Modwright Ultimate Sony xa5400 sacd -Review


I would like to say I have waited several weeks to compare my Modwright Modded player compared to my brothers stock unit .Dan runs in each unit for 48 hours and retests all circuits before shipping .Let me tell you the modded unit is some 15 lbs+ heavier the Vacuum tube power supply is built like a tank and is at least 10 lbs The supplied power cord from the power supply to the cd player is from Acoustic Zen for starters not Belden like most .
I gave it 30 minutes then played several symphony cds and a little classic rock The sence of ease and timber were excellent and this is still not even close to the 400 hours needed for full breakin
the soundstage and front to back layering is not as wide as I would like it but still it is better than the stock Sony 5400 by a country mile my brother is a little more than surprised at the difference in sound quality ,and Dan said just leave running 24-7 for a solid week then The Modwright oil impregnated caps will start to shine , also voices are very natural with very good tone this is my initial impression on day one.I will get back in one week
or at 200 hours of play time to be exact. IMO for the $2k
I spent this is a no brainer for $3k total investment nothing I have even heard is even in the ball park compared for this price.
128x128audioman58
Hello to all This is the 200 hour mark on this Ultimate truth mod of the Sony 5400 sacd player ..The last time I wrote of my initial impressions I was very impressed for a 1st listen ,that has not changed just the machine itself has done through several changes this week.At the 125 hr
mark the player was sounding cloudy if you will. 24 hrs later at the 150 hr mark it started to op up the music is now starting to open up past the boundarys of the speakers
and the front to back layering of the instruments has a solid 20 % more depth .not much change for the next 2 days I am now at Sat 200 hrs and the detail is very good , today another change though it is a little tipped up in the high frequencies but the performance is still full of excellent detail, and excellent seperation between the instruments several people have commented that even their $8k turn table had no where the Bass articulation and slam my cdp does perhaps besides the superb parts quality with the Modwright oil caps and such the 15 lb power supply creates loads of dead quiet background and seperation I am now part of the performance ,and we are only at the 1/2 way point , next Sat will be at the point where the caps have stopped changing and and will start to refining the performance 500 hours is the magic mumber Next week 350 mark ,tune in BTW my freind has a Bryston dac run by a oppo as a transport even new My rig is so much more you are there sounding .
Audioman,
Is this your first Modwright product you've owned? They're pretty dang awesome aren't they? I had a 9000 es Signature which changed my thoughts about digital. I'm hoping to get a Modwright 9100 from Dan who says it will sound much better than a stock 5400--not as good as the mod you have, however. Heck, if it's much better the the 9000, I will probably need extra q-tips to clean up after the eargasm that will ensue. Keep letting the Goners know how it's progressing with further breakin. Now if I can get my analog section to its level or better, that will be nice.
In reference to Modwrights most advanced player and power supply the Sony 5400 incorporates both, also something to mention is that your standard $5k cd player has only less than a $5.00 master clock ,yes your read this correctly and jitter 30-50x as much as the $250 precision Audiocom-4
Masterclock that also has it's regulated enclosed regulation that is temperature controled for optimum operation ,Audiocom is the only Co. currently doing this .
This complements the huge 12lb seperate OTL Vacuum tube power supply for the highly sensitive analog section
It takes a long time to run in .I will be back on the weekend to give my observations on the 300 hr + breakin
on my Sony 5400.
My Modwright 5400 cdp now have over 300 hours on it and it took a solid 200 for it to start opening up it still has 200 more hours to be at it's best .So far the instrumental layering of instruments has improved a solid 15% deeper as well as the soundstage the unit sounds much more at ease than it did a week ago.the top end has gotton much smoother as well as the Bass getting better .Is it perfect no nothing is, but it is far better than most units I have heard and much more moneys and it still has a solid week to go and from what
have been told the refinement as well as inner detail will go to another level .I will tell as exactly as I hear it
stay tuned next weekend .