sound, quality

^@$#^@% remote gotta love the pronto though

This unit replaced an adcom 565 preamp(NON AV) and the sound quality on music is first rate plus it is an AV preamp. my other equipment is Adcom GFA 565 x2 monoblock , Adcom adcom GFA 2535/l 3 channel amp, Mirage 3si, mirge MC-si center MBPS satellites and BPS 150 sub, mitsu VCR dish satellite, adcom tuner, Sony 550 DVD, Mitsu 52" projection TV, pronto remote( willl add phillips CDR 775 on order)
only problem is that wehn listening to DVD movie I have to listen at -20 dbs for moderate to slightly loud lsiten levals if I listen to Cd's -30 to -25 is VERY LOUD. Anybody have a similar experience? DZ

Read my previous posts ;)

......

"Power conditioners (another snake oil fraud)"

Errrrrm.

Have you even HEARD of a Powerplant? PS Audio ( the company who make it ) will agree that power "conditioners" create as many problems as the solve, but it isn't a conditoner. It's a AC Regenerator ( similar to what the Mark Levison £6000+ amps use ) and produces PERFECT Sine Waves at any frequency from 50-120hz w/ 1000x lower impedence ( at least ) than a wall outlet and w/ only 0.025 ( MAX and that's guaranteed ) THD distortion.

And it DOES reduce the hiss, but not eliminate it as a previous poster claimed a power conditioner could.

On the other hand any thing you power using it sounds a million times better.

Considering the Multiwave upgrade ( uses Partial Square waves or Sequential Waves ) is supposed to make a similar improvement............

Check www.psaudio.com OR look at the reviews on www.audioreview.com under Others/Power Conditioners/P/PS300. 33 5 star reviews must mean somthing.......

I realize this isn't E9000ES specific but this kind of crazy misinformation does no-one any favors. Audiophiles may be good for a laugh, but at least they are informed ;)

D.Jay

Similar Products Used:

......

I have read most of the posting, and will comment based on actual measurement of the unit and listening experience.

1) The unit is excessively noisy in the hi-freq spectrum, with an S/N ratio of about 75dB. This is sub-par. Power conditioners (another snake oil fraud) will have no effect on this hiss as it is intrinsic to the design.

2) The remote stinks

3) The bass management system allows flexible crossover settings, but the 12dB low-pass and 6 dB high-pass slopes are inadequate and a disgrace for a hi-end product. I had to add a Bryston 10B to get adequate bass management capability. With 3 32-bit processors, Sony should have done much better.

4) No 12v trigger for amp relays, screens, etc.

These are the major negatives.

The positives include first-rate DAC processing, with the power of AD's Sharc processor eliminating any dynamic distortion propensities even with the most difficult DTS passage. It's 32-bit floating point architecture makes sure of that.

The DSP fields are pretty good, and the stereo matrix enhancement works well for 2-channel sources. The digital EQ for any soundfield is incredibly powerful, but I wonder how many people need that flexibility. I would have traded it for better bass management, HDCD capability, etc.

Regarding the v1.18c upgrade. mY understanding is that this dealt with remote functionality. How some of you hear major sonic changes is way beyond my ability to fathom. I love audiphiles - always good for a laugh.

The same goes for the unit's sonics. It has none, nore does any other flat, low distortion amplification device. The unit's fine low-level digital linearity and freedom from excess noise (EN) keep digital distortion artifacts well below our ability to hear them.

Construction is first-rate, reliability has been 100%.

I wish Sony had a more active update program, and should canvass their owners for upgrade needs. Their website does not really speak to audio enthusiasts, and their support at the customer call centers must be oriented toward the Walkman crowd. ES owners should get to ES-quality support staff. Sony just may be too big, and the audi-pile market too small, for them to be responsive to our needs.

Value, build quality, performance for DVDs. You get a lot for your money with this one.

Remote - I use a Pronto for day to day, but have to use the Sony remote for setup and it turns off too quickly. Trying to juggle a sound level meter and two remotes is hard enough. Also, the manual could explain some things better. I still can't figure out the equalization adjustments.

I'm very happy with this product except I seem to have a problem with the bass management. I have my fronts, center, and surrounds set to "small" and have the crossover frequencies set to 90db. I figure my sub can handle the stuff below 90db better than my other speakers. For setup I'm using the "AVIA Guide to Home Theater" setup DVD. This disk has a set of test signals that, for each speaker starts at 200 db and slowly drops to 20db so you can determine how well your speakers and sub handle the crossover frequency. Unfortionately, I'm getting base out of all my speakers close down to 20db or whatever the speakers can reproduce. I guess I'll have to take it in for some of that famous Sony service I've been reading about in this thread.

