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Sony 55ES
Sony 55ES
MSRP: $

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Rating
Reviewed by:
Theo
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
October 29, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.33 of 5, 3.00 votes

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Review 1 of 2

Price Paid:  $175.00 from used online

Summary:
This review is for the Sony 550es. Manufactured in the late 1990's with Sony es quality standards.Sony succeeded in building a wonderful digital tuner with analogue characteristics.Extremly attractive with real wood side panels this unit provides a warm,yet detailed sound when used with my Jolida(tube pre-amp).An excellent sound stage with space and definition.Superior reception and I only use a $10 Radio Shack antenae.Features include; narrow and wide IF band,30 presets,nicely balanced flywheel tuning,fm muting,signal strength meter,& s-connect to other sony es products.A great buy on the used market for less than $200.

Strengths:
Soundstage!,sound quality, build quality,reception.

Weaknesses:
None,except that for my personal taste,it could be 5% warmer.

Similar Products Used:
NAD,Marantz,& Sherwood.


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Rating
Reviewed by:
as
(Audiophile)

Review Date
April 28, 2001

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.80 of 5, 5.00 votes

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Review 2 of 2

Price Paid:  $200.00 from used

Summary:
This review is of the sony 550ES , which was the ES tuner produced just before the current model (the A50ES). [Webmaster: Please correct the designation in the index.]

Really excellent reception, lots of fine-tuning options for tricky reception situations, built with typical Sony ES-series quality, has a terrific manual tuning option with a nicely-balanced flywheel knob, overall it puts the Yamaha 950 to shame at less than half the price on the used market. I've compared a zillion digital and analog tuners in a range from $50 to $2000, and this one's a steal on the used market!

My only complaint is that I'm really grouchy that there's apparently no way to link this S-link unit to the updated S-link II minijack format. Does this mean owners can't integrate it with their current Sony components?? ***Has anyone found a solution to this??? Please email me if you have! ****

Strengths:
outstanding reception & sound quality, wide and narrow IF bands, manual tuning option w/ analogue-like flywheel tuning, extremely well-built, remote-compatible w/ sony S-link, handsome w/ veneered end panels

Weaknesses:
It's the original S-link (4 pin) system, so can't interface it with the current S-link (minijack)-equipped Sony components! :-( No IR receiver.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha 950, loads of excellent analog tuners


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