[modwright]

Amazing, so they just released the 5400ES and NOW it is discontinued?  We will proceed with developing the mod for the 5400ES.  My experience with Sony is that their product replacements are often subtle changes.  I am confident that the work we do on the 5400ES will be compatible with the replacement.

The circuit design is what is key.  The PS design is already complete.  We will soon have tested and new SS and tube output stages designed.  The rest of the mods are pretty much the same in nature, no matter what the player.  The real difference is simply how the stage is implemented and installed.  That is simply a matter of spacial design.

Thanks for the info!

Dan

[ted_b]

Dan,
I wouldn't react to hearsay.  So far, as far as I can tell, Disbeliever is the only one using the term "discontinued".  Even Kal Rubinson, the Stereophile reviewer, on May 1, reacted to Disbeliever's post on SA-CD.net and stated that they are still available.  I have a PM into Kal currently and will get any updates.  A rumor is floating that the machine will receive an update/upgrade, but it's pure speculation as of now. 

Disbeliever, do you have an official Sony statement?  Dan is doing production planning so anything hearsay is not really constructive.  But something official would be quite constructive, thanks.

[ted_b]

Kal sent me this message today:
"It is unclear if the unit is available in Europe and that the source of most of the noise on this issue.  I asked Sony USA and they confirmed that the unit is current and not discontinued."

[Disbeliever]

The info re discontinued came from another Forum by HiredFox. No UK retailer has any stock or though they are still quoting prices. In the June Gramophone the reviewer of the STR-DA5400ES receiver says he has been unable to obtain a XA5400ES for review and is very interested to do so. Sony UK is a unbelievable uuncommunicative Co. and I am still trying to obtain information from a well connected Sony Dealer.

[Disbeliever]

I regret to inform you that I have now been advised by Superfi Sony UK retailer that the XA5400ES player has been dicontinued and on their web site they are saying it is discontinued. Makes no sense for such a highly regarded player.

[ted_b]

Again, only unavailable in the UK.  The US Sony is still saying available.

[tomm]

Sounds like the 5400ES is on its way out to me. 

[rydenfan]

Sounds like the 5400ES is on its way out to me. 

IMO, all CD players are on their way out 

[modwright]

Well, I don't know about the UK, but I HAVE a Sony XA5400ES and a Blue-Ray Oppo 'in the house', thanks to two separate generous customers who agreed to have me develop the respective mods with their players.

I will be reporting back with initial stock impressions of both.  I will try to pickup a blue-ray DVD and watch it with the family on our 42" plasma and give my impressions of stock video also.

We shall see what Sony does with the XA5400ES, but our mod is proceeding forward, with a fully balanced, dual-differential analog stage with the new PS 9.0 tube-rectifie supply.  I am very excited about this.  I want this to be the pinnacle of our tube CDP mods, and advance the circuit beyond any player mods that we have offered to date!

The Oppo will be fitted with a SS analog stage, allowing for stereo and/or MCH analog outs, all fitted with an all-discrete (no-opamps) analog stage, desgned by Alan Kimmel.

I am undecided if CDP's are entirely on the way out.  After talking to a dealer yesterday - one who actually is strongly a vinyl guy - his impression is that there are still a large number of customers who don't want to have to rip their CD's to a computer.

I have to say that I feel the computer server IS the way of the future, but I don't know that everyone is willing to flip on a dime at this point and go this way.

We all know the incredible convenience of the Transporter and this form of digital source.  However, there are also those who are not willing to make the switch.  As a result, I am willing to offer both solutions.

With regards to the Oppo, I agree with many who have posted that this is a product that can be used IN ADDITION to a computer-based digital solution, like the Transporter and others, because it gives us multi-channel, blue-ray video, SACD and Universal playback and is really a mutl-use/multi-function digital source at a lower price.

I am excited about both and I will share my progress as it proceeds.

Thanks!

Dan

[mikel51]

According to a thread on the AVS forum, OPPO is starting to make the player available to folks who signed up for beta testing, but weren't chosen for beta testing.  I understand that this is proceeding in the order that people signed up.  I signed up in Jan, and still haven't received an "OPPOrtunity to pre-purchase."  The official release  of the BDP83 may be in a couple of weeks.

