Blacks, hairs, sound dynamics, everything about it soars

manual (too many pages)

Hairs...yes I just saw the hairs in Michael Douglas's nostrils watching Wonder Boys about ten minutes ago. That's how accurate this Sony transfer is. The blacks are the blackest I have ever seen on any TV picture bar none. Even my HD receiver can't transfer blacks like this machine.

I'm using my 5105 Linn amp on the front channels Maggie center and the new Linn Katan's on the back side. TV= Mits HD 55805.

I haven't seen the pioneer DV-37 picture but I hear it is more dynamic and the sony is a bit softer. Since it takes 200 hours to break the 9000 in I might AB the pioneer just for fun. But why? Whatever enhancement the pioneer has the Sony makes up for it in the sonics, and really in this price range it can't get better.

This is the best DVD/SACD player on the market and we all know it for the dollars. The build is sensational. The damn power cord weighs a pound. The disk tray drops and "clamps" in the machine and if you run it on AUTO instead of Video in the progressive mode there is absolutely no image flicker at all. Pure protein. I bought the new Arcam AVR100 and between that and the sony the surrond in DD and DTS are so breathtaking I don't leave the house. Oh, and you get SACD. I just have the demo but I've listened to it 10 times. I have an Arcam CD player/Monarch Audio DAC and that sounds better than the regular CD play from the sony. Haven't listened enough to see if the Arcam stereo and pro logic modes out weight the SACD sound.

Don't you love equipment too that seems to grow day to day. Well this Sony does. And believe me I never thought I would say that about any Sony Product. I am using all premium Transparent Component cabling.

If your looking at a $1000.00 player look around and you can pick one of these up and quit spending your money on equipment that isn't even on this players level. This is triple AA here and if you don't get it you wont get it. I am going to give this the highest of the high ratings but I don't buy equipment that isn't.

Just go get it and start seeing some nose hair.

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DV-O5 but that is not simialar compared to this piece

Maybe I was a little harsh on John for calling him an idiot. Ok, I was harsh. But John seem to have a personal vendetta against this player. What exactly are you expecting from a player in this price range. Value? Performance? Built quality? It has it all. To come in here say it is "not a true progressive player" is misinforming. Then by your definition what is a true progressive scan dvd player? This will rule out all the players on the market. See the comments by other reviewers below. DVD material is not originally progressive. This is a great player for it's price range but certainly not the the best. If I paid $5000 for it than mayber I understand your rating and review, but I didn't.

You commented that you bought the player but you don't like it. Return it or sell it by all means. Let someone else enjoy. Don't come in here and bash on it and mean it look like an inferior product.

Everything from build quality (I love the heft it has to it) to signal transfer.

The front panel buttons..but how many of us actually get up to use them?!?!?

Nothing to be praised that hasn't all ready been praised. Nothing to detract either. SACD, CD, and DVD play back are phenomenol. I've made 2 connections, one through directly to my TV (61" hi-Scan) and the other switched through my receiver (Integra DTR 9.1). Directly to the TV made for an incredible picture. Through the Integra a slight loss in brightness, but it took considerable amount of staring and time to find it, so no one will notice and no one will care, it looks amazing either way. What I did notice, but then again this goes for just about any other product (not just DVD players) you have to use good cable. I used average to crappy cable and got average to crappy pictures.
I then switched and waaalaaa!! If you're in the market for a high-end DVD player this is it. Integra makes a good one, too. The DSP 9.1 I think, I saw it at the store as well and it was very good; on par I would say, but much more expensive and not a good value as compared to this one. Buy the Sony and use the difference to get some extra DVDs. Oh and mine came with MIB special edition DVD as well as AVIA guide to home theater DVD. Pretty cool.

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Toshiba 9200 the new one, Sony DVP -560 an old one, Onkyo s939

Rugged Design,Remote,Quality Build

Small DVD tray

Great Video,Great Audio and quality build.Sony seems to have put a lot of effort into this unit and it definately shows.I have not had any glitches on Video or Audio performance.Have not been able to try out the Super Audio CD side{except for demo CD given with player} which was O.K

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DVPS7700

Everything

None

Why so many? I have a large house. I'm not quite sure to what Tom, a few reviews below, was refereing. He seems to be bitter that people enjoy there product. Maybe if he would've let it burn in like he should have. I do agree on the SACD tid bit. I have 2 other dedicated SACD players from Sony and they sound much better than this DVD/SACD combination. Yet my Linn Sondek CD12 with Mapleshade gold double helix cables, in my listening room/library, sounds far better than any of the SACD players I have.
As far as the picture quality is concerned maybe Tom needs a new tv. If not it sounds like he definitely needs to get it professionally calibraed, in fact that should be done every few years or so. I've had the 7700 from Sony; it is good but to say that it's interlaced output is superior to the progressive scan is wrong. The only better picture quality I've seen besides HDTV is the new HD- DVD format presented at CES. It should be available towards the end of the year. Maybe like Mr. Edgar a few reviews down commented you might need better cables, so please don't badger just accept your own shortcomings.
If you're complaining about the price, well, like James Pierpont Morgan once said "If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it."

