Sony SACD Player SCD-XA5400ES; YAY or NAY?

SACD was kept alive, albeit barely, by Classical Music.  I have a few hundred along with a few dozen Blu Rays, both with and without Audio.  Non Classical listeners don't have much reason to go after SACD playback.

   The 5400 in my collection has gone basically unplayed during the dozen or so years of its existence.  I had added an OPPO shortly after purchasing it and the DAC was superior, one of the first ESS implementations.The OPPO also played DVD-A (I bought every one available when Tower Records had its going out of business sale) and Blu Ray.  The Sony sounds like soft haze in comparison, although I guess I could plug it in and try it out again.I had moved the Sony to a second system, rarely played it there and then added an OPPO 203 to that system when OPPO announced it was going to stop making players, and the Sony has been on the bench ever since

The remote went missing years ago.  I should probably sell it off.  I've only sold a few components in my time as I find the ordeal of listing a component and dealing with buyers and shipping pretty tiresome.  And then there is the issue of no remote, the fact that it skips the first measure of play if and SACD is played thru HDMI (it doesn't do this if the analog outputs are used, or if a rebook is played through HDMI.  At the time I googled it and a few others were having the same issue).  Given those issues, not sure what I should ask for it.  Maybe I just donate it to Goodwill and take the tax deduction.

SACD/DSD ... CD/PCM

I only have about 25 Hybrid SACD’s out of 4,000 CD’s, and had no plans to buy any more unless used and inexpensive. Mine are Hybrids, so I always have the CD PCM layer and the SACD DSD layer to compare.

No one in the ’Better CD’ conversation mentioned SACD’s almost always being converted to PCM, I found out later. I read a hell of a lotta reviews, none mentioned it, until the one I wish I hadn’t read!

I realized I have never heard DSD without intermediate conversion to PCM, then conversion to Analog. After all this work, I ought to hear SACD/DSD no PCM conversion stage right?

Prior to that, my quest was done. That’s what the xa5400 is about for me.

Then, it appears that it does juice up CD’s x 8, so there is that potential difference to possible prefer.

elliottbnewcombjr

how are you liking the Sony XA-5400ES ?

Happy Listening!

After several false starts by FEDEX (driver shortages?), the Sony arrived yesterday morning. As it happens, I had a repaired Integra CDC-3.4 II and repaired Yamaha DVD-C961 hooked up ready to compare. Stacked em, moved the same cable direct to Cayin: same input unit to unit this time rather than using different inputs. Volume outputs needed a tweak doing it this way.

The Integra and Yamaha still sound the same to me, both much better than my prior player, both under $250, functionally prefer Integra (CDs only), Yamaha big clunky remote equals it and plays SACDs. 

........................................

Sony SCD-XA5400ES is a definite step up. I paid $999. ($1,120 taxed and delivered) for this very lightly used one and have no regrets. Actually low if you see what's out there, and this was in USA.

After being disappointed by the Oppos, I half expected to re-sell it, but it is definitely staying, I will sell ..... instead. 

I started with new music I had ordered, unfamiliar, listen on the Sony first, then, after a bit familiar with the music/voices, on the Yamaha and Integra, back to the Sony.

Couple of new to me SACDs

new to me cds

then into favorite and familiar CDs: Eurythmics; Blue Nile; Kate Wolf; Ani DiFranco; Sade; Mila Drumke; Casandra Wilson.

Both SACDs and CDs, each and every one, the Sony is the keeper.

Lastly, I ran it thru my McIntosh mx110z tube tuner/preamp's aux. Like the others, I prefer this to direct to the Cayin.

Chase unit is out, so it's Furman ON, warm up 20 mins, everything thru mx110z, to Cayin using it's remote volume.

..................................

Why prefer Sony xa5400 you ask? I need more time to find the words, refine in my mind what I am hearing differently and responding to. Giving the ears a break until this evening. 

If someone you let go regrettably used you as a job reference, and you get a call, you respond "I cannot say enough good things about ..."

I truly cannot say enough good things about this Sony SCD-xa5400es.

Very familiar, very revealing content, ALL CDs, all SACDs: ALL OBVIOUSLY, SURPRISINGLY BETTER. Not Preferred, BETTER!

Andreas Vollenweider’s White Winds; sounds of the Eurythmics Underground Train; Distinction of ’No More Tears’ duet by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer; Richard Burton and the Martian Death Rays in Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds; ah, there’s a second mandolin behind Kate Wolf’s guitar; the distinction of different string types of the 3 guitars on Friday Night in San Francisco; and finally, what SACD people who have been hearing that I never heard properly until now.

FUNDAMENTALS. I think there is a tighter, firmer, more solid, ... start to the fundamental of Each and Every Note. Improved overtones, volume and time decay all follow that BETTER start. I have never heard a CD sound so good anywhere.

The 3 guitars on Friday Night in San Francisco, my favorite music to refine my cartridge’s anti-skate. I am very very familiar, love this music. I could not imagine the added degree of genuine realism this player got out of a standard CD.

I am sooooo glad I kept going on the DSD/no pcm conversion search, the unexpected big win here is the redbook cd output from it’s 8x oversampling filter.

SACD. Among others I have a series of Oscar Peterson performances, ’exclusively for my friends’. my prior listening conclusion was ’lower noise floor’, eh, I’m not spending a lot more for that. OH holy crap, first one I tried, Mellow Mood SACD, just landed in the room.

You know how a visitor says, "sounds like they are right there" and you know your system, you know it’s great, but no, right there it is not. This seemed like Oscar was playing my Uncle Johnnie’s piano right there!

I can keep slobbering, or go listen. Bye!

EVERYONE: get thee an xa5400es!!!