Sony SCD-XA5400ES-Best SACD for under $10,000

Well, I don't know much about Ipods, but if you're saying that more expensive players sound better than cheaper players of the same generation, I agree with you.

As far as quality the Sony 5400 has very good build quality just because the plant moved to Malaysia does not mean this quality went with it .While in Europe I seen a writeup that shows a state of the are Co. that are trained my Sonys best and have tight QUALITY CONTROL , very good internal components The dual R core transformers are make in Japan as well as the capacitors and the transport is only 2nd best behind Esoteric, the Burrbrown dacs and reciever chips are made in the U.S.A -aka Texas instruments.If this was still made in Japan where labor is 3x higher this unit would be over $4500 this is what Sonys
rep said which a is true of the labor costs ,also inside is very well layed out .This unit does take some 500 hours to fully runin myself and several others have logged hours at least 2 fell weeks 24-7 just for it to smooth out .

I will say one thing though I Heard the New Modwright Ultimate mod for the Sony 5400 while out west against a Esoteric 03-SE which is a very good unit the Sony was a much more musical unit ,you wil see I am sure some exceptinal reviews coming out on this .It was so good My unit is now at Modwrights getting transformed IMO one of the best deals in all of audio ! I will tell you exactly how it sounds once back in my system by mid July .

Audioman58, good point in your post. I have never run my CDPs 24X7. My question is, will this not have adverse affect on the Laser - like shortening it's life unusually be the constant light/heat it emits?

In response to the laser 3weeks is nothing myself and others have had even cheap cd players for years also please keep in mind the Sony 5400 cd-sacd player has 2 lasers for the sacd has it's own decoder and needs several hundred hours to run in , if you don;t have a sacd disc
then Buy one they sound great and you can run in a new unit with the sacd side first.
I have my first initial impressions available on my Modwright Ultimate mod for the Sony 5400 ,and even with only 75 hours on it , and 400 is needed for full breakin
it is very very natural sounding the music just flows out if the speakers ,sure it is somewhat closed in still and the fron to back layering is not quite there yet ,but the timber of a stringed instrument like a Cello or a drum head has great timber with outstanding seperation of instruments ,and being it is not even close to being runin that is saying a lot .I can say with conviction
any $10k unit will have a hard time following this player
just checkout how extensive this build is at Modwright , also the seperate Vacuum tube power supply probably weighs
10 lbs on it's own and the 6sn7 Vacuum tubes for the New analog section give it much more dimention and Make the stock unit sound broken.
Dan at Modwright hit this one out of the park !

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread but I'm looking to gather your opinions...After 3-4 months with my 5400ES, I can no longer tolerate,nor can I seem to do anything to eliminate the GLARE in the upper mids. The player scores PERFECTLY in virtually every other area but in my system (which I'll describe below) the upper mid glare on things like the upper range of piano is really irritating. Horns are more spit than bell, snares are more spring than skin, and stringed instruments are more bow than body. (and did I mention that David Russell now sounds like his fingernails need trimming?) I can minimize this artifact by swapping power cables but then I'm also altering other characteristics when I do. Interconnects, I've tried every pair in the house, same with speaker cables, and I've also tried two pairs of speakers.
The way I see it, my choices are: Spend a couple thousand dollars on various power cables and hope I get lucky (the unit responds to pc swaps pretty dramatically), have the unit modified (not something I would normally consider and I would prefer not to have any tubes added to my system), or replace the player. Since I am presently of "limited means" the most likely replacement would be an Arcam CD37 since I have a dealer friend who gives me great deals and because I've spent $300 on SACD's since I got the Sony.
Opinions?? (I know, I'm opening up Pandora's box here)
My system is Marsh Sound Design P2000/A200S, HT Truth Link and Pro-11 cables, and either one of two pairs of ProAc speakers, Response 2's or Tablette 50 Sigs ( I prefer to use the Tabs since the listening space is small and I realize that they are adding to the problem as they are a bit brighter than the R2's. I eventually plan on selling both pairs and grabbing the Response D1's)
Sidebar: The 5400ES replaced an XA7ES which never sounded harsh or offensive. I'm currently listening to an Arcam CD17 I borrowed from my friend which sounds nice and relaxed but lacks the detail retrieval and dynamic range of the Sony.Certainly no glare on the CD17 but the timbrel accuracy of the Sony isn't there either. Does anyone know of a mod which will just address the glare issue on the Sony without adding a pair of tubes sticking up through the top of the chassis?
Before you tube guys start railing on me, I've owned complete ARC and C-J tube systems in my life,and I'm an electric guitar player of 40+ years. "I got nuthin' against tubes!" Just want a SS stereo this time around.