Review: Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD Player

It has a digital output but not for SACD, of course.

Kal

Kal, what do you think of the Sony after having spent some time with it? I still love mine!

how would you feel about audio (german mag) rated this sony xa5400-es in (lower) high end class this cdp? (sony xa5400pes rbcd 100 sacd 105; whereas e.g. in reference class: marantz sa15s1 rbcd 105 sacd 115; marantz sa11s1 115/125; mark levinson no.390s rbcd 125)

They are all great players. The Sony is certainly the value leader for sure. More important is the system they are placed into and how they are used. I like the Sony for it's overall take on things...everything balanced with enough detail and warmth to keep me listening:O)

I just ordered one of these to hold me over till I get either an emmlabs or berkeley.Hey, at 1200 bucks it isn't much of a risk. If anyone is interested I can post my observations of the player after a few weeks.

Hey Budt, I'd be interested in your impressions after you break her in...if it's the music your interested in then I think the Sony will make you happy:O)

Budt,

Please post your impressions. I am on the fence on purchasing the 5400. It would largely replace a Denon 3910. I would keep the 3910 in the system because I have a few DVD-A discs.

Michael

XA5400ES is an excellent player best value on the market it sounds best via HDMI into Sony DA6400ES/5400ES receivers via HDMI with HATS enabled for lowest published jitter and bi-amp the receiver for sound equal to High End separates.Thers is no sibilance or problem with HF response as some posters have said .

Disbeliever is right...no problems with sibilance or high frequencies whatsoever. In fact, the high frequency reproduction of the XA5400ES is one of it's outstanding features...pure, grain free and harmonicaly full of life with zero glare or digititus:O)

Well, just a quick note.I connected this player in my system consisting of B&W 802D,bryston 4b sst and bryston BP26. I only tried it connected via balanced outs..My most recent players have been MF A5, Simaudio moon eclipse, bryston bcd-1 and esoteric XO-3se. I've only had this player a few day so it is not burned in yet. WHat I can tell you is that at a msrp of $1500 this thing is sick.The rendition of harmonics and their layering is better than any player I have heard to date but I haven't heard that many. It is very holographic but doesn't possess the pinpoint imaging of some others.However the imaging is more believable( people who hear live music know what I am talking about).
Anyways I can't believe it was possible to have this kind of sound for $1500.This thing is an absolute steal.

Budt, several hundred hours of play time will bring a fuller, more palpable and layered sound.

I was thinking of upgrading to a Raysonic to serve as the most recent last cdp I will ever buy but after reading this, I will give this a try.

How long a delay is there between inserting the disc and hearing music?

Like 5 seconds unless switching from RB to SACD which is a few more seconds, but nothing remotely like the SCD-1 was.

What about the headphone output on this thing? How good is it? I have Sennheiser 800 and am looking for a cd player with a great headphone abilities...

I don't have great phones but it sounds sweet to me!

Dave_b! very interesting post about the 5400 Sony,you make me very courious.Please tell me if you heare/compare the sound of 5400 with a Accuphase player made after 2000,(year),and what you can say.And ..you try Pc cable from Nordost on this 5400?

No and no, but the Accuphase stuff is known for musicality. Nordost is my least favorite cable company based on past experience.

Thanks Dave_b for your answer! I use now a cd player from Accuphase,(and I am very happy with them),and in the near future I will buy also a Sony 5400,(when I have monney)!

Just recieved a pair of MIT M1.3 Prolines from Joe Abrams at Equus Audio. They are terrific...better than the old Oracle V2.2's I owned last year. Music simply sounds more authentic and accurately voiced.

I bought one through crutchfield and I am on the fence. I give it an 8/10. It's a good deal for the price, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Compared to my recently deceased Audio Research CD-2, the bass is less extended, has a hollow characteristic, and doesn't image as well, the upper bass frequencies are bit exaggerated/punchy, the upper mids/highs have a bit of grain, and the sound stage isn't as wide or deep. The CD-2 is much more extended, refined, detailed, linear, and musical.

The deal breaker for me is that using the sony remote turns the volume down and/or mutes my preamp. What a pain in the arse! I'm constantly readjusting the volume every time I switch tracks via the sony remote.

