Well folks, I've been looking for months for the perfect pre/pro to buy and I think I've found it. I have demoed almost every pre/pro out there, the AVP, 561, DC-1 or DC-2 or MC-1... whatever it is this year, ACT-3, Ref. 20 etc.. then I heard the Sony Ta-e9000es. I was not astonished by its sound because I've heard it all before from the above mentioned units, but what shocked the hell out of me was the price. I asked the dealer in fear and trepidation how much it was and he told me $1.7k. I couldn't believe it. I took out my charge card and bought right then and there. Nowhere on this earth will you find a better deal. It sounds wonderful, has great bass management, built-in EQ, tons of digital and analogue ins, 3 - 32-bit processors, an RS232 port (hopefully to get more software upgrades), phenomenal dynamics and steering. The down part was the remote and lack of on-screen programming but at this remarkable price I think I can get off the couch to adjust and balance my HT. I never thought a deal like this could ever happen. I hear others say that it compares to the other $5k processors and I must honestly say, it does, both sonically and its features. This is my two cents worth, anyone out there who is looking to buy one of the more expensive models must look at this one first.

I bought the Sony for Christmas. The only other pre-amp I heard was the AcurusACT-3 and I thought they sounded the same but at $500 bucks less the Sony
is the better deal. The remote kinda sucks cause it's hard to read without the backlight on and the Sony batteries went dead in two weeks. I hope Sony sends me a new and improved remote. Next week I'll be getting the Sony DVP-S7700
DVD player and I'll review it next week.

I can't believe anyone would give this unit a 2 star. If you want multi-room capabilities why buy this unit? It has no pretense and claims of doing this.
Now on to the good stuff. When looking to get into the digital age from my old Sony ES800 DPL receiver, I initially was going to go the receiver route again. Thing is, I had a very hard time finding all the necessities. I needed onboard RF demodulation for LD's, a phono input stage and at least 2 other digital inputs. Its a tough combination to find. About the only thing out there was the Denon 3200 and it didn't have DTS onboard, which I also would prefer instead of adding the seperate decoder. Since I already had a 3 channel amp, I started thinking seperates until I started checking prices. The ones I could afford had something missing (Marantz) or were too expensive (B&K). This Sony came out at just the right time with all the right features. I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. I knew I would need to add a good 2 channel amp but I was able to get this preamp and the 2 channel for around $1700.

Now for the specifics. I'll get the short(bad) part out of the way first. Yes the remote could be better but I understand it has been fixed. My complaints were it could be brighter and it didn't fully support my Panasonics A110 DVD remote functions. However it handles the Pioneer LD player, Mits hifi vcr, Pioneer TV without a glitch. It uses batteries too fast however I must point out I was using 1 remote and constantly tweeking instead of shuffleing 4 or 5 remotes, so using batteries faster should be expected. I also noticed improvement on battery life by using the ULTRA Duracells. Since it is a 2 way remote, occasionally it would lose its information with the preamp. When this happens I noticed the display would dim and the information could not be displayed. I simply went to the setup menu and hit "download" and it would reload the information. Thing is, the remote seemed brighter after doing this operation, so I'm not as sure as the unit was eating batteries OR the user just needed to download from the preamp. I give the remote a 3 star and it will be a 5 star if the fix makes it brighter while also giving me extended menu features
its not currently able to do. From the Stereo Review article, this should be upgradable from windows using the 232c connection.

Now for the good part. As far as inputs are concerned, I don't know what else you could ask for, esp given the price. 5 digital inputs with rf demod built in. phone input(yeah, for us old timers who still like LP's), 7 s-video inputs with composites also, 2 s-video outs plus 2 composite video outs..............
The DD and DPL processing is extremly clean. It has very good 2 channel performance as well. The parametric equalizer is handy and helps tone down or match the sound with other components. I only wish the manual would go a little deeper into this eq part. It gives the setting available for each option but I would simply like to know which settings would give me the cinema re-equalization equvalant. Thats picky but a valid point. It has a great bass management system allowing each speaker 10hz steps from 40hz to 200hz. That should cover everything and allow you to match any speakers to optimum settings. For the money this is a steal. I won't degrade this unit for lacking multi-room capabilities. If you want that and everything else this product offers be prepared to spend twice the money.