Other than this hopefully fixable problem, I'm delighted with this unit. I use it mostly for watching movies on DVD in Dolby Digital or DTS and rarely listen to music. DVDs sound spectacular. My only wish is that Sony would make a decent one-way remote for setting this thing up. I'd gladly buy it.

Lots of Features

None

I have heard others talking about the noise floor being too high. How exactly does one define this so-called "noise floor" ... I have this preamp feeding an Aragon 4004 Amp ... and at -20db setting ... I have to go and put my ear on the speakers (Mirage M3-Si) to hear a low hissing sound ... is that what it is you are all talking about ?

If not ... please advice on how to test it.

Thanks !

Similar Products Used:

Aragon Preamp

Refer to past review

same as above

I was doing a curious experimentation on this preamp and its tandem 5channel amp (with its variable mode on the 2 channel stereo and its extra channel). When I listen to audio only mode, i either use the normal front 2ch or the the extra 2 channel, but i have to transfer the interconnect coming from the front pre-out of the preamp. Either option, the amp will give the same power. So, at one time, i plugged the interconnect of the front pre-out of the preamp onto the extra 2 chan of the power amp leaving the normal two front input of the amp open or unuse. When i played a dvd video and set the power amp at 5 channel mode, all channels still sounded as in normal set-up.
What i mean is if i have tried to connect the front pre-out of the pre-amp to both the normal 2 front channel of the power amp and its extra 2 channel thru a "Y" connector, would it make a difference? In other words, is the extra 2 channel and the normal 2 channel have the same transistors capacitors, circuitry or amplifiers inside the unit? Or, Would they have separate construction at all? Or, are they in way brigable if connected thru "Y" connector? I hope somebody who is knowledgble about this unit can explain its technical implications. Thanks u.

Similar Products Used:

same as above

Firmware, Flexibility with rear speaker placement, multitude of capabilities.

Awkward remote that has to pointed almost directly at pre-amp pro.

Theres not much more that I can say that has not already been said. So I will keep it short. I would like to see sony utilize that mysterious mic input, by offering room equalization through a firmware upgrade. I could care less about Dolby Digital ES; for right now anyway. Does anyone out thier have any info about the possibility of SONY providing an upgrade to utilize a microphone for room EQ. Room acoustics is the most difficult thing to get right, and some rooms never sound good simply because of thier shape and dimensions. Other than that Price to performance ratio is the best of any pre amp pro out there.

P.S. To the person who stated comparisons about a piece of equipment must be scientific to be valid doesn't understand that subjective variables will always make the overall evaluation different for each individual to a certain degree. Then add in the equation every link in the whole chain, coupled with room acoustics, makes A and B comparisons a very subjective thing. For instance my SONY is coupled with a ADCOM amp changing that one link in the chain changes everything sonically. Who is to say what sounds better? Increasing price doesn't increase performance in a linear manner. For you to say some reviewers are ignorant shows your own ignorance.

Performance/price

remote(I don't use it)

I have used this product for a years, and would said
this product has supper value. This product save me
money and spend my money wisely on the better pure silver cable, and make my system overall performance to the utmost. Watch your cable and power source. They are the killer. Sony TAE 9000ES definitly a five stars product.

Upgradability, sound, auto-decoding, price, many others

None really except for the remote

I just wanted to offer my comments regarding the 9000 after almost a year of use, and the 18C software upgrade. I use the box for home theater use only.

The 9000 has performed just great, certainly better than the several other processors I have auditioned. Channel seperation and clarity are both as good as it gets. Auto Decode makes it easy for everyone in the family to use (the Pronto helps a lot). I really can't think of a shortcoming on the home theater side. As others have mentioned it does run a little warm but I haven't seen any side effects.

The 18C upgrade is WELL worth the efforts. There is a definite noticeable positive impact on center channel and surround clarity. My wife (better ears than mine) asked immediately "what have you changed" during the first DVD I put on. We've watched several now since the upgrade and each sounded better than before. Strangely, we did not notice a difference on the DTS Hell Freezes Over disc. Keep in mind we were very happy with the sound before the upgrade so any improvement was a bonus. It just turned out to be a more dramatic improvement than we expected.

Highly recommended product, highly recommended upgrade.

