Review: Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD Player

The XA5400ES is superior to the Oppo 980H for multi-channel SACD via HDMI. However for RB CD it requires a 500 hour break in which I am doing at the moment. Out of the box the player is far too forceful with a too powerful bass piano sounds very clangy. However I have noticed considerable improvement after 140 hours. Will eventually post my take on a comparision with my favorite player a modified Marantz CD94 . 20 years old and still the most natural & musical for me.

The XA5400ES is excellent with both Stereo & multi-channel SACD. However for RB CD I much prefer my 20 year old modified Marantz CD94.

Whilst I agree the XA5400ES is very good its real forte is multi-channel SACD (as stated in the March Hi-Fi News review)it is also superior to the Oppo 980H especially with a Sony H.A.T.S. receiver STR-DA5400ES provided it does not pack up as mine did.The RB CD performance is also improved when used with HATS .For RB CD I prefer my 20 year old modified Marantz CD94 which is also superior to the overweight latest Marantz SA-7S1 & the expensive dCs P8i. It will be interesting to read what Kal Rubinson 'Music in the Round' Stereophile has to say in April/May issues.

The Sony XA5400ES is an excellent player for both RB CD & SACD but only sounds best via HDMI I look forward to reading Kals review. May Stereophile not available in the UK untill the end of this month.

The power cord supplied with the UK XA5400ES is a total disgrace for this price product and such a poor fit that it will disconnect if accidently slightly touched. However I do not believe in expensive power cords all you need is a heavy duty one fitted with a 13 amp fuse in the UK.

May Stereophile 'Music in the Round' Kal Rubinson's Part 1 review of the now discontinued Sony XA5400ES is totally accurate It makes a change to find a 100% correct review. The XA5400ES takes a long while to fully burn in and then becomes the best value best sounding CD/SACD player on the market as Dave B said it is a steal. However what is going to replace this excellent player ?

Cyrilmartin Which is a better CD player than the XA5400ES ? .I find it sounds excellent with both RB CD & SACD especially via HDMI.I will be very suprised if Modwright can make it sound any better.

Good for you

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 .

How can adding distortion (tubes) improve the sound ?

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.

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.

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

Tube designs have their followers, nostalgia and a belief by many that the tube sound is in some way better because it gives a warmer presentation; at the end of the day personal preferences will always apply, but for those of us who over many years followed technology and its advances feel that the many disadvantages of tube technology, no longer represents a level playing field against solid state. Here are some of the major reasons; To produce a first class tube amplifier capable of driving many of the modern multiway speakers, you are looking at an almost prohibitive cost of decent transformers, which include heavy chokes, expensive coupling capacitors and high voltage resistors, then this amplifier from the first day of switch on will be changing its characteristics as the tubes settle then age, so that in order to maintain its distortion levels a regular balance check will be required of the output devices. If you are a regular listener then of course tube replacement will become mandatory fairly regularly and then there is the heat issue. The distortion from tubes is mainly second harmonic which is less irritating to the listener but still suffers a level some fifty to one hundred times that of solid state, some tube designs do not even meet the IEC Hi-Fi standard for distortion at 0.25% or more, which will get worse as tubes age, some designs have now down away with feedback altogether, resulting in very low damping factors, again failing the IEC standard. Most tube designs are still largely the same as those early efforts from Mullard and Brimar so there is a limit to what can realistically be achieved in future design; By contrast solid state has hundreds of variations and technically are regarded as blameless, and for an equivalent cost to the tube would produce an amplifier of superb performance, distortion down to 0.002% damping factor up to 100+ compact size, powerful and trouble free, no competition whatever from tubes... Thats your choice!!!!

The XA5400ES sounds best via HDMI into the Sony DA6400ES receiver with H.A.T.S. enabled for lowest jitter. Some with more money than commonsense are spending more than the cost of this player to fit it with antique tubes, & external power supply, there is one born every minute the XA5400ES does take a long time to burn in. I agree that the supplied power cord is a disgrace but a so-called audiophile cable is not necessary, just use the heaviest duty cable you can find that will fit the connector.

Good for you,