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Theta, Integra, other Sony, and Toshiba

CCMAN and others: Sorry if I wasn't clear when I said that CD playback of discs compared to their SACD versions sounds better. I was comparing the CD playback to my Arcam FMJ CD23 player that I was running at the same time as the SACD version. The levels were adjusted through the pre-amp to match and the CD's sounded a lot better but you also have to consider that the CD deck that I have is about $700 more than the 9000ES itself so it's not really a fair comparison. I do have to admit that there are a handful of SACD's mastered in DSD and those definitely do sound better than anything I've heard on my CD player but there are just a few DSD mastered titles out there.

Again, considering the price and features of the 9000ES, it's still a great product that really has nothing to criticize at that price point.

GREAT VIDEO ,KILLER SACD SOUND,DECENT CD PLAY BACK

NONE

This is a sacd player not a dvd-a player and anybody who can read the half dozen comparisons available on cd vs dvd-a vs sacd would realize that at this point dvd-a sounds worse than most redbook cd and that sacd sounds better than a wadia cd player let alone a lowly arcam. check out widescreen reveiw and positive feedback also check out robert harleys new reveiw of the 9000es as it is a positive profesional reveiw as you will find.Do not listen to the trolls.

Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent machine for music play back, but to call them the best is simply funny. There are cd players out there that easily cost twice as much money as the Sony DVP S9000ES. These cd players only play cd and nothing else and only plays one cd at a time; some of them are high current players and weight a ton. The Sony cdp XA7ES; Meridian 508.20; Naim etc comes to mind. The point is, to have Dobby Digital, DTS processing all in one box and then use the same box to play music materials tend to get in the way for high musical fidelity reproduction. The same can be said about many of the HT a/v receivers out there. Another problem is that most people have massive cd collections, not DVD-A and SACD. The Sony DVP S9000ES doesnot do a good job with regular cd materials: many details are missed in the high frequencies, also, the bass looses definitions and is a bit slow.

Great quality CD/DVD-VIDEO/SACD!-player.

NO DVD-AUDIO.(do you hear that?)

The previous reviewer,all due respect given,may be "The EAR", but he sure is no "EYE",or else he would have noticed that the 9000ES is not a DVD-Audio player.It plays CD's,DVD-Videos,and SACD only.SACD is a different,incompatible format unrelated to DVD-Audio,no matter what the salesman told you! No wonder the sound of the DVD-audio discs were so bad...DVD-Video is only related to DVD-Audio,not the same.I am sorry if you have spent so much money, if what you wanted was a DVD-Audio player! Maybe it is not too late to take it back? And this time,"The EAR", do not let your "Ear" detract so much from your eye when you should be reading specs.etc..,and reviews before a purchase,OK buddy?

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Video playback

CD playback

When I first purchased this player, I thought it was the cat's meow. I have a TV (Sony XBR36400) with progressive input and the images are great! I recently compared the 9000 with another progressive player that's about $600 (w/o 3/2 pulldown) cheaper. Unfortunately, the image quality was about the same. As far as video is concerned, if you are going to use the 9000 ES for progressive playback, it's good but not that good for $1500.

I thought the CD and SACD playback justified the price but I was in for a shock when I compared the 9000ES to a decent CD player for about $1k (Arcam). I was really disappointed to say the least about the Sony's CD playback. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good for a DVD player but compared to a dedicated CD player, it really doesn't do too well. I was always wondering what some reviewers were talking about when they said the 9000ES was only on par with a $500 CD player.

Okay, how about SACD's then? I have a collection of 12 SACDs now and some of them I have in CD version too. The CD versions actually sound better on the dedicated player than their SACD equivalent. On paper, the SACD copy should blow away the CD version sonically but the CD copies still sounded better (soundstage, timbre, bass, treble, etc.) I think this is more due to poor mastering of the SACDs. Yes, I also listened to the sampler SACD that was included. Trust me, the CD versions still sounded better than the sampler disc. Considering that Sony will be coming out with SACD players in the $400 range this year, I think I might have jumped on the SACD bandwagon a little too soon.

Okay, so you think I'm probably going to trash this player, right? Not really, considering all the features the player offers in one chassis, it's not that bad a deal. If you are looking for shear performance and nothing else, you are much better off buying a lower cost progressive scan player and buying a dedicated CD player or an outboard DA converter or using your receiver's DACs. If music playback is of any importance to you, do yourself a favor and listen to some higher end CD players. You will be amazed at how much better music sounds. I was of the "my 9000ES" is the best thing out there camp until I did some in-home auditioning of my own. I actually bought a separate CD player and I wish I had listened and viewed some other products at home before making this purchase. I don't regret my 9000ES purchase but if I were to do it all over again, I'd get a lower cost DVD player and buy an outboard DAC or CD player. If anyone is looking to buy a 9000ES with a 5 year extended warranty, make me a reasonable offer and I will seriously consider it.

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Similar players between $1k-$5k