Is this a review site or a place to e-mail back and forth. I wanted to get some decent reviews of this product. Everyone seems to be posting replies to one another and giving 5 stars. There seems to be a major problem with customer service, the remote, and 2ch music isn't stellar (how does that deserve 5 stars). If you looking for a ht piece and cool DSP's look no further. If you looking for great music and HT keep shopping, in this price range I would give the edge to Act3 and Sherwood. If you are willing to buck up I would go with the Citation, Casa Nova, or Lexicon. I would give those 5 stars. If you are looking for a bargain then I give the sherwood 5 stars (plus msb upgrade digital director). The sony gets 4 stars in its price range. Since, I am comparing the sony with all others, I will officially be a little more critical in my star rating. Please leave some room for the truly great preamps.

My post about the TA-P9000ES add-on for the TA-E9000ES garnered some interest, so I thought I might write a bit more about what it says in the catalogue. This is roughlt translated from norwegian:
- Adaptor, preamplifier for TA-E9000ES
- 2 x 5.1 inputs for DVD Audio/SACD
- Bypass 5.1 input(for TA-E9000ES)

I don't have access to a scanner, so I can't publish a picture of it, but it basically looks like it has an input selector, a master volume control and some other dials that seem to adjust the volume of the different speakers using turn-dials. That is basically it, so it looks like the P9000ES hooks up between the E9000ES/DVD Audio/SACD and the poweramp(s).

If future DVD Audio/SACD players include a bypass option, I guess there won't be to much use for the P9000ES, but it's nice to know Sony is putting some effort into the E9000ES, and not just releasing a "new, upgraded" unit and forgetting about previous versions.

Hope this clears things up a bit, and if I get access to a scanner I'll put out a picture for it as well.

An Excerpt from Widescreen Review By Richard Hardesty:Better Sound Quality Coming?

An initial standard for DVD-Audio discs has been established, and it looks like the first DVD-Audio players that reach the market will have digital signal processors on board and will not be equipped with digital interfaces capable of high quality output. (If a digital interface is included at all, it will downsample and output data at a maximum of 48kHz sample rate with 16-bit resolution.) New DVD-Video player models are appearing with onboard processors too, and they have analog outputs for six channels, just like the DVD-Audio players. Now I’ve been wrong before, (I think it was in 1967) but I predict that the big Japanese companies will abandon the digital interface on all but their highest-end products and start to put the DSPs in the players and then match these players with inexpensive receivers featuring six analog inputs for multichannel sources. Why? Because it solves the copy protection problem, and it’s cheaper and simpler to do. (The licensing standards are far less stringent for source devices that include processors, than for stand-alone digital controllers.) But does this serve the needs of the quality-oriented consumer who has been anxiously awaiting the new audio formats with hopes of attaining vastly improved sound quality from his home entertainment system? And what about the average family, that is about to make a substantial investment in a new home theatre system? Should they wait? How long? Are those of us who just purchased an expensive processor/controller, to act as the centerpiece of our home theatre systems, up the proverbial creek?

Right now I am in the process of reviewing dozens of home theatre digital controllers for my equipment review series in Widescreen Review. Some of these products cost as much as $10,000, and none of them have six-channel analog inputs. None of them can decode the MLP lossless compression algorithm, nor material recorded in the the Sony-Philips Direct Stream Digital process. Few of them can even receive a signal with a 96kHz sample rate. I have just begun to review these products, most of which are brand new entries in the marketplace, yet they are all obsolescent today and they will be obsolete in the very near future.

Alright, I have a problem, but hopefully someone out there can provide a solution. This evening, my remote ran out of battery. After I replaced it with fresh batteries the remote refuses to re-establish communication with the 9000. The "Communicating with system" screen comes up, I press "OK", and after 10 seconds, the error beep is heard. As far as I know, I've followed the remote's instruction manual word for word. Am I missing a step or is the system/remote faulty? Otherwise, the 9000 still gets my 5-star, the remote a 1-star.

I definitely enjoy this preamp. I have faithfully updated the software and am still amazed how easy a process this is. Kudos to folks for making these files available! I had a problem with my unit when I first received it whereby the remote would not communicate with the unit. When I finally got through to customer service and escalated to someone else, they told me that you must disconnect all the s-link connectors the first time you turn on the preamp and let the remote talk to the unit. After that it's OK to connect the s-link connectors. I couldn't believe this would work, but I haven't had the problem again. Five stars for price and performance. All the other stuff is relatively trivial.

