After coming to the conclusion that being able to purchase a $6000 CD player was not a reality, and doing a lot of research online, I purchased the Sony 5400ES-SACD player. I have a lot of SACD's so trashing them and replacing them was not an option for me.
The 5400 has both unbalanced and balanced outputs along with HDMI output. The remote is simple and the display has several options including the option to turn it off. The machine is clean and functional in design.
The first CD that I listened to was Charles Mingus's Ah-Um on SACD. What I first noticed was increased clarity but as I listened to the whole CD I heard warmth not normally associated with digital audio. Next up was Couldn't stand the weather by Stevie Ray and one again I was impressed by the imaging of the music not normally heard on a CD with a rock/blues trio. What I have noticed compared to my $349 Marantz is a level of "analogness (OK I know that's not a word but I think it says what I mean) and fullness that is amazing. For example on the SACD Kind of Blue by Miles Davis the softest touch of the symbols could be heard and the piano sounded wonderful.
The 5400 was actually rated by some audio pubs as being better than Sony's $3,000 model which is another reason that I want with this model at $1400. I purchased through Sony's website as they have a no interest no payment for 18 months which I intend to leverage. It arrived overnight (no charge for shipping) via Fed-X. My lesson: Investing in a better CD player ($349 vs. $1400) was a great choice. If your system allows you to hear the difference than it's worth it
After coming to the conclusion that being able to purchase a $6000 CD player was not a reality, and doing a lot of research online, I purchased the Sony 5400ES-SACD player. I have a lot of SACD's so trashing them and replacing them was not an option for me.
The 5400 has both unbalanced and balanced outputs along with HDMI output. The remote is simple and the display has several options including the option to turn it off. The machine is clean and functional in design.
The first CD that I listened to was Charles Mingus's Ah-Um on SACD. What I first noticed was increased clarity but as I listened to the whole CD I heard warmth not normally associated with digital audio. Next up was Couldn't stand the weather by Stevie Ray and one again I was impressed by the imaging of the music not normally heard on a CD with a rock/blues trio. What I have noticed compared to my $349 Marantz is a level of "analogness (OK I know that's not a word but I think it says what I mean) and fullness that is amazing. For example on the SACD Kind of Blue by Miles Davis the softest touch of the symbols could be heard and the piano sounded wonderful.
The 5400 was actually rated by some audio pubs as being better than Sony's $3,000 model which is another reason that I want with this model at $1400. I purchased through Sony's website as they have a no interest no payment for 18 months which I intend to leverage. It arrived overnight (no charge for shipping) via Fed-X. My lesson: Investing in a better CD player ($349 vs. $1400) was a great choice. If your system allows you to hear the difference than it's worth it