hi aaron:
my interest is a comparison between the oppo 83se modded by modwright compared to the sony 5400 modded by modwright.
dan says the oppo is slightly warmer. |
Roy - You are welcome to come visit me in Boston. You can do a three way comparison between the Mark Levinson 512, The Sony XA 5400ES and the Oppo BDP 95. |
hi hififile:
did you find the sony more focused and resolved, while the oppo warmer or a touch veiled ?
if not, why did you prefer the sony ? i am considereing the oppo because, as i have said, dan told me the oppo was a tad warmer ? |
I had the Sony and Oppo side by side in my system. I have several CD's and SACD's where I have two copies. I put them in and sync'd the players and switched back and forth.
NO QUESTION, the Sony sounded better in my system on both SACD and CD. The cables were also the same by the way.
I like the Sony build and function better than the Oppo. Make no mistake the Oppo is an excellent unit. The Sony won the shootout in my system. |
hi podeschi:
i assume you prefer the modded 5400 to the unmodded xa777.
which player do you find more forgiving of poor recordings?
which player do you perceive as having more resolution and which player do you perceive as having more emphasis upon the high frequencies ? |
recently i spoke to dan modwright about the two modified players. he said that the oppo 83se with tube rectifier and 6sn7 tube output stage was somewhat warmer sounding than the 5400 with tube output stage.
he thought, given my taste that i would prefer the modded oppo.
the question is how much warmer is the oppo than the sony ? |
Just took delivery of my XA-5400es with Modwright mods. In fact, I ordered the Sony and had it delivered straight to Modwright.
I have it playing Dave Alvin SACD right now, and listened to CDs as well on it.
Wow! I recently had a Sony SCD-XA777es player. It was built like a tank, but the CD and SACD performance of the 5400es with Modwright mods is simply stunning. I spend most of my time listening to vinyl, and this 5400es has the organic energy of what I love about vinyl (not sure if it is the tubes?). Fluidity, musicality, transparency, dynamics, black background, large sound stage, layering, are the words that come to mind. I was nervous I wouldn't like it as much as my PS Audio PWD with Bridge playing hi-rez files....but even the CD via modded Sony keeps pace with PWD. Hats off to Modwright and Sony. Amazing what you get for a $1500 SACD/CD player and a $1995 mod package. I don't know why anyone would pay more than 5-10K for a digital front-end when you can get this. |
Junghoon2989 My Oppo is in my HT rig and is connected to my Denon 4310CI and they both have only RCA connections. But I can put the Sony in my 2CH rig as it is all balanced XLR interconnects.
JP1208 My budget for IC is $500 the move up to GG Reflectios is not in my budget.I have only about 4 hours on th GG Raptures so not 100% sure these are keepers yet. If I put the Sony in my 2CH rig I can compare the GG Raptures with my Jena Labs Symphony XLR IC. From my brief listen to the GGR I think the Sony and the Jena Labs will add that extra touch of lushness to the midrange.I do plan on keepin the Oppo as my DVD/BR player. |
Mystang, if you move up to the GG Reflection IC's you will add the lush midrange to the stock Oppo that is missing. Plus the top end is sweetend and extended. Even then the stock Oppo will not be grain free. The new Oppo 95 may address more of these issues with a much better power supply and transport. Maybe this is what the Oppo's needed to contend with the more expensive dedicated cd/sacd players. |
may i know where did u see the review which states RCA better than XLR in the xa5400es? is the reviewer using true balanced from output to input?
thanks.
wps |
A review here on AG stated that the RCA's sound better than the XLR's.
Which ever you use I would run it in on that output. |
to maximise the xa5400es, run-in the unit for about 300 hours; use xlr instead of rca if u can; and change the al-cheapo power cable too.
cheers,
wps |
I have not recieved my tracking# yet for my Sony.But yesterday I got a pair of Gabriel Gold Rapture RCA interconnects I purchased used here on Agon.Prior to installing these I had a cheap pair of Monster RCA so was not sure how good my Oppo 83 SE could sound.But after several hours with the GGR my Oppo is sounding really GOOD.If the Sony with these cables sounds any better yet my BAT VK D5SE could soon be for sale. |
Rwwear,
I bought a Sony 5400 from the E-Bay seller that you posted. It was 'A' stock and came double boxed. I am not affiliated with the seller, just a happy customer. |
Sony has continued production of the XA5400ES even though they had been rumored to be a discontinued model some time ago. I have seen a unit with production of November, 2010 and read a post on another forum that they had a unit with a December, 2010 production date. |
to funny...i never even thought to look on ebay!. got the same deal from a reputable local dealer for once. decided to go with it, even though it meant sales tax. $1199 seems to be the going discounted rate for now. have not seen them much cheaper brand new, with full factory warranty through a reputable source.
i can't be the only one who's heard they are in short supply? maybe i'm the only one who believed it?
will be pissed if i see them new for $799 in a few months. |
It also says: On Jul-20-10 at 12:48:28 PDT, seller added the following information:
So I would ask. |
At the bottom of that eBay ad it says: This is the double confirm that the auction is for Sony STR-DA5500ES brande new receiver. It is NOT for STR-DA6400ES. The discription table shows 6400ES is by our mistake. We are sorry for confusing. Good luck on bidding! Jeff from UOS Regards, |
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lots of retailers are advertising them but many (3/4 i called) told me they were out of stock and had to be ordered. 2 of those said they are getting harder to get. have no clue as to the truth.... just sayin what i heard about 2 weeks ago when i called around. maybe a posting retailer can shed some light on this?
sure hope this thing doesn't make me feel stupid for spending alot more on my psa gear. i want the sony to sound good....but not that good =) |
I have a freind that is going to get the Burson DAC and use a less expencive transport. That will leave me in prime pecking order to get his Sony. Less than 6 months old and at a good price too.
