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 .
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 .