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I recently took advantage of a great deal on a sony TA-E9000ES pre amp. Previous to owning the Sony I've tried a Sony DB930 receiver, HK receiver (sorry forget model #), Rotel 965 pre amp, Denon 2800 and finally Denon 3300. I only got the TA-E9000ES a couple of days before I left for the in-laws for christmas so I haven't had a lot of time to play with it. I did get time to calibrate it and listen to some music though. I've seen a grand total of 1 whole movie on it but demoed nearly all my "A" clips etc so I'm begining to get a feel for its capabilities. To sum up it's what I was looking for in a pre amp
I was fairly happy with the way my Denon 3300 sounded in movies and with the addition of the MSB Link DAC it wasn't to bad in 2 channel either but the 9000ES is clearly sonically better esp in 2 channel mode. Part of the difference is simply that the Link DAC/Denon combo was pretty warm sounding where the 9000ES is a little more open. Its not what I would call bright though (compared to say a Yamaha) but less muddy if that makes sense.
I really like having the options that the Sony offers with adjustable crossover points and being able to dim the display (I HATE obnoxious lights on gear) and the unit is firmware upgradeable. The first thing I did when I got the unit was to flash the firmware with the most current version (2.5) which gives me access to a virtual matirxed 6.1 mode. From some simple listening tests the 6.1 mode is nice but doesn't seem to offer that much more then what the normal 5.1 modes do. Granted my rears aren't set up to image as well as they could so maybe when I get into my house this spring that will change. The LCD remote that they provide is truely a waste of engineering...it really is the worst remote I've ever tried to use. Luckily for me I've got a pronto
Given the price you can pick these pre pro's up for now IMO they are worthy of consideration...esp when you consider for the price of a mid to high end receiver you can buy a used 9000ES and a decent power amp.
I was fairly happy with the way my Denon 3300 sounded in movies and with the addition of the MSB Link DAC it wasn't to bad in 2 channel either but the 9000ES is clearly sonically better esp in 2 channel mode. Part of the difference is simply that the Link DAC/Denon combo was pretty warm sounding where the 9000ES is a little more open. Its not what I would call bright though (compared to say a Yamaha) but less muddy if that makes sense. I really like having the options that the Sony offers with adjustable crossover points and being able to dim the display (I HATE obnoxious lights on gear) and the unit is firmware upgradeable. The first thing I did when I got the unit was to flash the firmware with the most current version (2.5) which gives me access to a virtual matirxed 6.1 mode. From some simple listening tests the 6.1 mode is nice but doesn't seem to offer that much more then what the normal 5.1 modes do. Granted my rears aren't set up to image as well as they could so maybe when I get into my house this spring that will change. The LCD remote that they provide is truely a waste of engineering...it really is the worst remote I've ever tried to use. Luckily for me I've got a pronto
Given the price you can pick these pre pro's up for now IMO they are worthy of consideration...esp when you consider for the price of a mid to high end receiver you can buy a used 9000ES and a decent power amp.
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