No audio lag on this baby. I have the sony dvp S7700 and it works 100% . You can try all you want but there are no flaws in this pre-amp. For 1250$ you cant give this unit anything under 5 even if there was a tiny problem. If you dont like it then you will have to spend over 2000$, thats a 1000$ more to get a pre that might come close to the Sony. Considering the price on this great pre-amp you cant give it anything under 5.

I have had the Sony TA-E9000ES for just under two weeks.
It's ability to decode Dolby Digital certainly bettered my Onkyo TX-DS939 receiver. I had been running the Onkyo as a pre-amp with a Cinepro 2K5 taking on the amplification duties. Now the Sony has replaced the Onkyo and it is great. The clarity of sound is excellent. The flexibility and the level of control given to the user is great. On dolby digital and DTS movies (the Onkyo doesn't process DTS), there was an increased sense of being "there". The Sony is a real killer at its price.

Two problems:
1. The remote. Nevermind, I don't listen to the remote, I can adapt to its quirks.
2. The digital delay. My retailer has asked Sony Australia and they will replace it ASAP. Luckly I had retained my Onkyo and swapping the Sony with the Onkyo clearly showed the sound lag. Try Armageddon (DVD) the scene in New York with the taxi driver. My retailer visited me at home ready to blame it on the DVD player, LD player, anything but the brand new Sony ES product. He could only agree with me after seeing the same scene processed by the Sony and the Onkyo.

I hope the replacement 9000 doesn't have the delay problem.

My rating: four stars, five if the digital delay is fixed.

This is a great product. There may be some (very few) pre-amps with better sound, but anything better would be very, very small increases. And the price would be way too high to justify it (unless you are a very serious audiophile with lots of extra cash to spend).
To give an example of how good this preamp, let me tell you a story. When I first started, I was sucked into the marketing bliss of Bose. So, I bought 901s. I have since purchased new speakers, but I couldn't get rid of the 901s because of the price I paid for them in conjunction for what I would give up. Anyway, they make decent basement speakers. Anyway, the 901s actually sound great with the Sony pre-amp. I can't explain it, but it made these completely mid-range speakers sing trebles and belt out bass. Any pre-amp that can do that is astounding.

As for Robert's hiss described in a previous review. The hiss is probably because of the power amp. I have an old Carver power amp that does it with the Sony pre-amp. My other power amps (better quality) do not give out a hiss.

My recommendation is that this is the best pre-amp for its price. My complaints are the remote (still waiting on the new one) and I wish it had component video input/outputs.

Well the TA-E9000ES is a very good Pre/Amp Processor, it has excellent switchingcapabilities and very good "clean" sound music and HT. For anyone to bash this
unit in comparision to some Hi-End units, frankly should have there head screwed
on tighter. For one it can be had for $1125(Oade Brothers online) and far as
features go it is packed with many Video and Audio in's and out's. They unit
shows now sign of hissing that someone stated below. The remote is decent in
comparison to the price, on thing people forget that Meridian(561)AVP Proceed
have very bad remotes in comparison and there 3 times more expensive. If some
one is looking to step into the realm of HT separates this is a good bet. You
get allot for your money. Also Sony will be replacing the remotes or at least
modifying them you can call them at 1-800-222-7667 and let them know you have
a remote that has the dim lighting problem etc.....

Five Stars on Value
Five Stars on Features
Five Stars on HT sound
Four Stars on Music.

Also this piece has a 3 to 5 year Warr. All ES products have the 5 year.
The $5000 dollar Meridian only has 2 years. If you have the money and just
want one true system, the Meridian and AVP Proceed are very nice, also
take a look at the new Parasound AVC-2500.

Note: most of the people on here that post a 2 or a 1 rating, very rarely
spend anytime really reviewing the unit.

Value and flexibility.Solid and heavy.

Nothing new here:the remote

Love the sound in most modes.Having bought the unit in November 99 i,also was wandering about the `built-in`version and if i would benefit from the most recent update:version 1:18c.I was informed by a Sony rep.that the latest update has been available only since Febriary 1,2000.I'll get it in on the week-end and report back on this site.Thanks for all your comments...it helped me a great deal in understanding my 9000ES.

Similar Products Used:

None.This my first preamp.

