Price Paid:  $600.00 from Online

Summary:
I have had this amp for a short while now and I absolutely LOVE IT! It is rich and warm sounding with clear highs and strong bass and midrange. I wanted to move to seperates, but that stuff can get expensive. Plus, I wanted something that could match or come close to matching my other Sony equipment. I have a Sony STR-DA333ES receiver and it does a great job of sound reproduction, but this amp moved everything up a couple of notches! It over powers my Boston speakers, but that's only when I start to get on it hard and the source material has a LOT of bass in it.

My system consists of:
Sony STR-DA333ES Receiver
Sony DVP-NS999ES DVD/SACD Player
Sony TA-N9000ES Amplifier
Boston Acoustics CRC Center Channel
Boston Acoustics CR7 Front and Surrounds
Boston Acoustics PV-1000 Subwoofer

Strengths:
Clear sound, strong bass, mids, and highs. Solidly built and good looks. Easy to set-up. BLAH-BLAH-BLAH...

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
None...First time seperates user.

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Sound Distributors

Summary:
I bought this TA-N9000ES/N ( last N is gold color ) along with the matching preamp in April of 1998. The pair was $2100. I have used it connected to Infinity Overtures, Infinity Compositions Preludes and Infinity Prelude MTS and it sounds good in all instances. These speakers all have powered woofer/subwoofer elements so this amp has never fallen short of my power needs. It runs very cool, even under heavy loads. It isn't a monster amp that can double down into a four ohm load or anything like that. It has a current limiting switch for 4 ohm loads. It has a five-year parts and labor warranty that I never had to use. Which is the best kind of warranty, in my opinion.

Strengths:
Nice fit and finish
Runs cool
Can handle a 4 ohm load
5-year warranty
Still works after six years.
Sounds good

Weaknesses:
Doesn't double power into 4 ohm load.
Big, heavy and deep--Can make connections tight.
Having an non-detachable power cord seems low rent for ES gear.

Similar Products Used:
First stand alone power amp.

Price Paid:  $500.00 from online

Summary:
Purchased this amp specifically to use the BTL 2-channel for my Paradigm 100 mains. My Sony DA-7es does the rest. This is an excellent amp. Power is adequate and sound is cleaner than the 7es.

Strengths:
Build like a tank. 55 pounds. Also, you can do anything with this amp, run 2 speakers, bridge, run 5, and so forth.

Weaknesses:
Unfortunately the 7es receiver and this amp are not compatible for A-link.

Similar Products Used:
Sony Str-da7es

Price Paid:  $745.00 from Park Audio

Summary:
This is a great amp. I am using this to power my front Paradigm S 100's and they shine I wondered if anyone here could anser two questions about this unit. One, what is "BTL" mode and two, has anyone been able to tripper this unit to standby with anything other then a Sony receiver? Any help would be appreciated. Now the amp itself. I am using this for two channel in BTL mode and it is wonderful. My recevier, Onkyo 898, had a bad habit of turning itself off at levels of +5db. It was annoying. I don't really listen that loud but when you want to crank it up to show off speakers it sucks to have your receiver shut off. I am very pleased with the warmth and presence of this unit. Low end rocks.

Price Paid:  $829.00 from J&R

Summary:
I always knew that my system sound could benefit from utilizing a separate amplifier, even though my reciever was quite good. I have gotten into 5.1 SACD music as well as home theatre, and decided to look into it.

Well, immediately after hooking the TA-N9000ES up, I realized it's value. Though you wouldn't have predicted it, the sound was now more focused from top to bottom, more powerful but less offensive & more airy... the music was just more 'musical' and separated now that the sound was more accurate.

All was not well with my first one though, as it had a broken power button stuck in the 'on' position. So I sent it back. In the meantime I auditioned some other amps and I never got the same satisfaction from them. In fact, contradictory to Bearzoo's findings below, I found the HK 1.5 to be very powerful but very fatiguing to listen to for extended periods... especially the highs. It was like there was a lot of THD way up there oscillating my eardrums in all the wrong ways, way too powerfully. I would have to disagree with his assessment that the 1.5 is an audiophile piece. I think it's more like a block party amp that you use with some cerwin vegas- but to each his own.

Anyway, I ordered another TA-N later to replace the defective one and am very happy to have this piece as a permanent addition. I think all of the tweaky design that went into this amp(tandem push/pull output transistors, S-fin heat sinks, direct ground drive, etc.) really served to make a fine product. I should mention that my speakers are pretty sensitive though (94db), so that could be why I don't experience the lack of 'juice' that some people have noted.

As always, with anything you must audition it in your system.

Strengths:
Powerful & accurate, yet airy & easy to listen to. Great for surround AND stereo listening. Has seperate 'pure audio' 2 channel input. Multiple operating modes for number of channels in use in your system. Bridgeable for 200watts x2 stereo operation. Outstanding value (bang for the buck).

Weaknesses:
May not have enough 'juice' if you have inefficient speakers

Similar Products Used:
Auditioned HK, Rotel, Parasound amps