Good built, Excellent sound, wide range of connections, 5 rears warranty, cheap

Remore control, face lite cannot be turned off, run hot even when it is in stand buy, no DVD, super audi provision

This is a high performance gear at a very good price. Sonically, it outperforms most if not all the high end receivers and some real good stand alone processor/pre amps. I do not believe it is as good as Krell or alike in that price range and those who say after upgrade, it is better or as good, they are ignorant. Do not be mistaken, a comparison has to be scientific or it does not count. I tell you, this unit will blow minds of those who have been living with receivers all their lives and that is just that. Please do not go further with your wishful thoughts and wills. The remote is not as bad as a lot of owners claim. For any thing, the major problem is its weight and battery consumption. But then again, all LCD are power hungry. I would like direct access menus and do not want to deal with sub menus. The brightens is fine and its gets the job done.
Compared with those gears like Krell, Parasound etc., well, the mid to high treble of the Sony is some what grainier indeed (or, is not as ultra smooth as the true high end units.) You pay for refinements when it comes to real deals and that is the way it goes.
Do not get me wrong, I have listened to lots of equipment for long period of time. I absolutely adore this Sony and is one of the best I have had in last 30 years. And I have had lots of them. Yes I have drained lots of green down. But that is beside the point.
The Sony TA-E9000Es/TA-N9000ES combo. is the top choice for under $2500 and leave it at that.

Sound quality- It sound crisp, detailed, full. It create a deep sound stage but not as wide. Vocals are nice, clean and natural and has no tendency to elevate the vocals ( a flaw of lots of audio gears.) The presentation is on the forward side. That is to say, you are better off to line it up with natural or warm sounding speakers, wires and players to achieve an audiophile quality sound.
Well that excludes lots of speakers that you all have.
This Sony is not really intended for night club type of sound. So, get good speakers that are at least in the same price bracket as the Sony combo.

I like:
B&W, NHT 1.5, VT-2 speakers
Monster M 2.2s Speaker cables, M1000i interconnects
The above work extremely well with the Sony combo.

Hey, have a good listening experience.

I will answer good questions. malimohammadi@earthlink.net

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Many-from krell down to inexpensive Sony

Audio quality, Upgrade able, Price/performance

Battery life, Technical support

This is one of excellent preamp for everyone. 2 channel sound is excellent, sound stage very defineable, sound character is natural, vocal is realistic. only drawback is bass in very low, the bass is sometime lack of power punch.

Multichannel sound is one of the strengh of this -pre, Sony have a good job on the pre, high detail is crip & clear, dialog is defineable in every position, bass is deep & power. Thank for 3 Dsp.

I tell everyone for the truth, like every audio component, you need to match every component in your system with this pre.

Hope new fimware to release soon.

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Marantz AV9000, Proceed PAV

Build quality, Price/Perfomance ratio

noise floor not as low as some, remote won't learn

I am an audio junkie that went shopping for video equipment.
I was not looking to replace my tube gear, as I love the natural compression of tube amplifiers. This was a family use issue. First, I have little use for high-end shop sales personel, as what ever they carry is the "best". The term "best" is relative to many variables. My first question to them is "do you play an instrument and record yourself?" The discussion ends there. If you play, record and mix, you know what I mean. So don't be swayed by price only. There is not necessarily a linear relationship between price and performance, especially with 4 and 5 figure equipment. Rotel is a perfect brand that is under-rated.
To keep it short and sweet, when compared to simular price range equipment, and much more expensive units, to me the Sony offered the best return for the money. A subjective test is difficult since amplifers, speakers, cables, and acoustics all affect the outcome. Even your line voltage can do nasty things. Your experience may differ. I liked the Sony for build quality, and sonic attributes in a simular application compared to others. Again I did't expect it to replace my Melos tube gear for good old two channel stereo. But for a family movie-viewing application, the unit perfoms quite well. Only you can be the judge of what you like and look for in equipment, but the E9000es deserves your consideration if you are shopping!

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Proceed, Marantz, Parasound, Yamaha, Denon

Price, performance

Hardware upgrade to SCD

Most people talk about the hiss becuase they don't
read the past review carefully. If you plug your
power source into a good power conditioner/gernerator or your home's power source do not get polluted, and you will not hear the hiss.

It sounds great, in fact it sounds better and better.

Hmmmmmmmm

This is a quick post to counter the claim that plugging the unit into a power conditioner will eliminate the hiss.

