On maturer reflection: it's clear that there's some compression going on in the Sony recording. This is a bad thing and a good thing. I initially warmed to it, because I was able to set one volume at the opening of the first movement, and didn't have to fiddle with the remote again.
On the other hand, it certainly takes away from some of the more massive dynamic contrasts. The problem is that with other recordings I often find myself riding the volume on the remote control, effectively providing my own spur-of-the-moment compression. When then loudest fff are set not to break the speakers, the pp passages aren't as audible as I'd like. Hmmm.