I spent a lot of years selling both Mid-Fi and Hi-Fi. During that time I gained intimate knowledge of gear that was both impressive and even some that was over rated.
For several years I have been using the remote volume drive of my Sony CD player to drive a computer controlled EQ and then into an amp. I decided to blow Uncle Sammys tax refund on a preamp, and set a limit in the neighborhood of $1500. After looking at all the reviews, here and the cybertheatre site. I decided to go with the 2000 ESD. I looked at the 9000, but the remote battery eating thing seemed like a pain.

I was able to pick up a pristine 2000ESD on eBay for $400 (saved $1000..yes I used an escrow service). With the reviews on this preamp so incredible, my video plan is to buy a DVD with 5.1 and switch the outputs before the power amps. This way I can use the prologic preamp to work with my vast collection of other media, and get DVD in 5.1 (there are also many outboard decoders with optical ins/outs on the market).

The Beef: Cybertheater is right...its a classic ! It sounds great, and it works great. Having used SAE parameterics I like the EQ on this, and its built like a tank. I notice a little difference between the analog converters in my CD player, and using the optical Toshlink into the 2000ESD and using its converters. Something to watch out for: the 2000ESD has a digital gain control for the optical inputs, if you dont adjust it carefully you will get a loud pop when Madonna, Metallica or Mannheim Steamroller overdrives the converters..I ended up at -12db and have had no more of that.

Another big plus for me is the massive amount of control I get, but it can be operated by this months girlfriend (an issue for me as I am "shallow" and prefer blondes). It has an SVHS & RCA input for quick hookups of temporary stuff hidden under the front pannel. The learning remote is great, but does not do the disk skip for CD changers (there may be a way that I have not found yet)

2000 has digital inputs, unlike the 1000. As a result, all Some as*swipe wrote "por-logic decoding is done in digital domain, resulting in smoother pans etc." but this statement is false. I have owned both the 1000 and 2000 and they are IDENTICAL in their digital in/out capabilities. The ONLY differences are cosmetic, the reverb quality, the bit depth, and the number of independent EQ channels - THAT IS IT!

These reviewers are so lame. THIS PREAMP IS FAR FROM OBSOLETE - HOW MANY FU*CKING DVD DO YOU SEE AT YOUR LOCAL VIDEO STORE!!!!!!!!!!!??????!!!!

'Analog surround is dead' -yeah, tell me another one! LOL

Analog surround kicks ass with the 2000 - you really don't need DVD. You will NEVER find ANY DVD preamp with the flexibility of the 2000. It has independent EQ and very detailed reverb tweaking FOR EACH AND EVERY CHANNEL, IN 10 preset and 10 user banks.

This preamp has flexibility out the as*s!!!

2000 has digital inputs, unlike the 1000. As a result, all por-logic decoding is done in digital domain, resulting in smoother pans etc.

For its time, it was a very nice Dolby ProLogic Unit that sounded better than comparable units.

Bad engineering quality. hardpaper board even for the digital. power supply chips get *hot* and kill the boards. cable all over inside rather than a clean set up

Right now, as of september 2001, the Pre-Amp is disassembled into its parts.
After 3 years of more or less daily use, the unit started to have graphical artifacts in the display. all segments of the display were flashing and a few month later, the center channel stopped to work completely.

Dissassembling brought to light that the unit is of bad material quality. For the price, I would have expected more durability, less heat and better engineering quality.

I dont know as of yet wether I might be able to fix it. And I dont know if I want to fix it, it really is old. It cant handle DVD PCM streams, and analog Dolby is over in the days of DVD.

Similar Products Used:

TA-V8A

Extremelly clean sound with extensive programming feature.

Very complicated to operate; I had it since 1993. It took forever to figure out how the controls work.

I started experiencing the pop in the left front channel. I have moved the rca jacks a lit bit, and it appears fixed for now. With a fine user control, I would have given it a 5. The remote is easier to use than the front panel.

Similar Products Used:

none

I happened to find a rare bargain on this piece and picked it up for $250 as an open box deal from a local mid-fi store. My previous setup was a mid-priced CD player hooked up to the analog inputs of an old Hafler pre-amp. After putting the Sony in my setup, I decided to leverage the Sony's D/A conversion and ran a digital coax from my CD using it only as a transport.
My old hafler had a very clean sound to it, and I'd argue it sounded better than the sony when running analog inputs to the pre-amp. This is because sony performs all functions in the digital domain and has to convert analog sources to digital first. There is an option however to bypass all DSP functions and the A/D conversion, but even with this, I think my 20 yr old Hafler sounds better than the Sony.