Anyone who gives this unit a 2 star must be drunk or deaf or just a complete amature. Even though the remote is not the greatest this unit offers so much value in it that you cant give it anything under 5 stars. It uses TOP of the line parts including three 32bit converters. I know of no other pre-amp that uses 32 bit converters in this price range or even in the 5000$ price range. Its built like a heavy tank and has every digital,analog inputs/outputs you can think of. Sounds GREAT better than most processors out there going for allot more$. Offers DTS,AC-3,Dolby digital and can be upgraded to most anything else in the futer. In order to upgrade on other processors you need to buy expencive hardware. In this baby you only need to download the software, only meridian which cost 8000$ has this type of upgrade. The remote problem has been fixed, Sony is offering a replacment on this remote to a new remote which has been said to have a brighter display of up to four times and a much longer battery last. I know of no other processor below 5000$ that offers a SWITCHER, please what is this a night club or a 10 bedroom apartment, this is a home theater processors, most people I know of have a single living room which is used for home theater. I had another good processor ( B&K ref20 )going for 2300$ and it didnt offer a switcher either. Actualy Im surprised because only the Sony offers SO MUCH configuration modes, EQ modes, and differnt types of setting like Distances, Wall type ( HARD-SOFT ), souround effect % , and many others which would make most experience audiophile think the unit is worth 5000$ without knowing. i got my unit for 1250$ but now after having it for a while I would gladly spend more for it. If your budget is upto 3000$+ and you want the best there is then look no further, check the SONY out and hear and see the difference.

Hi, I have worked at a audio specialty store here at San Jose Ca for 11 years, the store has a very respectful legacy. We make custom system for our clients and carry "only high end" equipment like Classe,Mark Levinson,Chiro,Proseed from Mondaial,Lexicon. My boss has a very high end mentality like me. At the store clients where asking for the Sony 9000 pre-amp, and I told them that we did not sell mass consumer equipment, but they just kept coming. I had to listen for myself what all the talk was about, I read about the 9000 on Audio Magazine and just had to give it a try. I walked about 4 blocks from our store to and audio+video store , the salesman there knew who I was and ask me ,what are you doing here? I told him I just wanted to listen to the pre-amp everyone was talking about the Sony 9000, he just said ,I cant belive it!, remember where I was coming, anyway the salesman set every thing for me useing 5 monoblock from Marantz ,Sonys 7000 dvd that by the way matched our California Audiolabs dvd in every way,(remember the C.A.L costs $3999.) and a set of Polk Audio speakears. What I listen that afternoon hit me in the face like a ton of bricks!!! , the sound I listen from the 9000 compared in everyway to the Mark Levinson pre-amp we sell for $8999., how can this be? I dont know but the the sound from the 9000 was extra,extra,extra clean and the sound stage was huge! It has many features but what most got to me was it's detail in music. Remember guy I am impress not because of the sound ( I am used to great sound) but because I was geting audiophile sound for only $1700. I cant belive it!!! On Dolby Digital and DTS the 9000 was awesome, it had a 3 dimensional sound I've never heard from a pre-amp this cheap. The only concern I had was the remote, it could be better but you can live happly with it. One thing that I could not belive was that the 9000 was softwhare upgradable, only Meridians 8000 and Proseeds pre-amp have this option. Sony sure did change my stupid "high end mentality" with the 9000, you dont have to spend a million dollars on a pre-amp to get great sound, you just have to know what sounds great even if it cost $1700. P.S I hope my boss doesn't read this review I may get fired. So run dont walk and get this great pre-amp from the Sony ES line before Sony raise the price on it!!!