Value

Software glitches, very poor remote control

After having more time to evaluate the ES9000 pre/pro I can say that I am satisfied with its performance. This is a remarkably high quality pre/pro for the price. For Home Theater it is at the high end. I would also like to thank the several individuals who responded to my last post about the control cable. Simply disconneting the cable made the 2 way operation of the remote work again. I have upgraded the software(to Ver 1.10c) and it seems to have corrected, partially, the problem with the display indicating "pro-logic" when it should say "Analog Stereo". If you are annoyed to the incorrect display you can use your remote to change the selection to "Games" and then back to the Auto mode and it will then display the correct information. The following is from an Austrailian review of this product about what Version 1.10c of the software upgrade offers:
Sony have released a couple of software upgrades for the TA-E9000ES since its launch early in 1999. In some instances the upgrades have been released to overcome decoding difficulties with
Dolby Digital soundtracks from DVD software. Other releases have added features and improved the sonic qualities of the unit.

Software Versions (Update details will be added as they come to hand)


1.04a An upgrade to solve the lip sync problem on Dolby Digital decoding when the source is DVD.


1.10c Further improvements as follows :-

1. Decode delay (Lip sync. malfunction) at playing Dolby Digital (AC-3) has been modified.

2. The problem of no sound from the right channel of the rear speaker in Dolby Digital (AC-3) [2/1], [3/1] mode has been improved.

3. The problem with no sound from sub woofer when setting Pro-Logic against the signal with LFE at [2/0] of Dolby Digital (AC-3) has been improved.

4. The clipping problem in case of entering full-scale signal to LFE during dts play has been improved.

5. The malfunction with incorrect information display when playing special source of dts [2/0] has been improved.

6. A function for version display when scrolled to the end of the stream information display has been added.

7. The display malfunction of incorrect PCM bit number at the stream information display has been modified.

8. Modified as the vocal sound comes from the front when playing Karaoke DVD.

9. The malfunction that turns muting on when operation LEVEL menu with the remote controller after released MUTING by rotating the volume knob while MUTING is set has been modified.

10. Digital filter dither value has been modified for sound improvement.

11. New setting menu for using "one way remote commander" in CUSTOMIZE menu has been added. (One way remote commander: RM-PP402 on sale in Jul/99 , etc.)

12. The malfunction of no sound from the rear when playing 3/1 or 2/1 mode has been modified.


You can also see this review at "http://www.omen.net.au/~rutlidge/TA-E9000ES.htm"

A. Bye

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha DSP-A1

Sony now officially has information on updating pre/pro software to 1.10c at "http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/ss5/custserv.shtml" along with instructions for same.
After 3 weeks I am generally satistied with the performance of the pre/pro and amp combo. Very good performance for the price. Needs a bit of tweaking though. The remote is a work in progress. Mine has just stopped it's two way function, and the backlighting is mediocre at best. Really could be a lot better.

I would also like for the display screen to read "analog stereo" rather than "Dolby Pro Logic" when it is receiving analog stereo. This must be a software glitch because it does not really seem to be trying to produce pro-logic at the time.

Phono input is not very sensitive. Guess they don't pay much attention to vinyl.

Whole system works pretty well when combined with other Sony ES stuff, real convenient. They need to get away from Toslink though(cuts the Bass and highs) and offer more digital coaxial in's and out's for the rest of the ES stuff.

Whole system gets 4 stars though because there is really nothing else out there as comprehensive even with the glitches.

Sound is pretty good. Not as bright as a Yamaha DSP-a1 I tested, and pretty flat otherwise. Build quality seems good too. No hum problem that others have reported.

Any ideas on getting the 2 way function on my remote to start working again?

System
TA-N9000ES/TA-E9000ES Pre & Amp
DVP-S7700 DVD
JA50ES- MD
SA50ES- Tuner
XBR250 36" TV
Sonus Faber Concerto(front), Concertino(rear), and Solo

ABye

This Sony pre-amp is still the best one! Alpo, er... ALDO should be bannedfrom this site, all he does is keep posting a 1 star because of his inability
to understand a wonderful product that is above his intelligence level.
Maybe he should stick with products made for him: Fisher-Price brand!

I just got my TA-E9000ES and remote back from the Sony service center in Hollywood, FL. The improvement on both pieces was immediatly apparent, and definitly worth the 3 week wait it took to be accomplished. The LED on the remote is brighter, and music/video playback seemed to have a stronger and more defined lower end. No muss, no fuss-thanks Sony!!

THIS IS THE BEST PRE-AMP TO BUY AT ANY PRICE!!!! NO ONE CAN TOUCH IT!!!The remote sucks and eats batteries and Sony service isn't. someone at sony
pull their head out of their ass and read these reviews!!!!