Below is what I posted on Audio Asylum on Oct 17, 2009. It reflects not only my opinion, but also of Dave, my friend, who attended college as a Music major. He composes, and teaches music. He had a different dayjob as music does not pay enough.
Here is the report on the Sony 5400 along with Simaudio Andromeda, and Eclipse. Lets be real here, the 5400 does not replace any of my expensive players. I'll bet if the 5400 had a better power supply it could be better. The Sims I own have very large and I think good outboard power supplies. I learned the importance of power in the 1980's when I heard a Cyrus CD player with and without external supply.
Here is the Audio Asylum report:
I listened to the 5400 last night along with Sim Andromeda, and Eclipse. Music was solely classical. In summary, 5400 although good, does not compete with the above Simaudio products. Dave, a former music major and part time composer, was with me. In all below samples, Andromeda was the best, Eclipse second, and 5400 third. This is no surprise, as it is in order of price, high to low. Eclipse lacked lushness of 5400 but had a great measure of frequency response, top to bottom. The good thing about the 5400, it seems to have an intimacy (good midrange lushness that the Eclipse lacks, but Eclipse and esp. Andromeda has the full blooded sound 5400 lacks). 5400 had lushness, but some of it may be smearing of sound; I am not sure.
I will describe qualitative characteristics to the best of my ability.
Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Bernstein DG: Andromeda was the best; full power of music. It does the complete frequency spectrum as far as we can tell.
Beethoven 9 Fricsay DG Originals: Andromeda had the harmonics, body, quality of sound. Eclipse as above (frequency high to low but lesser extent than Andromeda, lacked lushness of 5400..I could say this for all the samples.
Brahms 1 Ozawa BSO NLA (no longer available Japanese DG): Andromeda solid, Eclipse had harmonics, 5400 close knit sound.
Mahler 8 Gergiev (LSO) CD layer: Andromeda had individual instruments, Eclipse little less individual instruments than Andromeda, 5400 instruments do not stand out as well as other CD players here.
Beethoven: Spring Sonata, Kempff, Menuhin DG 2CD: Andromeda piano sounds like Steinway?....Eclipse like a Yamaha..5400 like an upright.. Violin good on all CD players.
Mendelssohn Elijah, de Burgos EMI: Andromeda: Coherent voices, dynamic, very articulate. Eclipse more nebulous than Andromeda, 5400lacks power and clarity. May seem harsh here, but that’s how Dave saw it, me too but I am less articulate than Dave.
Berlioz Requiem Munch BSO RCA hybrid SACD; played CD layer, but also SACD layer with the 5400. Andromeda: Best compared to all players for both SACD or CD. It had power, fullness of sound, timbre; like being in the hall. Eclipse: less defined than Andromeda but still had power. 5400 CD layer: less articulate than any. 5400 SACD layer: Close to Andromeda in clarity and power, but not as powerful as Andromeda. The 5400 on SACD a stellar value, as it is 11% of Andromeda price.
This is my impression of 5400. Its on trial. Will I keep it? Maybe, it has good intimacy (midrange lushness. You see it’s like a Siren; it lets me forget about reality, I do like the non-reality it gives me sometimes. 5400 may not be best choice for bombastic orchestral works, buts it's good for all music I think. Worth the money and more: yes. A screaming deal?: probably not, unless you listen to SACD, then yes.
Thanks for reading. Owners of 5400, Marantz 11s1, 11s2, and 7s1 please chime in, as well as Simaudio owners. Simaudio is not mentioned a lot on AA (digital), I'd like to her more, but it would be on the Digital forum. Lots of comments welcome. I do not post a lot on AA.
I listed this in SACD thread as 5400 can play SACD, but I did most comparisons on CD, oh well.
Thanks for reading.
Bill
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