My system:
-ARC LS22R
-ARC 100.2
-ProAc Response 1.5
-Audio Magic Clairvoyant XLR interconnects
-Harmonic Tech Truth Link ICs
-Audio Magic Sorcerer speaker cables
-Harmonic Tech AC10 PC

Clayx, have you put 400+hrs on the unit yet? The Sony is very revealing of cabling and power issues as well. I use a Transparent PLMM into an MIT Super 20 Duplex with MIT M1.3 Prolines feeding my Krell. AC noise into the Sony and backwash from the Sony back into the mains is addressed by my PC and Duplex conditioner. The Sony itself has no inherent distortion, grundge nor does it reduce soundstaging or limit bass extension. It does take a long time to burn in however.

Dave, thanks for your input. I do not have 400 hours on yet, so there could be continued change in sonics. From a physics perspective, I have a hard time believing in a significant change in sound over time. However, I will keep an open mind.

I am using balanced Audio Magic Clairvoyant ICs between my sony and Audio Research pre-amp. They are smooth, extended, with deep bass and excellent 3-dimensionality. My PC into the sony is Harmonic Tech AC10 that is plugged into a PS Audio UPC-200. I will play around with different cords and ICs.

Any ideas for fixes for the sony remote turning down the volume on my ARC preamp?

Dave great review,I'm searching for a cdp, and saw this one on yahoo(in Taiwan), as u mentioned that u had krell known for excellent bass performance, how do you rate sony 5400's bass?
I have owned two weak bass cdp so far, now i'm looking at Bryston bcd-1(with strong bass), it's not that i want bass emphasis, my spendor are very musical sounding speakers, but bass shy with rock and pop music, i need an all rounder(highly dynamic)to balance the rest of my system. I have never owned sony apart from their walkman, so please educate me on this aspect.
cheers

The Sony has excellent bass response and dynamic contrast, which will ultimately be determined by what power cord and IC's you use. The Krell was a tad more forcefull, but didn't have quite the dynamic shadings.

Hi,

I also bought this Sony, which was my first purchase of any audio component in the last 15 years or so.
Prior to the Sony, which I bought without listening, I heard a lot of other players, mostly in unfamiliar dealer systems.
Although some of them were quite good, including Audio Research cd8, with an excellent staging, lovely dynamics and good tonality, albeit a little dark-sounding, more of the mega-dollar players, up to 25k, were not that convincing at all, particular for the amount of money, so I was very pleased to read the laudatory revieuw of Dave_B (thank you Dave) and others of a player in the 1500 dollar area, which beats or is equal to other players costing 6 or more times than the Sony 5400, according to some of the revieuwers.
And yes, just cold out of the box, the Sony was already very good, although too harsh in the heights, without too much focus and lacking openness. After 200 hours or so burning in, the sound is already clearly improving on all parameters, specially neutrality, openness, timbre and focus, in a way, that I barely can't stop listening to my familiar cd's (mostly Redbook at this moment). Just passing the 316 hour mark the improvement is still going on and I expect to reach the 400 hour mark in a few days.
Better than this player is unanswerable possible, but at a cost!

Next upgrade will be the stock powercord. Some candidates for replacement are Lessloss dfpc Signature, Shunyata Python CX or King Cobra CX or Acoustic Zen Absolute.
And yes, I read about Dave_B's Transparent powerlink MM.
Any thoughts about these in combination with Sony 5400 are welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Sequence56

I am using the Sony with XLO Signature 3 Interconnects, and XLO ref power cord. Also burned in with the XLO CD. The player has about 500 hours of play. What a great player! I have previously used Meridian G98, Krell 25SC, and other less expensive players, but I find the Sony the most coherent of the players I have heard. It doesn't have as much detail and slam as the Krell (which was then Krell's top player and much much pricier), but I prefer it to the Krell because of the coherence and musicality. In my view, it beats the Meridian G98 as a CD player hands down.

...I was wondering if the tray design and mechanism like the one found on the scd 1 and x777 makes these old cd players sound better in any way or now is more about the d/a and processors?
Thank you

I haven't heard this particular Sony, but I have two thoughts to add: ONE, ModWright really loves this player and calls it the best SACD player he has modded yet. Unlike the Sony 9100ES, which is DVD / SACD, the circuitry in the 5400 is relatively simple (being audio only) and consequently lends itself to better sound quality. (I own the ModWright / Sony 9100ES Platinum Signature Truth mod and will use it until it's dead. By the way, the chassis for the two players is virtually identical, and is one Sony has been "re-stuffing" for some time now.) ModWright is the way to go for ultimate upgrades, IMO.