[rfogel8]

Greetings, I'm new to AudioCircle but have been a "phile" for approx. 30 years. I was seriously considering a Modwright Platinum 9100ES but fortunately talked to Dan today and was informed that the 5400ES would soon be available and even better. I knew that Sony had discontinued the 9100 but really didn't care. As someone else mentioned, they'll all be discontinued eventually but if a player sounds great today, it'll still sound great down the road and at some point it's time to pull the trigger.

The good news for me is that Dan's modded 5400ES will be a true balanced differential design which is what my preamp and mono amps are. I've got a couple balanced inputs on my preamp that will make for an ideal connection plus I won't have to change interconnects. On top of that, I learned after following this long thread that Dan's pretty much decided to go with the 6SN7 which is used in my preamp and amps(20 total). Fortunately, I've accumulated approx. 50 NOS 6SN7's(various RCA, Ken-Rad, Sylvania, Raytheon)  so tube rolling should be interesting.

As someone else mentioned, the 12SX7 would also be a nice option since they're readily available, are priced way cheaper than NOS 6SN7's and are sonically comparable to some of the best NOS 6SN7's; even better, I've got a stash of approx. 50 of them waiting for the right spot.

I enjoyed Disbelievers posts but totally disagree with his opinion of tubes vs ss. The tone of his posts reminded me a lot of Bud Fried who was convinced that the only good speakers ever made were his own(transmission-line with series crossovers) and Quads. Bud made some great speakers but used the cheapest parts available and ran old Hafler gear in his own system pretty much til he passed away. As long as his speakers and the rest of his gear measured well, he believed that premium passive parts or better electronics was a waste of money and forget about tubes!.


 

[Disbeliever]

Hi rFogelI8

I see you have a large collection of antiques the kindest word I can use about tubes. Tubes are prone to deterioation , microphony  fletcher  noise  etc  high capcitance, & distortion  giving an easy going sound that many people like. You can only obtain unblemished sound with SS which is blameless.  I forgot about tubes a long   time ago. As I said previously good luck to those who like tubes.

[Phil A]

According to a thread on the AVS forum, OPPO is starting to make the player available to folks who signed up for beta testing, but weren't chosen for beta testing.  I understand that this is proceeding in the order that people signed up.  I signed up in Jan, and still haven't received an "OPPOrtunity to pre-purchase."  The official release  of the BDP83 may be in a couple of weeks.

I received (as did a friend of mine) my pre-purchase E-Mail on April 29 and I should have the player May 13.  I probably signed up for beta testing within a few days when it was first announced if not the day it was first announced.

[modwright]

As moderator of this forum, I feel I have to the right to ask this:

What is your purpose for posting here Disbeliever?

If you are looking to share and exchange information and opinions, that is fine.  I find that every one of your posts seems to be of an antagonistic and adversarial nature.  Can you explain this?

Dan Wright
President, ModWright Instruments Inc.

[Marco Prozzo]

Hi rFogelI8

I see you have a large collection of antiques the kindest word I can use about tubes. Tubes are prone to deterioation , microphony  fletcher  noise  etc  high capcitance, & distortion  giving an easy going sound that many people like. You can only obtain unblemished sound with SS which is blameless.  I forgot about tubes a long   time ago. As I said previously good luck to those who like tubes.

Dan beat me to it; as I was typing essentially the same thought, he posted his response.  I'll post my response anyway:

Disbeliever - I don't see the reason for this post.  You may want to reflect on what you've shared here.  This is not really useful information nor constructive input. 

[Disbeliever]

Good Luck & Good Bye

[Marco Prozzo]

Good Luck & Good Bye

....and a chill passed through the group like a cold, damp wind let in by an open door.  The stranger had left as abruptly and mysteriously as he'd appeared.  He'd left two bits on the bar to pay for his drinks, and left the spittoon just a bit more full than it had been.  A bit of the vile brown juice stained the floor where he'd missed the pot.  That stain would never come out and would remain the legacy of the time the stranger came to town. 