It won't. I use a PS300 ( soon PS600 w/ Multiwave & 20amp Neutrik Powercon outlets ) and although quieter it is still there and at all volumes.

However if something is playing at >-85db I seriously doubt you'll hear it. I play HH at -17db using the N9000ES in BTL mode and when music is playing you can't really hear it at all unless you sit next to the speaker and wait for the quietest point in music / film. In which case noise is the least of your problems.

Oh yea buy a Powerplant if you want to hear this unit and your other equipment sound uncomparably better.

I really like this Preamp, I doubt I'll upgrade it even if the 1.22 firmware doesn't add EX Decoding ( not OUTPUT decoding ). Actually what is the additional centre jack for anyway?

D.Jay / Jonathan

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Too many. Far too many.

Sound Quality, Parmetric E.Q., Built in active crossover

Difficult to set up

Have had this unit for about a year now and I've held off giving my review until I got used to operating it, so here goes.

Best I've heard so far, don't understand the problems everybody says about the remote, mine's fine with 1.18c firmware upgrade.By the way there is no sonic improvment to the 1.18c upgrade it only makes some menu changes and adds selectable 1 or 2 way remote operation to conserve battery life. Even with the old firmware the remote was bright enough, made my own docking station to eliminate battery consumption. The lip sync problem other people have been talking about has nothing to do with Sony, my brother has experienced these problems with a few of his DVD's and he doesn't own any sony equipment.

Some improvements I'd like to see.
Ø Tape Monitor switch added
Ø Better manual
Ø Product Support from people who have actually used this unit.
Ø More DSP modes that allow four speaker output for music(stereo) something like "Quad".

But overall I can't complain it takes some time to learn to operate this thing but once you get the hang of it it's a beautiful piece of equipment. Think I'll buy the matching amp too. Wouldn't trade this unit for one costing twice the price, FIVE STARS PLUS.

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Carver, Amber, PS Audio

See previous reviews

See previous reviews

OK this is in response to those who truly belive that the firmware upgrades have had, and will have, no effect on sound quality.

1.04 fixed Lip Sync issues w/ Dolby Digital bitstreams.

This was in the release notes of that firmware upgrade, and is also mentioned in the 1.10c rel notes i think.

1.18c definately reduced the noise floor. Most E9000ES users have commented on it, if you didn't notice then you are in the minority ;)

There was seemed to be improvements to the DSPs ( especially Virtual Theatre B ) and ALSO in Stereo. Many claimed that this was impossible. If that is the case then WHY would Sony claim that the E9000ES upgrade kit ( 1.22 & new remote ) adds

Cinema Studio EX A,B,C
Virtual Matrix 6.1

Why can't you improve existing DSP modes yet you CAN add entirely new ones AND additional decoding?

They ALSO say 1.22 has improved 2 Channel Stereo ( "Surround off" ). First a number of people heard & reported a obvious improvement ( especially w/ 1.18 ) from the firmware upgrades to which others counter with the claim that a firmware upgrade can't possibly affect 2 channel Stereo. Sony would seem to disagree w/ you there ;)

I'm sure that either I, or someone else will post as soon as we've figured out how to order the damn thing!

D.Jay

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Even more than before

as per previous review

as per previous review

I've been reading the threads on these sites and (audioreview.com and ez board) for some months now and have experienced some of the problems other people have been writing about' like noise floor and remote problems (too many to list) as well as the secret meaning of the firmware upgrades available. I've written letters and called every one at sony until I bugged them so much they finally started getting me in touch with higher level or technical personnel however it seems according to sony to be impossible to talk directly to any kind of engineer (software or hardware) as they are all and I mean all Japanese none of which speak English, in fact the head of customer service (Jose Padilla) expressed the likewise frustration of the communication gap and assured me that that the information to my listed questions was verified accurate by at least two sources at Sony Corp of America. Below is a condensed list of my questions to Sony America

List of questions to Sony
o Will there be a upgrade remote that will download more than 200 CD titles available for sell or trade or software revision to fix existing problems with the TP-501E remote commander
o Is there or has there ever been a firmware/software upgrade to lower the noise floor on the TA-E9000ES outputs. And what if any fix is available for this problem
o What specifically dose Firmware upgrade versions 1.10 and 1.18c do and could either possibly enhance Audio quality in any way.
o Is there a 1.22 upgrade available and what does it do and how can i get it.