My SECOND thought is this: As good as Sony's best SACD machines are (modded or not), they all possess one annoying feature: VERY SLOW disc read times...sometimes a minute or more on certain discs! There are other fine players out there which use an entirely different transport--the Philips CD Pro 12 series, which is VERY FAST. Musical fidelity, Jolida, and Shanling are a few names that come to mind, if memory serves. And don't forget the Oppo SE, which plays EVERYTHING and is nearly in the same league as the new Sony for considerably less money...and its operation is LIGHTNING QUICK, from what I understand. (ModWright upgrades this player as well.) When I put a disc in the drawer of my Sony, I think about things like the preparation time for a good meal, which helps tame my frustration considerably... ;)

The 5400 reads CDs and SACDs very quickly. I have not measure it, but I estimate 5-10 seconds. No complaints at all.

Regards,

Has any one compared the RB portion to well reviewed DACs such as the Benchmark DAC1 Pre, or Bel Canto Dac3?

one way to make the very good Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD Player
even better is the Very extensive mod Modwright has just completed Dan says it is his best sounding mod to date for cd and for under $3500 total investment competes with units up to $10k that is a statement.

I have compared the Sony 5400 forget the Benchmark it is not as musical -natural sounding , the Belcanto dac-3 may be a little better but remember for the same money plus a transport and cable for $2k Modwright will be modding
my unit soon and from what the beta testers have said and Dan it goes way out Vaccum tube ,Lundahl transformers
Burson master clock and a bunch of other stuff
apples to apples The Sony will compete with the big names
for for less moneys .

Check out the new Mapleshade clearview excalibur plus XLR IC's...pure analog sound coming out of my Sony XA5400ES. It's not likely I'll be doing any upgrades or Mod's to the Sony now...the excaliburs have transformed my system!! Talked with Allen Wright about my findings and he confirmed that what I was hearing was the result of what he considers to be the best approach to cabling...thin ribbons:O) Helps with DDR or Downward Dynamic Range, that being the ease with which one can discern subtle sonic events in the midst of acoustic Tsunami's. 30 days no hassle return!!

04-16-10: Audioman58 writes:

Dan says it is his best sounding mod to date for cd

I'm sure he says that.

and for under $3500 total investment competes with units up to $10k that is a statement.

Are you saying that? What units have you compared?

Dave_b - Allen's been saying that for years. It's in his "Super Cables Cookbook" - they can be a bit fragile at the connector. Happy you have found something you like, but there must be more potential in your system.

Regards,

The Sony is such a great platform to build on the worlds best commercial bit clocks and power regulation is beong done .
The clocks are the Terrafirma Lite clock. and the external version Terrafirma Uber clock .This by far has made much more of a difference than all the cap and cheap word clocks mods combined and was developed specifically for the Sony 5400.
My technician did a fantastic job and even offers over $200
off to help with the economic times for the top model ,no other tech was willing to help me out and this unit is Very close to
Analog and in some respects betters it .I am still in disbelief Finally I can listen in peace sacd or red book digital.

I have also upgraded the XA5400ES and you can find details here:
http://digilander.libero.it/agostino.manzato/audio/DIY/sony_xa5400_mod/sony_xa5400_mod.html
Now highs are much more open and natural than before.
Tino

How to make the Sony 5400 Much better ,
Start with taking out the garbade steel fuses the electrical resistance is 10x more than Silver the Hifi tuning fuses although expensive make a improvement across the board buy the 1a slow blow fuses x2, also Music direct sells a large sorbathane sheet to damp the transport ,also they carry 3m damping sheets for the chasis buy 2-3 1 under the hood ,and a piece for each side , then 2 pieces for the sides of the transport and anywhere metal is exposed ,also think about some good feet .I have the audio prisms that support the unit
at least a 5% improvement for $200 and change well worth it just for the inner detail alone , then when bucks are right have it modded the Terra firma clocks are the Best bar none , and Dan Modwright also has a vacuum tube mod to complement that then you have a $10+ player !!

Thank you Tino_miky. Fascinating.

Regards,

How can adding distortion (tubes) improve the sound ?

Many websites mention Sony's STR-DA5500ES as the ideal matching equipment to go with the SCD-XA5400ES. Is this a good idea at all for an audiophile? Would there be a significant loss by not using this player with an equipment that has H.A.T.S. technology?

