Hey Incognito,

Haven't seen or heard the new generation of Denon units, but I'm a bit surprised that the sound you heard originally classified as "Bright". I've always felt the Denon players were a bit "soft" in their presentation, which is nice if you have speakers that are a bit bright. It sounds like after you recalibrated, you may have gotten a more Denon Like sound. I recent article comparing the Denon 5900 to the Pioneer DV-59avi(Thomas Norton, UAV, I think), suggested that the Pioneer may be a tad more detailed which some might perceive as "bright" It might be a matter of letting things settle in a bit and getting used to the different sound of the Denon. Check to see if your player has a "source direct" function. I didn't see it during a quick look at the manual, but this feature will bypass any DSD to PCM conversions that may take place inside the player (i.e. for bass management). Since it appears you are using an ICBM, you should not need any conversion to play back SACD's. Source direct should give you a "cleaner" feed to your ICBM with less chance of any unwanted conversions. Sounds like you may just prefer the sound of your Pioneer.