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Re: I have the TA9000ES, Samir-please respond..

206.219.255.134

OK. I wanted to wait for awhile before I posted about my Sony TA9000ES. I am approximately 60 percent home theater enthusiast and 40 percent 2 channel guy. I was very concerned with the quality of the 9000ES since I hadn't ever demoed it before I bought it. I was upgrading from a B&K AVP1000 preamp to the sony to get into DD and DTS. My biggest concern was Sony's lack of an analogue bypass in case I didn't like the Dacs on the Sony. I bought the Sony for $1145 shipped from Oade.com.

My initial impressions are this-The Sony has tons of detail as others have said. My CD’s of Kodo drummers or choral tracks have made individual drum tracks or voices much, much more wonderfully clear. I hear more things from the recording venue. Also, my subwoofer seems to be tighter and better controlled for music and home theater. Things seemed more bloated when using my B&K preamp with my HSU 12va sub. However, on the other hand I feel that I have lost some warmth or depth to the music. I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve played with the crossovers on the sony, and my Proac Resp. 2 speakers sound best when I cross over to the sub at 80 Hz. Things sound truly dry when I cross over much below that. I should also say I have a Toshiba 2109 DVD player that I am using to play my CDs via its digital out into the Sony. My previous preamp (B&K 1000) and a cheap onkyo 5 disk player with no digital out seemed to have more color or warmth to the music.

Why I was hesitant to post so early is because I’m not done tweaking with my system. I did expect a huge difference with the Toshiba/Sony combo versus the Onkyo/B&K combo, but I haven’t heard it yet. Or have I? For home theater, look nor farther than the sony! I would buy one over a lexicon DC1 or DC2 anyday and spend the remaining $3K to better speakers etc.. I’m still wondering about 2 channel. I’ll admit, I don’t have the best CD transport (Tosh. 2109) or even the best amp for my speakers (B&K EX4420). I should say that high end sound just sounds different when your not accustomed to it. For example, when I purchased my Proacs used, I knew their reputation as stellar minis. You got it right that their midrange is some of the best around. But I’ve always struggled with their lack of low end. So this high fi speaker was initially a bit dissappointing to me. I now have a HSU 12va paired with it (using sub out on preamp), and things are much better. The 12va is a monster on home theater, and does very well for stereo. Nonetheless, I may buy an aci titan or rell sub to use exclusively with the proacs down the road (but I digress).

My point is this: I don’t really know if the new sound I am hearing from the Sony is more accurate and “better sound”. Remember, I bought a top quality Proac speaker and it took some adjusting to get used to this “high end” speaker that had no bass. So perhaps I have to adjust to the new sound of the sony, or I don’t have the right components for the task. Perhaps the color or depth I heard with my other system was simply distortion and coloration added by poor dacs? Some have said a good dedicated transport into the Sony would help. Other have suggested a better amp. Articles suggest that a SRS harmonic recovery system would make it sound better. Some would suggest chucking the Sony altogether. Very confusing. I’m thinking of buying a classe cap100 or 150 so that I can keep the sony, use the classe as an amp for HT, then swith it to the integrated amp for 2 channel listening and have a cd player hooked right into the classe.

Anyway- I’ve rambled long enough. I hope others can offer suggestions. I am not degrading the sony, as I haven’t decided if it will meet my needs yet.

Thanks-

RT


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