Thanks

YES the SONY XA5400ES must be used with a matching receiver incorporating H.A.T.S. technology & HDMI for absolute best results,for both RB CD & SACD
DA6400ES in US & UK & 5400ES in UK . This gives the lowest tested published jitter.

Disbeliever, thanks for the input. Any other opinions about this? Dave_b said a while ago that "Evaluations done using recievers and conventional connections will not hint at what it is capable of doing". Does that include the Sony STR-DA5500ES?

BTW I was told by my local Sony dealer that the STR-DA5500ES is discontinued, and that the STR-DA5300ES is available instead. Any ideas about the difference between these two?

Dave B is not correct especially if you are into MCH SACD furthermore the Sony DA6400ES/5400ES have a D.L.L program that improves the sound of early RB CD's, the Sony's have an excellent phono stage stage & FM tuner used bi-amped IMO the sound is as good as it gets with speakers that are not too difficult to drive.

To Disbeliever Vaccum tubes are not just about distortion that is not correct ,for example the most sensitive medical equipment in the world and medically use Vacuum tubes uncluding your CAT scan machines why is this ?
Vacuum tubes are very stable at Voltage regulation ,
where solid state is good at currect since a cd player is very low voltage a seperate power supply is an idea filter buffer an my being totally seperate it isolates the diferent stages from any noise interaction ,and for the input stage the vacuum, tubes also help to filter the filter capacitors as well as providing a much more dimentional presentation .This is why some of the very best preamplifiers in the world are Vacuum tube .

Vacuum Tubes have far more distortion than transistors and are prone to deterioation I am referring to Audio use not medical equipment .

He's not Disbeliever for nothing.

Regardless of the fact Vaccum tubes wear out what they do for Audio is what makes them so good .It was proven many years ago that you can make a solidstate amplifier
look almost perfect from a signwave standpoint when testing -in theory,in reality with no dimentional aspects to it's sonics. Why do you think Conrad Johnson, Audio Research, Rogue Audio amd Lamm Audio have done so well ? Because it sounds more realistic and the best gear by many experts in the field believe that vaccum tubes rule ,myself included ,until you have bought a quality vaccumtube amplifier or preamplifier and have use it in a system than you have not had the experience of the magic
of how well Vaccum tubes can add to the realism of the musical event .Try reading Stereophile ,or the Absolute sounds magazine, I have over 30 years as a Audiiophile and have heard very good solidstate as well as Vacuum tube having the combination in the system brings the best of
both worlds ,also Dan Modwrights mods with the Sony 5400
are by the best out there by Far ! Dont knockit untill have have tried it .

After hearding the Terra firma Mod of the Sony xa5400 I Thought it was the best I am glad I waited, while on business I heard Dan Modwrights latest and very extensive transformation of this unit Now with a Vacuum tube OTL analog section as well as a Vacuumtube rectified Seperate power supply Just go to Modwrights webpage and check it out for $2k you now have a player that Nothing and I mean nothing that is in the class A section at $10k that will touch it ,he had a Esoteric 03-se there it was very good ,but the Sony was that much more realistic .I have spent more than a house on audio over the past 25 years and know when something is special sacd may be a little better but now even redbook cds can compete with a Very good turntable and that is saying a lot! My unit has just come back and I am giving it some run in time before giving a formal review ,so far even not runin yet I am not getting much work done for I am hearing nuances in the recording that I did not know that was there and the air around the instruments is much better than I expected I will get back here in a couple of weeks to update on the breakin.

I sent my player to Dan Wright today. For $2000 dollars it is nothing short of a gift what Dan's modification entails. You also get an external power supply!! can;t wait.

Dave----Your review of Sony xa5400es convinced me to buy it to replace a dying Marantz. Your opinion and a $1039 plus shipping price. What a revelation this piece is. Extraordinary detail and spot on resolution but, more than anything else, musicality. It never sounds colored in any way. It simply never sounds digital. At about 3-400 hrs in I notice very little if any change. This was stellar out of the box. Please let us know what the modded unit sounds like. I needent encourage you to specificity as we can always expect and get that from you. I gently remind all who have parsed specs that one of the most if not THE most respected reviewers in Stereophile, Kalman Rubinson, called it the best CD player he's yet heard with price not a consideration. My equipment: Vincent SV236MkII integrated, all signal cable cabling, Legacy Classic HDs and, of course, the Sony. Can't wait to hear about the Modwright mods.