Although I never had any problems with my Sony I would still like to see if any of these software upgrades can increase the performance of this Pre-amp in stereo mode. Could anyone explain in detail exactly how to install these files. My computer is in one room and the Sony in another. What cable do I need and where do I connect the cable in my computer? After the cable is connected what is the next step? I would appreciate if someone with experience could post a detailed instruction guide so others who never installed these upgrades could do it properly. Thank You

I've had my Sony TA-E9000ES and TA-N9000ES combo for the last couple of months. This pre-amp is the best DSP Sony has ever produced. Top quality sound and features at a very reasonable price. I really hate the remote but I don't listen to the remote so who cares? I can live with it!!I will upgrade the software to V1.10c soon thanks to a fellow audio enthusiast here in Perth who has kindly supplied me with the appropriate files. However I will point out that my factory installed software doesn't appear to have any of the problems raised in this forum about lip sync on DD AC-3 DVDs etc. I can't determine which version is loaded into my E9000ES as apparently factory installed software doesn't reveal the version number.
Overall a great product. I'm very pleased with its performance. dts through this pre-amp is outstanding. My only negative comment is the E9000ES doesn't decode HDCD, which seems to me to be a poor ommission seeing the SHARC devices fitted to the electronics actually can decode this software.

As for some comments I have read here, I'm with Doug (see comments May, 24). If Aldo Wingate (see comment May, 22) has only one word to describe the E9000ES as "Weakness!" I would challenge him to elaborate as to exactly what he means by this.

Forgetting about the remote - top product.

This pre-amp is great,the only problem I have is the remote and this remote is the worse I ever use, anyway this TA-E9000ES is goods and cheap for future changing of any pre-amp it won't feel the pains!Can anyone help me on this mode!behind the TA-E9000ES there is a processors mode,what are this mode for? the manual did not explain clearly.
I have a close-caption decoder,can I fixed it into the processors mode itself.
If anyone know,please email this address:dennischua@pacific.net.sg I will be very much appreciated,thank-you.

Well I must say, this is a decent Pre/Pro. I never really liked Sony Audioproducts before, but this one is not bad. Upgradeable to boot, the sound on
HT is fantastic, music not too bad, and ton of inputs and outputs. If the remote problem was fixed I would give it a 5 star rating.. And too all those so called
people flaming on here, get a life, or something better to do.

First of all, thank you to everyone for your insights to this unit. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences with this product. After stumbling upon the v1.10c upgrade from a good semaritan, I feel confident that I can finally lend an informed opinion to this "forum".
The upgrade has changed this unit for the better. My previous issues were audible clicks from the right channel (Dolby Digital & DTS), sibilance and lack of directional bass with regard to the center channel, a lack of integration with the sub (despite the flexible bass management), and a lack of depth and detail with my favorite CD's. These issues have all been rectified, and I find myself finally really enjoying my system.
After initiating the upgrade, I first listened with to two channel CD's. The soundstage had greatly improved, with an increased depth to the music. Also, I heard instruments better seperated in space, and much more pronounced. I do not catagorize this as "bright" but detailed. There is no sibilance to the music, and it is non-fatiguing. I relinquished my analog setup (Linn, Rotel, & Adcom) with the advent of DVD. I am very pleased with the results! Although I do not believe digital has evolved to the extent of analog in terms of intimacy and imediacy, I find the convience factor untouchable! The two channel performance of this unit is extremely revealing, but not bright. There has been a dither adjustment with this recent upgrade, and might reduce the noise floor in a recording and make the sound less "warm" and more revealing. I do not find the sound "bright", but detailed.
Dolby Digital and DTS have never sounded better. The speakers across the front are more seamless and intigrate with the sub much better. No more clicking! I still find the Virtual B Theater mode enormously entertaining when viewing action films. I am not sure if this relays the director's intent, but it envelops the listener in a much more satisfying way than the standard processing modes.
I encourage you to audition this preamp in it's latest configuration at your local dealer. Once you move past it's namesake and clummsy remote, I think you will find this an enormous value and extremely flexible in it's application. For those of you who find it "bright", please E-mail me with a list of your auditioning material, or any other relevenat comments. I listen to a great deal of popular music (Sonia Dada, Dave Matthews, Phish, etc.) that I believe has never sounded better.
Again, thanks for the info!