Sony Demo - Good News and Bad News

I have a Sony HAP-Z1ES, I seriously doubt there is a computer/DAC combination for the same price that will come anywhere close.

My system is single ended and I also demo'd the Auralic Vega which is considered to be one of the best DACs on the market and the Sony is better using the RCA outs. I think the Vega would be the winner in a balanced system though.

I also appreciate the amount of time and money I saved not having to deal with buying and setting up a computer to use as an audio player. I was using a laptop, but it's really a poor solution because of the cooling fans. If you have a computer as a source it can't have cooling fans which would require some unconventional heat transfer solutions. I have no idea how people put up with equipment that uses loud cooling fans.

 

Put the computer in another room.

 

There are many computers on the market with almost inaudible cooling fans (large fans running at slow speed, one in the power supply and one on the CPU). For laptops with noisy fans, there are often software solutions to regulate the fans.

 

kippy, thanks for chiming in regarding the Legacy Focus speakers. For a while there, I was debating on going back to a floor standing speaker and selling my B&W 805D's. The main reason for that was because I'm always fearful that something will happen to them, as they have that damned diamond tweeter on the top and it just seems so easy to bump them, as they sit near some windows with blinds that get flipped or pulled each day! I also kind of abandoned the Focus speakers, due to their size, as I've already got a tree trunk sized set of Klipsch Chorus 1's in my living room and my wife hates them (NOTE: "size" wise, not "sound" wise!). Perhaps someday I'll get to hear those Focus speakers or their earlier 20/20 model and I'll probably fall in love with them? As much as I really do love those B&W's, I'm still very much in love with the idea of going back to a floor standing speaker, but it will take me having a buyer of the 805D's first, that much I know for sure!

 

Well, someone still wants an SCD XA5400ES unit. One (new) just sold on Ebay for $2000+, more than $500 above msrp. http://www.ebay.com/itm/191300643709?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

Wow! I just started using mine because my SCD-1 is acting up real bad (have to find the time to really fix it if I can ). I bought my 5400 about three years ago (IIRC) from J&R in NYC for $1100. I still find it hard to believe that Sony decided to discontinue it.

 

I wonder what makes the XA5400ES so special compared to other SACD players, so that some people are willing to pay more than list price?

Is it the HDMI output for multichannel SACD playback that most non-video SACD players are now lacking? I thought multichannel fans would also embrace Blu-ray (the titles that are not stereo-only) and DVD-A, so that a multi-format player was the right choice.

The Oppo 105 is supposed to be in the same class sonically (I have heard none of them) and can do many more things. Do some people prefer the Sony because it is simpler?

 

There is a long thread comparing the two. I would say that the Sony gets slightly higher praise than the Oppo from the participants in that thread. But there is no question that the Oppo can do more, and if (e.g.) streaming from a computer or Squeezebox is important, you are going to want the Oppo. (I own the Oppo.)

 

Claude, I think the XA5400ES sounds almost as good as my SCD-1 which, IMHO, is still one of the best SACD players ever made. That is not to say that is not to say that the Oppo players do not do a good job on SACD.

I think that the ebay sale is typical of ebay craziness. If you look at ebay there are two 5400's with "Buy it now" prices of $1500 and $1450!

 

The Oppos are not as good on SACD in my listening experience but they are still great machines.

 

The only reason to buy a cd player nowadays is Sacd ,and since few bought in to SACD (like Me) why spend on a cd player and just get a player like this Sony ,which does so much more