Price Paid:  $0.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I bought the 9000ES to go with the SCD-XA9000ES w/ i-link for digital SACD. I hadn't expected to use the receiver's amps, but this whole combination is first class and very homogenous. The trade-offs of receiver vs separates (separation, noise floor) are minimal and far outweighed by fabulous sounding music and movies. Instruments sound exactly correct and I hear more sound effects; e.g., in Master and Commander.

Strengths:
Digital SACD
Vinyl sounding CDs
Accurate sounding music and movies
Plenty of features for "tweakers"
Surprising amp that runs cool
Amp has low "noise" floor

Weaknesses:
Too few direct access buttons on remote

Similar Products Used:
Crown,USA Marantz,Denon,JVC