2. digital
  3. 1304728729

would the Sony SCD 5400 Ex make a good transport?

I recently acquired a Sony SCD 5400 hoping it would be an upgrade from my Rega Apollo. While there is much to admire in terms of resolution and PRAT I find the sound has a lot of the digital glare/hardness; strings are quite steely which is tiring. Was wondering if this could be corrected with a (better?)DAC using the Sony as a transport. Or is it better to look for another player. The Sony costs as much as I want to pay for a CD player
rrm
rfogel8's avatar
rfogel8
192 posts
 
I owned a CEC TL-1 for many years(JWM still owns one) and I'm of the opinion that it's one of the best transports ever made. No big surprise the Sony "didn't hold a candle" to it. Most other dedicated transports didn't hold a candle to it!

The Sony is fine as a one box player, particularly if you own many SACD's, but it really doesn't work very well as a dedicated transport nor have any of the earlier ES models I've tried.

podeschi
303 posts
 
I finally got to hear the difference of NOS 6sn7 tube rolling in the VAC. Just inserting one pair of Sylvania Chrome Tops in the outside slots on the 300.1 gave more punch and weight. Now I'm weighing if I should do the NOS hunt (RCA vt231, KenRad vt231, RCA grey glass 6sn7, etc) mixing and matching, or simplify and just buy a couple of pairs of Sophia 6sn7s for Modwright and VAC gear??? Any advice?
rrm OP
47 posts
 

Would like to update this thread as I posted 13 years ago and digital has moved on enormously since then. still have the Sony SCD 5400 ex. have upgraded the rest of my system and now I think the CD sound is a bit flat and hard.

would like to reconsider using the Sony as a transport. Has anyone been successful in using a modern DAC with the Sony to get better sound.

 

mksun
463 posts
 

Digital has definitely improved since then and I would recommend going with a dedicated CD transport for Redbook CDs and using the Sony for SACD playback only. I had the Audiolab CDT6000 for many years and it outperformed my older Rotel CDP used as a transport. The CDT6000 is still available on Amazon for $480.  I have since upgraded to the Jay’s Audio CDT2 MK3 transport which has taken my CD listening to a whole new level. 

jafant's avatar
jafant
19,602 posts
 

rrm

Nice thread.  The NAD 565 is a keeper, as is, Sony 5400ES.

 

Happy Listening!

More to discover