Now here are the answers I've received from Sony most of which I've been able to verify my self through my own experience and correspondences with other Sony TA-E9000ES/TA-N9000ES owners and dealers. Believe me I leave no stone unturned when I want truthful answers so don't take what I'm writing as just my opinion and don't "shoot the messenger" I'm only relaying what I've found to be true.

Answers / Solutions

o There is a remote upgrade so to speak for the TP501E that will download more than 200 disc titles and has improved menus and more updated IR codes learning capabilities and macros. The model is TP-503E (about 400.00 US dollars) and is the remote being shipped with the latest manufactured versions of the DA777ES Receiver, don't believe me, look in the latest (fall/wint 2001 edition) Crutchfield catalog page 96 and look at the remote picture next to the 777 you can barely read the remote model # at the lower right corner of the remote "TP-503E" with an extra trademark symbol to the right of the model#. The previous catalog clearly shows a different remote (page 104 sum 2000) next to the 777. However Crutchfield does not sell the remote separately


o There has never been any firmware upgrade 1.10tru 1.18c that has or will lower the noise floor, or in any way improve audio quality. (Better bass, tighter, cleaner, better separation etc...) And this I know to be true because I spent two hours listening to various test signals and music carefully marking volume position and every EQ setting and quick as possible downloaded 1.18c from my version pre 1.10 (took about 15 min) and again using the same test tones and music in the same order with the same exact volume settings with and without equalization and there was absolutely no difference (and this was before i talked to Sony and after I read all the glowing reviews of the sonic improvements for 1.18c) even expecting a sound improvement I couldn't hear one and believe me I wanted to. So let's put an end to these rumors that a Firmware upgrade intended for service problems (lip synch and remote two/one way operation option) have somehow magically improved sound quality. It's like snake oil it's supposed to cure everything but actually it only does what you are psychologically predisposed to believe. So take a sugar pill instead it's cheaper.


o As for 1.22 upgrade again with that da*n freaking Japanese version American gap Sony America cannot even find out about the availability of this version and seem to believe that there are hardware differences between the American and Japanese TA-E9000ES models and they say there is no EX 6.1 upgrade available now or planned for the future, in-fact they claim that all Firmware upgrades are service related only and should only be installed if you have been instructed by sony service center. That's why they are so stingy with info, they don't want every body sending their units back for warranty firmware upgrade unless they are experiencing problems. There is no way to confirm any information on 1.22 upgrade because it's only available on the Japanese market but it makes sense that it would follow suite of the other upgrades as being service oriented, following that logic I would have to say that EX 6.1 capability is nothing more than hopeful speculation and there is no real proof that it exists for application of units (TA-E9000ES) in the English speaking world. Sorry if this info has burst anyone's bubble I would love for these upgrades to do what everyone has been talking about as much as anybody. Fire back all the comments you want about sonic improvements with these upgrades and collectively swear that you can hear the difference all you want but don't bother convincing me (Don't be so week minded "your Jedi mind tricks will not work on me") I've spent close to a hundred hours of research on these subjects and no unfounded comments based on someone's opinion or hearing will so easily remove me from all this hard research work, so new readers and users of this equipment beware of all the hype about these upgrades and try to get the new remote especially if you have a Sony mega changer and more than 200 discs.
PS
check your own ears robert

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as per previous review

lots and lots and lots of sound fields which can be almost infintely varied

the remote takes awhile to grow on you - but it does eventually

Wow - I bought a second one after hearing the first one - the first one goes into an AV system the second into a surround stereo-only system....I gather from what these things are commonly going for that this was quite a deal. One question for anyone out there. I bought these as demos and one came with a RMTP501e remote - the other came with a RM-TP503 - looks EXACTLY the same physically but is a learning remote which infact does NOT control the 9000es. I'm in the process of getting the seller to replace it now - BUT it has got a better display than the 501e and if someone can tell me how to get it to work without spending 6 hours programming in the zillion sound fields in learning mode I'd sure like to know how...

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Still the best price:performance I've seen :)

Sony "Support"

The VUCD upgrade kit ( including Version 2.01 firmware, additional simplified 1-way remote and null-modem cable ) is available now

http://pub7.ezboard.com/faussiedvdandhtforumsonytae9000esinformationforum.showMessage?topicID=112.topic

I've had the upgrade for over a week now, so what are you waiting for? :)

D.Jay