Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Get a view of an entire thread on one page

FAQ / News / Events

Hi-Rez Highway

Wow! Now that is a comeback for the ages.

76.254.59.229

In Reply to: RE: REVIEW: Vacuum State Electronics VSE modified Sony SCD-XA5400ES with Terra Firma Lite SACD Player (Modded) posted by jazz1 on August 09, 2009 at 23:09:55

****Just to comment on how good the 5400 is in its standard form is that last week I sold my Pathos Endorphin (7000$) which was a very musical player on RBCD's but now the Sony which was bought as a standby player outperform the Endorphin in most aspects. *****

I'm glad you hung in there. It's clear you are glad too! Based on your preliminary comments about the Sony 5400 I thought it was doomed in your view and would never win you over.

I do agree that a direct comparison (subjective and objective; not just one or the other) would be something even I would be interested in (I rarely closely follow gear vs. gear discussions).

Thanks for sharing

Robert C. Lang

Follow Ups:

RE: Wow! Now that is a comeback for the ages. - jazz1 23:41:41 08/10/09 (3)
Yes at the begining the new 5400 had this Hifi ish sound that was not very musical. Especially on RBCD's but I was not too worried as I basically bought it as a standby. It has been running constantly for 5 weeks and during the last 2 weeks the sound improved dramatically, on some tracks it sounded as good as the Endorphin on some better, my only reservation was on solo instruments like the piano where it still did not sound as round and organic as the Pathos, at the time I put this down to the fact that the Pathos had a very good valve output stage. Then things got even better especially after trying different interconnects and fitting the balanced line interconnect to the 5400.
I was never able to compare simultaneously the 2 machines with both having the balanced line interconnects as my amp has only one set of balanced input. Then a week ago I did a serious comparison using 2 identical RBCD and switching from one to the other and the conclusion was that the 5400 was at least the equal or better than the Pathos, obviously a good SACD sounded better, thus I said to myself why should I keep the Pathos, it is only 2 years old and maybe this was the time to still get a decent price for it, which I did. So I have money in the bank, good sound and if required could do a mod upgrade.
A win win situation. Since the Pathos is gone I placed the 5400 on the Pathos rack which was better anyway, run it with balanced lines and I am really enjoying the sound, especially on big orchestral works where it can sound spectacular.
As you said a direct comparison between a modified and a new unit is needed so that 5400 owners know exactly what to expect.
I now need to buy a cheap standby machine like a Yamaha!!!
Any advice?? 250$ max.
- Nice report - Metralla 08:02:46 08/11/09 (0)
  From your posts, we know you have a critical ear. Quite a fascinating development, and congrats on selling the Pathos so quickly - well done in these tough economic times.
  
  Regards,
  Geoff
- RE: Wow! Now that is a comeback for the ages. - tannoyd 04:34:56 08/11/09 (1)
  What balanced lead are you using?
  - RE: Wow! Now that is a comeback for the ages. - jazz1 06:54:33 08/11/09 (0)
    Wireworld Eclipse 6

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Signature Sound

[ Signature Sound Lounge ]