybe they could refrain from including the ridiculous patch cable and spend the extra penny on the power cord?
Sequence56 - Can you calm my anxieties with regards to the soundstage/presentation issues? What can I expect in another week or two?
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