What's with all the Sony 5400ES units for sale?

I think it is also a "product cycle" that we see with big sellers. There seemed to be some slightly shady business with this one however. The 540ES was occasionally on sale direct from Sony at a very low price and people were trying a short while back to flip them for a profit. Not sure what this might have to do with your question.

Elizabeth..........

The Sony 5400ES player comes up almost weekly. I have heard it and it sounds like a 1000-1500.00 player. There was a lot of hype about the player and it sounds just average to my ears.

Folks have made the same comments about the PS Audio Perfect Wave transports and D/As. Got rave reviews but there are a bunch for sale. But perhaps that's bexause PS sold a lot of them...

BTW, I'm not sure you can find a digital ripping alternative to SACDs, which still require a player like the Sony to utilize.

There are a lot of Merlin speakers for sale recently. That doesn't mean they are not that good. The stock Sony is a good piece. It's not perfect. SACD playback is very good, RB is a step down. Buy one and send it to ModWright if you want to hear something special. Wow! Best move I ever made.

I bought two, had one modied ed by VSE. Spectacular!
I'll be putting the second up for sale.