I'll be going the DAC way sooner or later (more than likely later). But until then, I want to get my hands on the 5400. |
Mrtennis Yes American Theather is where I got it.But as Nwavesailor said there are other retailers who have them.Do a Google search as well as Here on Audiogon.
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Actually there are Sony XA5400ES's available from quite a few retailers at this time. |
oops i made an error in my post regarding the oppo 83se as an sacd player.
i heard an onkyo sacd player costing under $400 and when i brought my oppo to my friend's system, i ended up preferring the onkyo.
i assume that i would prefer the sony, but there have been other threads about this player and there have been differences of opinion as to its sound quality.
i am waiting to try to pick one up at a very good price.
there is also a modwright tube output stage that has been used to improve its sound. |
hi mystang:
did you buy your sony from american theater. as far as i know it is the only source in the us. |
Good for you Mystang.
Be sure to let the Sony burn in before any critical comparisons. |
Ordered a Sony today so I will get to do my own A/B.Not sure how long it will take to get here as I do not have a tracking# yet.
Thanks for all the input. |
Levy03 I would be interested to hear back after your shoot out.
Zmanastronomy I think I will keep the 83SE and add a sony.I see American Theater is selling several now but I need to check and see if they are an Authorized Dealer otherwise no warranty. |
i have the ps audio pwt and pwd. i also own the 83se.
i prefer the ps audio gear.
as far as sacd the oppo is fair. i heard a $400 onkyo which i heard. i may consider the sony 54000 if i can buy it cheap.
in addition, with the ps products you can play hi-rez. you cannnot with the oppo./ |
I haven't heard the 5400 but owning a 707es I know how good Sony can be.
A friend of mine and I compared my Oppo 83se to his PWD and we could hear no difference at all between the two on his system. His system is quite good and consists of Revel Salon 2's, Lamm 1.1's and the Pass labs X0.2. |
had a chance to compare both of these last month on some nice mac gear and aerial 20t's. the sony clearly sounded better with redbook in this particular 2ch system. sacd was no contest imho. the sony sounded outstanding. this really is a top notch player at a great price. wasn't in the market for a cdp yet but am planning a simple/inexpensive bedroom system. a new cdp was in the plan so i looked intothe sony a bit more. was offered a good deal and decided to pull the trigger early. this player seems like such a bargain/value, i didn't want to miss out.
plan on doing a detailed a/b against my ps audio pwt/pwd before putting it in the bredroom. have a feeling the sony will keep up with the psa equipment at nearly 3x the cost. kinda anxious to find out. adding nice monitors and a decent integrated could/should make for one hell of a simple/inexpensive system with this sony running the show. should have mine in a week or so (they are back ordered and going away from what i hear). will report back with the psa pwt/pwd vs sony xa-5400es shoot-out results. |
Rwwear.
That's a very good point.
If you have a HT and 2 channel in combination, the Oppo will surely fit the bill.
But, the Oppo will still not sound nearly as good as the Sony XA-5400 for CD's. The differance is not a small one.
Mystang.
The Oppo 83se will do your DVD's just fine without selling and going to the Oppo 93. That is if your still going to get the Sony.
Just trying to help.
John |
I was thinking of selling the Oppo 83se and buying an Oppo 93.That way I would still have a great DVD/BR player and then getting a sony or? But ONLY if the general consensus was that it was a more musical player.
$500 new 93 plus $1200 new sony for a total of $1700 minus what I can get for my 83SE Now that Oppo is selling referb units for $699 means I woul get about $600? Or aproximateky $1100 more out of my pocket.
As far as the Mod Wright upgrade I have read it is very popular but I would rather not play with tubes,I have a Bat VK D5SE in my 2 CH Rig and thats all the tubes I want- long life and no tube rolling.
Also my budget is about $1500. If I had more to spend I would consider a used Marantz SA7 but not currently in my budget. |
It will also not play LPs. :-)
Kal |
The Sony lacks DVD, DVDA and Bluray playback if that's important to you. It is to me. |
You might concider selling the Oppo and picking up the Sony. I'm not an expert, but I don't know how much you can recuperate on the Modwright upgrate when you go to sell it.
But, if you have lots of money, then it's up to you what to do. I try to buy stuff at a price that I can sell it and not take such a big hit.
Maybe Modwright upgrades can recupe a 100%. I don't know. If they recupe 75% or more it would be a good option.
Maybe Svrtim can chime in on the resale value of the Modwright upgrade.
But the Sony XA-5400 is one of the best CD players out there for anywhere close to it's price point. |
You should consider upgrading your Oppo 83SE with the Modwright Tube upgrade -$1,400. I had a standard 83SE and then bought a Modwright upgrade unit on Audiogon and then compared both units for about 1 week. The upgraded Tube Modwright 83SE is in a whole new category- it competes against any $4,000-$5,000 dollar player I have heard. |
Thank for the responses. I got my 83SE here for$710 but as of today Oppo is offering Referbished 83SE for $699 with 1 year warranty.Did not see that one comeing. |
You can get the Sony for $1100. I thought the Oppo is $900
I have heard both. The Oppo is very good. The Sony is one of the best I have heard |
The Sony will out perform the Oppo. I've heard them both in my system and the Sony is for the price as good as I've ever heard.
I'm not looking to buy another CD player because I'm giong to spend the money on a Burson DAC and use a cheap transport for CD's. I'm thinking of the future, computer music files that will sound as good or better than a CD.
But if I were looking for a CDP I would buy the Sony XA-5400. It's increadable.
My two cents worth.
John |
