[gerG]

I wandered through Ultimate Electronics last night on my way home from work, and found one of my favorite sites: tables full of clearance gear! Burried in the stack was a dusty S9000 tagged at $718. I left it in the pile and came home to ponder yet another SACD player roaming around here. This morning I called to see if it was still there. Yes, so I asked them to box it up, and headed over. When they were ringing it up Todd (the salesperson) mentioned an issue with the price. Uh-oh, me thinks. "They had dropped it, and it hadn't been marked yet" he said. Whew, I get to save another $20 I am thinking. "The new price is $488.95" he says, deadpan. To my credit I didn't faint. Needless to say I brought it home, and UE has earned a happy customer. They didn't have to do that, and I will remember them for it.

But to the more important news: I cleaned off the finger prints and dust, hooked up the Max and DT880s, and powered up the giant black box with single disc slot. Dropped in a Mozart SACD. Gorgeous sound that is both liquid and detailed. One CD and this thing just took over as my favorite source.

This is a very special piece of gear. Sony really puts a lot of extra into their flagship models. The real glass display (vs the typical plastic fronts) and aluminum disc tray are elegant touches. If you can find one of these tanks for anywhere near what I just paid for one, grab it and run. Well, walk briskly. It weighs enough to give you a back injury, or worse!


Later

gerG

 

[gerG]

Oops, silly me. The display is polycarb, I think, not glass. Very clean, nevertheless. Tray may be composite rather than Al. Not sure yet, but not that important either.

It has a very quiet mechanism. I can hear all sorts of strange noises coming out of my 333es when it is playing. Not sure why the difference, but I like it.


gerG

 

[Gergor]

I saw this player on closeout sales months ago, I've always regreted that I didn't buy it. I'm surprised that you're still able to find it. Good for you!

 

[Gergor]

Is DVP-NS999ES the replacement model ofthe DVP-S9000ES? Does anyone know the difference between the players?

 

[Vertigo-1]

Yes, 999ES is meant to replace the 9000ES. Tons of juicy info on the Asylum when it comes to sources...I'd recommend searching there.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?f...es&r=&session=

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?f...es&r=&session=

 

[Gergor]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vertigo-1 Yes, 999ES is meant to replace the 9000ES. Tons of juicy info on the Asylum when it comes to sources...I'd recommend searching there. http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?f...es&r=&session= http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?f...es&r=&session=

Thanks!

I read the links. However, it's still not obvious if 999ES's indeed better than 9000ES or not...

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gergor However, it's still not obvious if 999ES's indeed better than 9000ES or not...

That was part of the point of me posting those links...

Two magazines also recently reviewed the 999ES, and one preferred the 9000ES while the other preferred the 999ES.

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

the specs at Oade Brothers show the DVP-Ns999ES as having a 192kHz/24bit Audio DAC.
Does this mean that the player upsamples? It also has a Dolby Digital Processor on board, but only digital outputs for DTS?

I'm not overly interested in having multi-channel SACD playback, but the 9000es makes it difficult to use a subwoofer in two channel SACD playback...(which is inportant with Martin Logans)
I wonder if the 999es will output subwoofer material along with stereo, or is the sub info output only in multi-channel SACD/Dolby Digital playback.?

It's good to hear that this player is at least on par with the 9000es. The 9000 is a hell of a good unit.

 

[gerG]

Adding a subwoofer is easy! Stereo outputs go to stereo crossover. High outs go to main amp, low outputs go to subwoofer amp. At least this is how most of my systems are set up.

A couple more very cool aspects of the 9000es:

No nuisance surround outputs. That means the unit stays put in stereo mode, unlike my dvd-audio player, which defaults to surround (what a pain).

It has dual (stereo) outputs, hooray! One set for the system preamp, and one set for a headphone amp. Of course if I use the headamp as the preamp, the second set will go for equalizer loop. Either way they are very handy. I know, I could always use a splitter or custom Y cables, but that always stackes up mechanical loads at the connector. I really hate replacing busted RCA sockets.


gerG

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

Quote:

Stereo outputs go to stereo crossover

Can you give me an examle of a high-end crossover?
The only other option I had was two subs run in line-level

I'd like to research this option a little!

By the way, I'm still wondering if having a 24/192 dac makes the 999 an upsampling player. Or, for that matter, is the 9000es an upsampling player, having a 24/96?

 

[gerG]

I very much doubt that either of those players upsample. It is a fairly complex technology, and manufacturers brag about it in the form of external banners when a player has that capability. They do oversample, but that is pretty much standard.

High end crossovers, hmmm, I don't know what is available right now. I have a TDM 3-way (sold by Madisound under the Sledgehammer moniker) a Behringer 3-way (amazing for the price) and an ancient ADS 2-way that has wonderful control capability. I also have an Audiocontrol Richter Scale (II) but it sounds pretty bad. The TDM is by far the best sounding and best built.

I noticed that DBX makes a combination digital crossover and parametric EQ. May have to try one of those out next. Outlaw has a pretty nice unit for bass management in surround type systems. Didn't do what I needed for stereo applications, though.

Search around, there are quite a few companies making electronic crossovers now. It sure makes setting up a system easy, especially if you tri-amp. Unfortunately you end up going through cable like boxes of spaghetti.


gerG

 

[andrzejpw]

Wow, sounds like you got a fantastic player for an even greater price! So. . . how does it sound?

 

[radrd]

Quote:

the specs at Oade Brothers show the DVP-Ns999ES as having a 192kHz/24bit Audio DAC.

I bet that's for audio playback with DVDs, not for upsampling CDs. If Sony released a player that upsampled to 192kHz, then they would definitely be pushing that as a strong selling point, which doesn't seem to be the case with the 999ES.

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

Thanks gerG! I've got some research to do!

I was thinking the same thing ... if the 999 did upsample Sony would definetly use it as a major selling point......but.....

*I called Tweeter last week just to see if they, by chance, had a DVD963sa at the local store. The manager hadn't heard of the model........or upsampling!

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Congrats on the great steal gerG. Man, that has got to be one of the steals of the century. One always hopes to walk into a store llike that and find something in the clearance bin that is being sold for way less than it should.

Hey, post some more impressions and comparisons to your other gear.