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Sony SACD Player SCD-XA5400ES; YAY or NAY?

Happy New Year All,

Sony SACD Player SCD-XA5400ES; YAY or NAY? (around $1,000. usd used)

6 dacs, 3 left/3 right

sends SACD’s DSD out RCA jacks without conversion to PCM.

Upscales CD’s 8x to SACD #s, then out RCA

spinner traverses over fixed dual laser: one cd, one sacd

2010 model: typically 10-12 years old, I see laser assemblies for sale, indicates

a. people want to keep em going.

b. laser problematic

thanks for advice as always,

Elliott

 

 

elliottbnewcombjr
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jallan
312 posts
 

I’ve got one and I can attest that this is a hefty, well-built piece of gear. The DAC in it is circa 2000’s; I replaced a California Audio Labs Delta/Alpha set with it and it was definitely an improvement in detail but not in musicality. But when I got my Schiit Yggdrasil, the difference was astounding. I listened to a few SACD’s for comparison with streamed versions, and put the unit away in my basement as a backup. The Yggdrasil was far, far superior in all respects to the dac in the Sony, even with SACD recordings compared to the 44/16 versions.

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,733 posts
 

mountainsong

 

Nice! collection of CD/SACD players. Besides the SACD playback capibilty, can you talk about the sonic difference(s) between the Luxman D10x and D03x ?

 

Happy Listening!

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,733 posts
 

2nd-

 

No streaming replaces a CD/SACD.

 

Happy Listening!

blackbag20
468 posts
 

I'm glad you mentioned that jafant ... streaming is on ascendancy but has not eclipsed Sony's ability to do shiny disks!!  Or many others for that matter .... 

bigshutterbug
383 posts
 

The 5400 is a fantastic player all around. They are no more notorious for laser problems than other CD players. They also do not  “upscale" your CD's to SACD, as the member soix mentioned. 

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