However, after hooking up my CD player to the digital inputs of the Sony - there is no doubt that the sound is much improved. I can hear details in music that I never heard before. The imaging is also much improved, giving me a true sense of a soundstage being present. I haven't heard other stand-alone DAC's, but i'm very impressed with what the Sony sounds like for music listening.

Beyond having an excellent D/A, the Sony provides the best Pro-Logic decoding I've heard to date (at least when compared to A/V receivers). Simply put, I didn't know Pro-Logic could sound this good. I'm sure the new 5.1 formats sound better, but in terms of Pro-Logic, this pre-amp does a super job.

Finally, beyond all this, the Sony provides so many DSP functions that I can't even begin to list them - but simply put - you can tweak the sound until its just right.

The pre-amp retails for around $1000, and I've seen used ones for around $600-700. Even at these prices, I think the Sony is a tremendous bargain compared to some of the other stuff out there. Definately 5 stars.

I got a TA-E1000ESD and have used it for 6 years. The features and flexibility of this unit is impressive. Audio, video and especially super-video switching. The DSP provide interesting effects, and it allows user to program his own, that actually works!
However, I wouldn't rate the sound quality very high. I once had the chance to compare its sound to an Audio
Research solid state preamp (costed about $1600), and Music Fedelity tube preamp, and by-pass (using a CD
player with volume control). Compared to by-pass and more expensive audiophile preamps, the coloration of
this unit is obvious: less transparancy, less air, more harsh. Maybe that is all you can expect from a
Japanese preamp. But I am slightly disappointed since the unit retail for $1000, not cheap.
I am currently using it as a surround sound processor and have all my video equipments connected to it. In
this application it shines. The coloration of its preamp section can only be heard from high quality audio
recordings.

I owned a TA-E2000ESD preamplifier/DSP for more than 5 years and I enjoyed this machine for all this past years, very reliable electronics despite being made by a company which has a controversial reputation (that should not be the case) among audiophiles. However recently made some upgrade to an preamplifier from Madrigal labs (ML 380S) and had the oportunity during the buying process to compare my Sony device with these more expensive components. Then I realized that I was missing a significant portion of the music (my audition is stereo-based ----> front speakers), the E2000ESD was removing part of the music !! .....if you want to test this without going throw the painful process of buying or loaning a system from a hi-fi dealer, go ahead and do a direct conexion of your CD player to your amplifier (s) if you are lucky to have such a CD player (Many hi-fi player will allow you to do that --- because they have variable output). Played well recorded CD's obviously the same ones back and forth and will not take to long (seconds - minutes) to figure out the difference. I am not critizing the preamp/DSP, I paid for a new one almost the MRSP, however there is better sound out there. This SONY was of excellent quality, not one single problem, the remote is quite complete and the options with the DSP have no equal, but there are better DSP out there like PAV/PDSD from PROCEED, the DSP from Classe, Meridian, etc in terms of the stereo sound quality (more expensive...). RELIABILITY: 5 FEATURES: 5 STEREO SOUND: 3 .... .....just above average.
My last word goes to those who owned one........ the E2000ESD is a good machine but you can get better stereo sound with a pure preamplifier (active and passive ...>of course)..like one from ADCOM which I heard before and has the best sound for the price, if you are not concern about stereo but surround sound and some simulated ambiences it is an excellent piece.

(PD: I am selling mine...if interested reply to email ..US $ 400 non-negotiable, with box and manuals...mint.

FINAL RATING: 3 (BECAUSE THIS EVALUATION IS ABOUT QUALITY OF SOUND.

AV

This preamp is brilliant. I have had mine for 6 years and it has never, EVER, given me any sort of problems whatsoever despite rough usage. What it has given me is exceptional tone with sweet, warm bass, punchy highs, and strong mids. The DSP functions are very effective (just as effective as those on the new 9000 preamp). I am running it with 2 other sony ES amps (50's for the rear and a 330 for front)...sounds great through my Carver ALS3+ ribbon speakers. I have a velodyne F1500 sub for a little more bass presence (Carvers are good, but not perfect :-)

I spent a long time researching A/V preamps before finally finding a used Sony ES 2000 for $450 at the Audioshopper website. This was back in February of '99.Overall I'd say it was a good a investment. It has plenty inputs including digital ones, and outputs, including two subwoofer outs. The DSP functions make this a very versatile preamp, and the Prologic really puts you into the movie action.
Main drawback is that this isn't a very high output preamp. Makes it a bad match for my Polk Audio speakers, so they may be traded up for a pair of Klipschs or Phase Techs someday. Also the sub out isn't adjustable.
I haven't had the reliability problems that some of the other reviewers have had. Should serve me well for several years. 4 out of 5 stars.