And so we close another chapter in the continuing saga of AudiophileWorld.  Stay tuned for scenes from the next exciting episode.

[Disbeliever]

This is a Consultants view on tubes/valves . I think this is a pointless crusade,and I have already enumerated many of the disadvantages of thermionic valves. The bottom line for me is that if people have such a preference, then I say good luck, but if these people try to convince me that valves are in some way better, then they had better have a PH'D in electronic theory and then prove it,because I have been in both camps as a designer and user, people should not confuse the ability of valves as used in guitar amps and the deliberate induction of distortion to give rich overtones which will give a false sense of power and drive which will please the rock band player and the audience with the representation of what was replayed later as HI FI in an average living room, you simply cannot get a 3 watt triode to give the sense of scale and power of the original, or even a 12 watt leak type amplifier..Yes I've heard all about sensative speakers that have virtually no Xovers where the bass drivers have all the the hallmarks of both radial and bell breakup modes which are there because there is no proper rolloff to lose these breakup modes which all add to the so called richness of the valve/tube sound, mostly these bass drivers are paper types which are most tolerant of beakup modes  but they are still there,and how many valve amps actually meet the IEC spec to qualify for the HI FI minimum requirement ?, well not many but that doesn,t seem to matter to these valve afficanardos,then theres the problem of keeping the O/P valves balanced if using Push Pull and ageing and frequent replacement,and availability, and cost, etc etc, then there's the inherent distortion mostly even harmonic, most acceptable to the human ear, so valve lovers clearly want that particular sonic signature despite its inaccuracy, well not content with this  valve users think nothing of paying a small fortune  for a valve amplifier thats half decent, but of course there is the heating effect for cold rooms, especially useful for cold winters, which seems at the end of the day to be their only saving grace, and you may quote me.

[Marco Prozzo]

This is a Consultants view on tubes/valves . I think this is a pointless crusade,and I have already enumerated many of the disadvantages of thermionic valves.

<big snip>
, but of course there is the heating effect for cold rooms, especially useful for cold winters, which seems at the end of the day to be their only saving grace, and you may quote me.

Well, I'll agree with you on the "pointless crusade" point on both sides of the coin.  If we were all machines analyzing square waves, well, you may have an actual point somewhere in there.  The enjoyment of music by humans is so infinitely complex and highly subjective, just as is the experience and enjoyment of most things in life.  To declare your point of view, your preference, "better", while others are making inferior choices due to flawed reasoning because of their lack of experience and education....well, it's just plain silly.  You like vanilla, I like chocolate...it's just that simple (for the record, as far as tubes and transistors I have no strong position I'd care to defend - both topologies have been engaging for me in various forms)  I'm not sure why you need to defend your preference with such vehemence, and dismiss others' preferences as inferior.  That is how you are coming off to me anyway.  Indeed...good luck!

[ted_b]

This is a Consultants view on tubes/valves . I think this is a pointless crusade,and I have already enumerated many of the disadvantages of thermionic valves.

<big snip>
, but of course there is the heating effect for cold rooms, especially useful for cold winters, which seems at the end of the day to be their only saving grace, and you may quote me.

Well, I'll agree with you on the "pointless crusade" point on both sides of the coin.  If we were all machines analyzing square waves, well, you may have an actual point somewhere in there.  The enjoyment of music by humans is so infinitely complex and highly subjective, just as is the experience and enjoyment of most things in life.  To declare your point of view, your preference, "better", while others are making inferior choices due to flawed reasoning because of their lack of experience and education....well, it's just plain silly.  You like vanilla, I like chocolate...it's just that simple (for the record, as far as tubes and transistors I have no strong position I'd care to defend - both topologies have been engaging for me in various forms)  I'm not sure why you need to defend your preference with such vehemence, and dismiss others' preferences as inferior.  That is how you are coming off to me anyway.  Indeed...good luck!

Agreed.  And as I stated a few times already to this poster, his decision to pontificate in a sponsored forum dedicated to tube modding and tube equipment manufacturing (along with SS, of course) is quite rude to Dan, inconsiderate of other users here, and inappropriate overall.  Take it to another forum, please.