Sony 595, Onkyo 502, & Toshiba 4960

Hi-Rez Highway

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The following is not a review. I do not feel qualified to make such a presentation. It should be taken instead as just my subjective experience auditioning a few sacd â€“ cd players. Assume that your mileage WILL vary.
Having been promised in early December, a refund check by Philips for my defective SACD 1000, I set out looking for an inexpensive replacement on which to play SACDâ€™s.
(This may seem odd, but most of my auditioning was done on cdâ€™s since that is by far what I have most of. I figured that if I found the right cd sound, the SACD would be cut from the same cloth, only better.)
I first brought home the Sony SCD-CE595, a five disk changer, SACDâ€“CD player. I had never used a changer before and thought I probably wouldnâ€™t appreciate that aspect of this player, but it is only offered in this configuration, so I tried it out.
To my surprise, I liked using the changer as I could load several of the albums that I was currently interested in hearing and switch back and forth as I pleased. Very convenient!
I was also pleased by the Sonyâ€™s sound, and yet I began to feel that something wasnâ€™t quite right. I didnâ€™t know what, though (more about this later). My conclusion was that it would be a nice player in my system, but I wanted to find out what other choices I had.
Back went the Sony, and in its place, for a short time, I auditioned the Onkyo DV-SP502. It was a short time indeed, as there was nothing about the Onkyoâ€™s performance that really invited me into the music. Back it went. (In fairness to the Onkyo, I only kept it for a couple of days and it didnâ€™t get even close to being broken in, but it just didnâ€™t call to me in any discernable way to keep it longer. â€“ As I warned, this was all very subjective).
The next contender was the Toshiba SD-4960 universal player. This one got my attention right away, especially on orchestral and choral recordings (jazz also sounded good). I liked the space it created for the performers and I found myself being pulled into the music.
But all was not good. There was a slight edge on the presentation at times making the performers appear a little less full-bodied. Still I was trying this unit in the first place because of BobMâ€™s experience modding it(http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=12613).
I assumed that what I was hearing that I didnâ€™t like, would go away after the mod. Still, I didnâ€™t know that for sure. What to do?
I decided to bring back the Sony and listen to both at the same time. And to help check out my conclusions, I invited a good friend over who is also bitten by this audiophile bug. We both share a love for choral music, and are both singers in our local symphony chorus where we are exposed to the natural live sounds of voices and instruments performing in a wonderful acoustical setting. To further aid in our auditioning of this equipment, we have several recordings of our orchestra and chorus that were made in our familiar concert hall.
So we switched back and forth on various recordings we were familiar with (between us we had duplicate copies of the selected recordings, so the switching was just a matter of pushing the appropriate input button on my receiver). This instant switching made it easier to distinguish the sonic characteristics of each player. Both had their virtues, but over time we agreed that the Toshiba represented the space and color we were familiar with, more accurately than the Sony. The Sony seemed to add a slight coloring to instruments, and I thought, to the space also, just a slight tint over everything. (In hindsight, this appears to be what had me unsettled about the Sony on first audition. The direct comparison to the Toshiba made clear what I hadnâ€™t quite distinguished before.)
So, I finally felt comfortable to make the selection. My friend and I went down to our local Fryâ€™s store and while I stood in line to return the Sony, he wondered to the back to see if he could find the Samsung 841 (same machine as the Toshiba 4960 except it also has high definition video output). He found it and bought it.
Now we each have modding projects in our future. Weâ€™ll start with the Toshiba, make a comparison between modded and unmodded units, and then reassess. It should be fun.
* * *
Listening was done in a 15 x 17 x 8 ft. room. Receiver is an inexpensive (though quite musical) Onkyo 5.1, but all listening was done in stereo mode (The Onkyo was sitting in for my ailing Curcio modded ST_70, soon to be revived).
Innerconnects are DIY clones of a John Swenson design (thanks for sharing, John). Speaker cables are DIY made from Home Depot, orange and black extension cord.
Speakers are DIY from Speakerbuilder.net, http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Projects/Eros Project/eros.htm
the Eros (version 1 x-over). (Thanks again, Wayne. I love these.)

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McShane Design

Topic - Sony 595, Onkyo 502, & Toshiba 4960 - George P. 11:08:57 01/02/05 (2)

Re: Sony 595, Onkyo 502, & Toshiba 4960 - LoudandClear 11:52:06 01/02/05 (1)

Oade only does the upgrade on gear "we sell". - Duilawyer 16:24:53 01/02/05 (0)

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