bundee1
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2002
- Posts
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I just received the SACDMODS SONY 222ES I bought from tbdoah (great seller BTW). I was typing out a long review when I got an email, switched screens and lost all the material. Anyway here it is.
SACDMODS SONY 222ES:
Highs - Very smooth, never harsh, glaring, or bright
Mids - The best part, vocals are focused and smooth.
Bass - tight, but not as pronounced as I would like.
Soundstage - without exaggeration it is bigger than my apartment. Some instruments with SACD come from the top corners of my apartment.Very 3 dimensional sound on certian discs. Instruments and sounds are very easy to place front to left, top to bottom, back to front. The image never gets congested unless the amp starts to run out of steam. When there are a lot of instruments they dont run into each other, instead they appear in indiviaual layers.
other notes: I hate the way guitar electric guitar sounds. It sounds very thin. The music sounds slower as well. I guess the attack isnt as good as the Music Hall. The music is very easy to listen to. There is less fatigue than with the Music Hall. The Sony transport is very fast and works as you would expect.
Music Hall MMF CD25:
Highs - smooth, powerful, sometimes bright
Mids - this players strong point. Vocals are pronounced and focused. Joni Mitchell sounds beautiful on this player.
Bass - there, but there is room for improvement.
Soundstage - This player has a good soundstage although not as good as the Sony. Instruments are easily located from left to right and top to bottom. There is very little image depth. When the music gets busy details get drowned out by the more powerful instruments.
other notes - This player has much better attack than the Sony. Maybe the little top end edge it has helps. Dance music is great, as is rock. All guitars sound very natural and have a lot of energy. Vocals are pronounced and centered in the image. The transport is durable but funky as in when you reverse 1 track, it doesnt go to the beginning of the track, it goes back to the previous track. The aluminum face is sexy as hell and the low profile is great for fitting in my av furniture.
Verdict: I really love my Music Hall MMF CD25 and the synergy it has in my system (in the sig) is hard to replace. For the $540 I paid for it 3 years ago it sounds like a high end machine and I have gotten my moneys worth. I love the way guitars and vocals sound. Pardon the cliche but it gets my toe tapping to the beat. The Sony beats this player in all the other departments though and it plays SACDs. For the price I paid for it used it is a great machine as well/ The cd playback is good enough were the difference between redbook and SACD isnt so great anymore. On my old unmodded Sony DVP NS500V the difference between redbook and SACD was astonishing.
Music used for comparison in order:
The Free Design - Raindrops - CD
Bootsy Collins - Glory B The Funks on Me - CD
Steely Dan - Cant Buy A Thrill - CD
Santana - Abraxas - SACD
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove - CD
Hector Lavoe - Greatest Hits - CD
Isaac Hayes - Shaft OST - SACD
Various Artists - The Sugar Hill Records Story - CD
I hope this helps.
SACDMODS SONY 222ES:
Highs - Very smooth, never harsh, glaring, or bright
Mids - The best part, vocals are focused and smooth.
Bass - tight, but not as pronounced as I would like.
Soundstage - without exaggeration it is bigger than my apartment. Some instruments with SACD come from the top corners of my apartment.Very 3 dimensional sound on certian discs. Instruments and sounds are very easy to place front to left, top to bottom, back to front. The image never gets congested unless the amp starts to run out of steam. When there are a lot of instruments they dont run into each other, instead they appear in indiviaual layers.
other notes: I hate the way guitar electric guitar sounds. It sounds very thin. The music sounds slower as well. I guess the attack isnt as good as the Music Hall. The music is very easy to listen to. There is less fatigue than with the Music Hall. The Sony transport is very fast and works as you would expect.
Music Hall MMF CD25:
Highs - smooth, powerful, sometimes bright
Mids - this players strong point. Vocals are pronounced and focused. Joni Mitchell sounds beautiful on this player.
Bass - there, but there is room for improvement.
Soundstage - This player has a good soundstage although not as good as the Sony. Instruments are easily located from left to right and top to bottom. There is very little image depth. When the music gets busy details get drowned out by the more powerful instruments.
other notes - This player has much better attack than the Sony. Maybe the little top end edge it has helps. Dance music is great, as is rock. All guitars sound very natural and have a lot of energy. Vocals are pronounced and centered in the image. The transport is durable but funky as in when you reverse 1 track, it doesnt go to the beginning of the track, it goes back to the previous track. The aluminum face is sexy as hell and the low profile is great for fitting in my av furniture.
Verdict: I really love my Music Hall MMF CD25 and the synergy it has in my system (in the sig) is hard to replace. For the $540 I paid for it 3 years ago it sounds like a high end machine and I have gotten my moneys worth. I love the way guitars and vocals sound. Pardon the cliche but it gets my toe tapping to the beat. The Sony beats this player in all the other departments though and it plays SACDs. For the price I paid for it used it is a great machine as well/ The cd playback is good enough were the difference between redbook and SACD isnt so great anymore. On my old unmodded Sony DVP NS500V the difference between redbook and SACD was astonishing.
Music used for comparison in order:
The Free Design - Raindrops - CD
Bootsy Collins - Glory B The Funks on Me - CD
Steely Dan - Cant Buy A Thrill - CD
Santana - Abraxas - SACD
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove - CD
Hector Lavoe - Greatest Hits - CD
Isaac Hayes - Shaft OST - SACD
Various Artists - The Sugar Hill Records Story - CD
I hope this helps.
