Review: Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD Player

I forgot to mention that I am around acoustic instruments in my house everyday (my children play piano, baritone, cello, drums, flute). I have recordings of concerts I have attended (jazz, classical and rock). I have owned many 50K plus rigs. I have no dog in this race. My opinion has merit based on the above facts. Oh, and I have no hearing loss...yet! Keep in mind I use true reference recordings with realistic high frequency content. Examining the brush strokes of a Monet painting may be interesting to an art major, but it kind of misses the whole point doesn't it? Please do list your equipment, cabling and music for reference however.

So much for the case of "little understanding"... http://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrilmartin

Now Dave B., when it comes to your extensive ownership of expensive digital gear, all of them with no exception were using symmetrical FIR designs. Sad, very sad... Your offer to debug a system "a distance" is presumptuous at best- a bit like phone psychics.. And the statement about "not having hearing loss" is always incorrect- everybody does, that process is called "aging"... unless of course you also have a potion to reverse Corti organ damage (and did it ship with the Sony player?).

As many will notice, that "discussion" is going nowhere. I will summarize as best as I can: if you have $1K laying around and you want a very good all around player, the Sony is for you. If you also have a soldering iron and are not afraid of playing wizard with SMT packages, you may even have the pleasure of doing some experimentation with opamps and see where you get; you will notice that Sony is pretty much in bed with TI (Burr Brown was acquired by TI in 2001) so you have all the ADI and National offering at hand, likely unexplored by the Sony design team.
Now, if you want the best redbook CD player available today (and you are independently wealthy!) go check our the Meridian 808.2 CD player- You will not regret it... And, if you also want to check how devilishly good your SACDs can sound, check out the DCS stuff (N.B: look at the pro gear- it is precisely the same as the audiophile offering in a more rugged packaging, and at more realistic prices... *realistic* still means a wad of cash though!).

And this was only naming a few :)... Contrary to some, I tend to avoid definitive statements as the future would too often prove me wrong!

Peace.

Wow, I am amazed again! I owned a meridian G08...sucked; Sterile, whitish and flat sounding. Knowledge is a terrible burden for some..it dictates their perception despite any evidence to the contrary. Ironic that you would pick my least favorite examples of digital for a rebuke. Obviously you have never been to Boston Symphony Hall...now that's a reference standard:O)

New cable find for the frugal and acousticaly astute. A comprehensive evaluation between my MIT Oracle V1.2 Proline XLR IC's ($6500) and a pair of Monster Cable Proline SP1000 XLR cables ($99.98/pair) has floored me!!
The SP1000's are every bit their equal in every audiophile category one can imagine plus just a scrim more warmth added. These Monster Proline cables are a Godsend to anyone who want's to have world class sound on an extreme budget:O) Sweetwater.com has them and even has a no hassle return policy..I dare you to try them.