Sony SCD-C 555ES

Howie - thanks, i'll take this into consideration and try what you suggest. my system and room, however, have never been anything but "un-bright" - the only times i've experienced brightness at all was when interconnects or speaker wire was still burning in. what i'm getting with the 555es is very similar - and a flat sound stage.
as for the source material - so far my selections have been, i think, fairly decent. james taylor's "hourglass" (noy hybrid), allison krauss and norah jones. each of these artists has released beautifully produced redbook counterparts that throw a wide and deep soundstage with my old cal audio CL-10.
i'm going to see if my patience can outlast this break in period. and i will experiment with other interconnects.

Danbern3...

you indicated that you had checked your interconnects and that your system is strictly 2 channel. However, as Rar1 pointed out, you ALSO must reconfigure your player. Simply using the 2 channel outputs does not mean the player is reading the 2 channel SACD layer.

The final insult !! - i just did an a/b with my harman kardon RECORDER !! and the HK won by a mile. i am now certain that the 555 needs breaking in.
you know, one thing bothers me ........... we pay exorbitant amounts of money for that simple pleasure of approaching realism in recorded sound .......... but we are required to wait with saintly patience for the breaking in of new equipment. i can't speak for others, but the more i pay the quicker my patience wears thin. should the manufacturer or can the manufacturer shorten or eliminate this burn in period ??

Dan-Give it some time and let us know the outcome.

all is well. the main problem was something that happened once before, awhile ago. there's a little toggle on the back of my amp which, when in the up position, turns my amp mono. i quickly put it in the down position. still not quite there - the clincher was "rarl"'s advice regarding sacd multi/2ch choices on the ams knob.
track #4 on "new favorite" by allison krauss really did me in.
thanks to all and don't forget the little toggles. dan