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Sony XA-5400ES


JBLoudG20

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Thanks for the comment Kevin. It'd be great knowing your opinion about its sound over the analogue outputs, either SE or balanced, which is the only use I'd give to it. BTW, does it need to be plugged into a TV screen to decide if you want it to play the SACD or CD layer in a disc, or choosing your preferred DSD output? This is important, I wouldn't have it connected into the TV, so not having to tell the thing to read the 2ch SACD layer every time would be great.

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I really love mine. Don't know what to say other than that. Better than

the krell sacd standard. 2 channel balanced output. hdmi output.

Don't know about the super expensive sony piece other than it does NOT have

hdmi. Does not even have balanced. More of sony's unplugged fly by wire approach

to management.

KG,

Do you like the sound of the 2 CH output more than that of the SCD-1? Thanks

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i'll be ordering one and the lowest price is $1050 w/ free shipping

Unfortunately the Krell SACD Standard I bought has too many problems

- unreliable in detecting SACD layers on the first, second, or third try

- digital filter select buttons do not work

- can't go to previous tracks (back button will only restart current track)

- annoying high freq noise in standby mode

I'm going to try to get it fixed but my expectations are very low

Bleh, I remember going to a stereo shop and playing around with the Krell. The tray and the buttons felt kinda cheap for the price. Not sure how their newest iteration is. They were supposed to have fixed issues with the transport.

Where did you find the sony for $1050? :rolleyes:

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I'm not sure why deepak's post confused you. It seemed completely devoid of content.

Yes it was. As I understood Dusty's comment- it only did DSD through the HDMI output. Which isn't the case :)

And yes I don't know why I got the idea they were converting to PCM for the analog outs.

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In 2009 no digital input = FAIL. I will not be auditioning any one box units that do not have at least one digital input. If I'm paying for a great DAC I want to be able to use it for other transports (and yes I am talking about the PCM DACs).

Could one possibly mod it to include such?

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You might want to wait till the sucessor of the 9es proc/preamp comes out. It will be

balanced out, and use those new dac chips. Of course it will come with lots

of other stuff you don't probably want, but that is going to be the future like it

or not.

There is the new sacd portable coming out in the next few months. I doubt it is

going to have a digital input. There would be no reason to do so.

scd1 << krell sacd standard < 5400 !

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Could one possibly mod it to include such?

I do not know about this specific model but if I recall correctly, APL used to have a digital input option on the 3910 mod. However, I think they pretty much ripped a good chunk of the original electronics out and replaced them anyway. Anyway, I'm sure it is possible.

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I do not know about this specific model but if I recall correctly, APL used to have a digital input option on the 3910 mod. However, I think they pretty much ripped a good chunk of the original electronics out and replaced them anyway. Anyway, I'm sure it is possible.

Yeah, I think they were able to do the digital input because they were using all new DACs in their units. I once asked Matt Anker at sacdmods.com about the possibility of doing a digital input on the 3910, and he said it would just be way way to difficult for him to consider. So its probably pretty tough if not impossible to get an input into a unit's native DAC.

For a while now I've wanted an SACD player with a digital input in the $1000-1500 price range.

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I know that it is completely counter-intuitive, but if you want a dac that has the

same parts as the 5400 in it (and the same exact sound qualities) then you have

to buy the str-da6400es receiver, and use just a very small part of it.

Soon there will be a preamp/processor that is the same as the 6400 without the

power amps inside.

So many of the single box very expensive sacd players have el-crapo mech's that

it makes sense to buy something cheap that sounds great, and when it breaks you

throw it out and get a new piece of mechanics. The D/A lives on.

The new oppo blu-ray play everything machine for $500 is one really good example.

The only reason you would want an input to a player would be to hook up some kind

of computer based device. For $.25 or less burn a RW and use that instead.

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The only reason you would want an input to a player would be to hook up some kind

of computer based device. For $.25 or less burn a RW and use that instead.

Thats probably what I will do, its just that I think alot of the twenty-somethings here at HC are used to computer-based playback, and disc-only based playback is such a fundamentally abstract concept in some ways.

I wouldn't call it a deal breaker, especially at the price, and when you consider the prices Emm Labs charges for their special DACs & algorithms and whatnot. I'd still call it a no-brainer, I think.

I'm trying to think of a reason not to get two of these, to use one in the office.

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