would the Sony SCD 5400 Ex make a good transport?

I've heard the sony in my system and a freinds. The speed and dynamic's of the 5400 can give the illusion of being edgy. There is a long break in on the sony so let it play 24/7 for a week or so. If it still doesn't smooth out for you, Then it's not ever going to be right for your listening taste.
It is a great cd player, but I went with the NAD C-565BEE and it sounds like there is a tube upgrade already in it. But it still has plenty of detail.
Hope this helps your journey.

I currently own a Sony 5400, and find it's sonics to be hard to beat in it's price range. I don't find it to be harsh sounding in my current system at all. I recently purchased a DAC that has been reviewed to be tops in it's price range as well ($1,200), and found the Sony's analog outs out-performed the DAC. As far as the 5400 being a good transport, I would not recommend it over other far more affordable players as a transport. I have tried the 5400 as a transport with two different DACs in my system, and did not find it to sound any better (or worse) than some other players/transports that cost FAR less than the 5400. There are far better transports to be had in the $1,000 range than the Sony, if you have found a DAC that out-performs the 5400.

I have the 5400 modified by Dan Wright at ModWright. I never heard the stock 5400, but can tell you my ModWright 5400 competes with my 20k vinyl rig and does not sound edgy or bright in the least. He has a new mod coming up that will allow you to run the 5400 as a DAC with a digital input. I can't imagine getting a better cd/sacd player for under 10k.

Podeschi I owned the Playback Designs 7 cd player that retails for 15,000.00. The Sony Modright 5400 easily beat the PD and is 5 times less costly.

Sorry called the PD 5 player.