Other Equipment Includes:
ATI1505 5 X 150 amplifier
NHT 1A front right and left
NHT VT-1 center channel
NHT Dipole surrounds
Velodyne 1012 subwoofer
Toshiba 2109 DVD player
Zenith Pro851 projector
Pronto remote
Monster Power 2500 conditioner
Monster and Esoteric cables

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Sherwood, Sony (preamps),Pioneer Elite receiver

Best pre-amp value on the market.

Remote

Well folks, I just got back from a week long stay in New York. While there I visited Harvey on West 45th Street in midtown Manhattan which bills itself as "Not your ordinary electronics store." It is true, as I saw more high end equipment brands than I have ever seen under one roof. Unfortunately, however, I had an experience with salesmen in the store that has killed my interest in high end audio, but at the same time confirmed my impression of the sonic value of the TA-E9000ES. I went into Harvey's with the intent of purchasing the Krell Home Theater Standard to match my Krell KAV-500 amp. While the doorman who greated me made me quite welcomed, the salesman was arrogant, rude, and unknowledgeable. His first question to me was "Are you ready to buy today?" You guest it, it turned me off although I did not show it. After letting him know that my purchase would be detemined by whether or not I thought it was appreciably better sounding than my 9000, he let me audition it with music I had on me, a new Tom Grant CD (This is smooth jazz with a killer recording). The Krell was connected to the Krell KAV-250a along with a Pioneer Elite 09 DVD player, and the speakers were Vienna Acoustic Beetohvan. I think this equipment exceeds mine in price which consist of the 9000 along with the Krell amp (KAV-500), Sony S7700 DVD player, and the Infinity Composition Prelude speakers. But, upon playing the Krell Home Theater Standard, I immediately noticed the music was on bright side of sounding detailed with the individual instruments sounding bright, but artificially so and sounding very very digital, almost like a first generation digital product. Harvey also sells the 9000 and I asked the saleman if he'd heard it with the 1.18c upgrade, and he did not know what I was talking about and arrogantly stated that whatever the upgrade was about, it will never make the Sony TA-E9000ES sound as good as the $6,000.00 Krell HTS. Maybe he thought he was talking to a chump, but as a former hi-fi counsultant, I completely dismissed his opinion. From then on all of the saleman's comments was demeaning and he constantly equated price with performance. I know personally that you can get an excellant product for less money if you know what to buy. For example, look in Cyber Theater on the net and you will read an article published in 1997 where Greg Rogers, current editor of The Perfect Vision, reviewed the Sony TAE-2000ESD, and opinioned it was better than the Lexicon of its day, the Proceed PAV, the Fosgate, and the Angstom which all cost thousands more and were marketed at the time as being the best of the best in pre-amps much like the Krell, Lexicon, Meridian, and Thetas are marketed today. In any event, I made a mental note of the sonic charateristics of the Krell HTS, and when I returned home to North Carolina, I immediately played the same compositions I played while in Harvey's. There was a wamth and detail with the Sony TA-E9000ES that simply was absent from the Krell HTS. I know my Preludes are different from the Vienna Acoustic Beetovan speakers, but, the sonic characteristic were so different on the 9000 as oppose to the Krell HTS as to make consideration of the Krell for purchasing to be foolish at best. The Sony TA-E9000ES is simply the most exceptional value pre-pro controller on the market. Someone commented that the 1.18c software can't enhance the sound. They are mistaken as the software can change the algorythm of the unit which affects the sound. Sony is a hugh company with resources a small company can't compete with, and with the economies of scales, Sony can make a product better for less than these small companies. The super rich can buy Krell and Theta and have bragging rights over how much they paid for a unit. But, while I'm not rich, I can afford the Krell HTS. However, at the same time, I refuse to waste money and as far as I'm concerned, the TA-E9000ES with the 1.18c upgrade is sonically better that the Krell HTS, the Lexicon DC-2 and MC-1, the Thetas and other high end units under $10,000.00. The units over this amount simply are purchases reserved for people with money to throw away. From my experience at Harvey's, I'm through with this crap as a hobby, and I'll wait until a radically new format comes out before I buy anything else. I'll continue to buy music and DVD's I like, but as far as equipment, I think I currently own the state of the art. Until the next revolution in audio technology, good by. As a final note I returned to Harvey two days later, and was a able to sneek in the listening room by myself to further listen to the Krell. My opinion remained the same about it, and I tried to talk to another saleman, and he too, was arrogant and indifferent. I say, to hell with the high end salemen at Harvey's in Manhattan. They would be much better off if they would emulate their doorman.

Similar Products Used:

Sony TAE-2000ESD, Sony DVP-EP9ES, Proceed PAV, Theta Casa Nova, Parasound 2500, Krell Home Theater Standard