Why is Sony Digital sound more like vinyl?

What I'm saying is that I hear something more musical going on with the better Sony stuff (SCD-1, 777ES, XA777ES and XA9000ES) than with the Burr Brown stuff and I wonder if anyone else may have some insight on the subject. I have and can afford pretty much anything available...the Sony stuff was purchased as an experiment in SACD! What shocked me after having had 3 Sony players over the last 4 years between the other front ends, is how much less Hi-Fi it sounded and how it didn't roll off the extremes or the acoustic space and air on recordings...they also have a knack for creating tube like "action" with instruments which shocked me!! I once replaced my SCD-1 with a levinson 37 and 360s combo because it had more of an initial pizazz factor...I wish I had it back now. By the way, all my comments are meaningless unless it is understood that a quality power cord is used with the Sony's...the stock power cords make the units sound like AM radios!!

Maybe you just hit a great synergistic point in your system. Good for you.....enjoy it!

what power cord are you using, the nordost valhalla?

Interesting, I just bought one used (XA777ES),and it arrived a few days ago. I find the redbook presentation laid back, yet clean in a good way. Orchestral tuttis expand with little muddiness. I sold a Marantz SA14 ver. 2 in order to buy a unit with multi-channel capability. The Marantz' output seems to be a little more powerful than the Sony and former's mid-bass a little more defined. I'm hoping that replacing the output caps in the Sony will open things up in that area? Anyone replace just the caps alone? How did it sound?

Well Dave, I have to disagree as well.

I have had two very well respected Sony ES (two channel) cd players. I will certainly agree that both are extremely well built (probably the best built, mass produced, cd players I have ever seen) and both have good sound. Sony certainly knows how to built a good transport, I will give them that.

However, that being said, neither one comes close to what my Resolution Audio Opus 21 can do. The Opus comes so much closer to analog than either Sony unit ever did. (Closer, but still not quite there though.) There is a life to the music that the Sony's never really had. Also, there is now air around the instruments that the Sony's could not provide.

To paraphrase the NRA slogan: You can have my Opus 21, when you pry it out of my cold dead fingers!