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


This Sony player supplanted my Ayre C5-XE 3, which I still have, months ago. I paid $6000 for the Ayre after determining that it was the best-sounding unit for under $10,000. The Sony blows it away!!!
A unit costing $1500 besting all others under $10,000? That is exactly what it does!
For reference, I am using Audio Research electronics and Vandersteen speakers and subwoofers (about $30,000); a similar system has repeatedly been lauded as "best of show" at CES, so we are NOT talking second-rate stuff here.
This Sony is the only SACD/Cd player I have EVER heard that puts a classical piano live in my living room; nothing I ever had before even comes close.
This unit is a small miracle. I would have gladly paid $8000 for it, but if they want to give the thing away for $1500, who am I to argue?
This unit is going to send the engineers at Audio Research, Luxman, Esoteric, and Ayre back to the drawing board; their current units at 4 to 5 times the price are not even close. Some engineer at Sony is a freaking genius!!!
wa6itd
No I am using a Belden 14 gauge cord, but I am using the same cord on the Modright as well.
It is time to update my digital (currently using an old faithful-heavily modded Pioneer Elite PD-65) with Michael Wolff carbon source power cord.

I am really considering the Sony unit, but would like to know if there are upgrades/mods available that are not an *additional* $2,000 - like the modwright?

With as much positive ink and as many pleased consumers as there are with the Sony unit, there seems to be very little info on less expensive upgrades. Maybe I'm just not in the [d-i-y community] know or I'm not looking in the [w]right place :-)

Can anyone suggest worthwhile upgrades/mods (and modders) in the $500 range?
I think the most common suggestion is upgrading the power cord. I have been a skeptic of this as an upgrade, but I added a cord recommended by my audiophile friends, a cord that looks more like a garden hose than a power cord. It may have made a difference, but not the kind of difference those who rave about such things would suggest. OTOH, changing to the XA5400ES from a DVP-S900ES made a big difference.

db
I too am using a 14 gauge Belden on the MW and it sounds fantastic. I've always heard the benefits of upgrading interconnects and speaker cables but have never been impressed by power cords, and I've tried many.

Ain't no way a power cord is gonna cure what's wrong with the Playback Design. Maybe a couple hundred more hours of break-in but to suggest that swapping a power cord will somehow magically make the necessary sonic improvements strikes me as naive.

Like Dbphd, I see so many posts suggesting a power cord change to correct bad sound, it's laughable. Buy a component that sounds good in the first place and you won't have to worry about Anaconda sized power cords!