I have one of the Sony TAE 9000 ES Processing Preamps from the December shipment. AAAAAA+ I find that the TAE 9000 will serve my aging ears for the foreseeable future. I bought it at One Call for $1363 delivered by Fed EX. Very good except for the remote. See my comments in Tech Talk (under Sony Problems) about the battery-eating bug in the remote.
The Sony Techs tell me that the Remote Codes are in ROM so that they cannot be updated from the main unit via the RS232 port.

The switching of video and audio on the 9000 is all I'll ever need. I do miss the ability to monitor 3-head analog tape decks, but then mini discs and DATs with 3-head monitoring are not common. I use the third input on my monitor to monitor the output of SVHS VCRs and tapes when I am recording. Sony makes a $50 SVHS AV Switcher that serves this purpose.



This unit and the Sony SDP EP9 ES have a low-level thump (easily heard on sub woofers) when the volume is changed. The service manual shows some gain switching op amps in the output circuit which may be the cause. This is not objectionable since it only happens when the volume is adjusted.

I do wish the Display labels on the front panel were reprogramable. It would be nice to have DSS show up instead of TV.

I use the 9000 with RCA 5451 DSS, Toshiba 2108 DVD, Pioneer D704 laser disc, Onkyo 9090 FM and three Carver TFM-35x driving Polk RTA-15TL, CS350 & Monitor 10s for center, plus RT-16s for rear. Video is Toshiba CX36C60. Hope to add 6.1 rear center channel this year.

I've owned mine for over 3 months. Reading posts about specific isolated problems made me look into them myself. 'Unfortunately', I don't have any of them. Like Trance says below, if you've got a defective unit, return/replace it. Not having any of the problems some posters report, I can only give this unit a measly 5 stars for performance, flexibility, and value. 'Nuff said.

What else can you ask for 1250$. I have not seen any pre-amp that offers so much for this price. You have to pay over 2000$ to get this kind of feature and quality. I have the Sony for 6 month and I cant find any drawback to it. I dont have any problems with dolby movies, there is no Lip synch problems on my Sony. The stereo mode sounds great when I listen to music!! And I know that I can download new software for futer upgrades. No other pre-amp ofers 32bit processing even for 3000$ and up. If size matters in the audio world then just take a look at the massive structure and weight the Sony has to offer for a pre-amp, with plenty of inputs and outputs for all conections, digital and analog. Anyone giving this pre a 1 star is just not being reasonable.

Purchased 3/11/99 from a local high end audio store for $1250
I have nothing but good things to say about this pre-amp. *PLENTY* of input/outputs. It has SVIDEO in for everything, TV/DSS, VIDEO 1 - 3, DVD
TOSlink In for Audio on MD (In/Out), DVD, CD, Coax Input for LD and DVD as well.

My only semi-disspointment turned into understanding is that there is no conversion from Composite inputs to SVIDEO meaning my $399 VCR (Sony MLS20HF) that is composite out only does not work into my SVIDEO inputs on my TV (Sony Wega 36" KX-FV1). I have to run it (and my playstation) to the VIDEO 3 input.

Then this goes to my gripe. I have *ALL* Sony equipment. If I need to switch to Video3 when I go to my VCR input, I can't tell the remote to switch the TV to video3 when I push Video3, it always goes to Video 1 which is my SVIDEO channel.

Also it turns on the TV when you turn on the CD player, there is a fix available from your local sony service center & on the web that is a ROM update that fixes this.

All in All an excellent unit for the price. It's nearest competitor in featuers is the Denon AVR5700 and if I understand right that piece os a lot more expensive

I have used the TA-E2000ES for over two months now, and have not encountered any issues concerning a delay in the audio decoding. After analyzing many of the so called trouble DVDs, I was unable to find any such delay. The flexibility of the speaker setup, bass management, EQ, sound presets, and S-Video & Digital connections make this one of the most pleasant surround preamps I have ever used. The sound is gorgeous. With lower noise than I usually experience and revealing detail, I can honestly claim this to be the best sounding surround product I have ever heard costing less than $2,500. Thumbs up!!