Which Source to get?

ESavinon

Ayre C-5XEMP UNIVERSAL STEREO PLAYER.

SONY SCD1 CD/SACD PLAYER.

BlueFox

Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD

F1nut

Between those two, get the Ayre.

FTGV

The Ayre.

quadzilla

What's a cd player? Is cd some new kind of vinyl?

danz1906

Ayre c-5xeMP is a better player, but it will cost about twice as much
used as the Sony SCD-1. Also consider the Esoteric DV-50:D

dkg999

Gear with funny brand names always sounds better ........ isn't that an audiophile mantra?

tonyb

Another vote for the Ayre.

BlueFox

Personally, I like to do research, and take a variety of opinions into account when making a buying decision. The October 2010 issue of stereophile has their annual “Best of the best” list.

In the A+ category for SACD players, on page 69 the Ayre C-5xeMP, $5950, is listed. On page 70, in the same A+ category, the Sony SCD-XA5400ES, $1500, is also listed. Additionally, the Sony has a “$$$” symbol. On page 56, they define “$$$” as, “Where we have found a product to perform much better than might be expected from its price, we have drawn attention to it with a $$$ next to its listing.”

F1nut

IIRC, Stereophile is rating those players on SACD playback only. One always has to consider the CD playback as well.

BlueFox

F1nut wrote: »

IIRC, Stereophile is rating those players on SACD playback only. One always has to consider the CD playback as well.

Yes. That's correct. Good point. I have never heard the Ayre, but I am listening to Soldier of Love right now on the XA5400ES, and it is sounding good. Not SACD good, but not bad either. On one hand, I can always put the CD on my iPod, and play it back through a better DAC. However, now with the MIT interconnects the CD player is a bit better than the iPod, Wadia dock, Bryston DAC, MIT digital cable combination.

Anyway, I suspect the OP will be happy with either of his choices.

schwarcw

Hi Ed!

The SONY SCD1 CD/SACD PLAYER is a top loader, so that's one consideration. It is an exceptional well built player, built like a tank. It can be bought for less than the Ayre. I have never heard the Ayre so I can't offer any first hand experience. The Sony 5400 is a very nice player and Dan Wright can modify it for you to make it a real high end player. I'd go for the Modwright Sony 5400.

Regards,

dorokusai

I'd pick the Sony, no question.

ESavinon

Thanks for the input. Keep em coming.

ESavinon

I need the best universal player available within $5-6000 range.
I have SACD, DVD-A, HDCD, XRCD and REDBOOK CD in my digital collection.
I'm hoping for Blue-Ray audio to make it's debut so I'm willing to wait for an unit that will support this stardard. The player MUST be true balanced design with no video processing.

megasat16

For Multi Format player, Ayre looks great but I think Esoteric should get some high consideration. They made some excellent stuff and 5K-6K is well within the reach for their high end models. Also, Denon multi format Blu Ray unit is well within your budget.

http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/4760.asp

But if you are set on Ayre, I don't think you will regret getting one.

hearingimpared

I've heard an Ayre before but not the Sony but based on what I heard the Ayre is on a par with Esoteric's CD/SACD players and their multi-format players which I found to be jaw dropping. In fact I'm saving up my pennies for an Esoteric but that won't be for some time.

BTW Ed there is an Ayre dealer in Wilmington DE, "HiFi House" that's where I heard the Ayre. I don't know if you have any dealers up your way, but considering it's NY there probably is but in anycase "Hi Fi House" is 15 minutes from my house so you could come over and visit. My wife's famous hot roast pork sammiches on a great Italian roll with provolone, long hot peppers, mmmmmmmmm!!!! Can you smell it from here? Hehehe!

reeltrouble1

considering what you want I would look at the Esoteric then the Ayre, not a fan of Sony.

RT1

Ern Dog

Another vote for getting the Sony XA5400ES then having it modded by Modwright. That would be a $3000 total investment.

I had the Sony 5400 without the mods and it sounded super detailed and a tad too bright for my taste, so I sold it. Now the Modwright mod would involve tubes and an external power supply, new clock and lots more. The mods would balance out the uber detail with warmth and umph making it sound Awesome. Read the reviews about it.

Read up about the mod here:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1289175294&/ModWright-Sony-XA-5400ES-Truth

BlueFox

Ern Dog wrote: »

I had the Sony 5400 without the mods and it sounded super detailed and a tad too bright for my taste, so I sold it.

Ern Dog,

I almost added this comment in your Oppo thread since I remembered you talking about the Sony being bright earlier. Anyway, I too thought the XA5400ES, especially on CDs, was a bit bright. SACDs were fine.

However, now it sounds GREAT on both SACDs and CDs. Other than a long burn-in period, the biggest change for me was replacing my Kimber Kable Hero XLRs with MIT Shotgun S1.3 XLRs. After doing that there was no brightness, just great sounding music.

Ern Dog

Glad to hear your Sony is working out for you.