[Tuberoller]

I know I have been pimping this player to everyone who will listen.I have convinced quite a few of my dealer friends to use them as display players as well(right Acid?)I still think that for the money this player is fantastic.I have seen in profiles and equipment lists that a few head-fier's are now using them.So,who's got them and what do you really think?Am I a nut?Do I have tin ears?Is the player Junk?Let the other forum readers know.

 

[Hirsch]

I've got one in my backup system. Fantastic value at the price, IMO. You can build a really nice entry-level audiophile system around this player.

 

[grinch]

it allowed me to hear sacds for the first time and i like them a lot. the dvd player is very nice as well and it's moved into place, taking out my older model sony player.

i think the redbook was very overrated though. compared to my rega planet 2000, the sony shows their typical sound: sterile and tends to be the bright side of neutral. just my opinion though.

 

[andrzejpw]

I really wonder how it compares to my denon 370 for redbook playback. Same price, etc.

 

[Tuberoller]

I have found the sound of this player to vary wildly before/after burn-in.the redbook playback is what initially made me take notice of this player because I thought it was far better than any sub-$200 player I have yet heard.If someone is accustomed to the really laid back presentation of the Rega players then the Sony would indeed sound "bright".It is also interesting that Modders have chosen this player to mod over the 775.Most think that the redbook playback is far superior to the 775 and most other low cost players.

 

[jpelg]

Just got one last week. Only had a chance to play regular redbook CD's so far. Itching to get some SACD's to try. Can't really compare it to anything, as it is the best player I've ever had and I have been upgrading various components to my system lately. Seems ok so far.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

just got mine on tuesday thanks to your recommendation, haven't had a whole lot of time to let it burn in yet but from what I have heard so far I'm impressed with the player for it's price-145.00 at hifi concepts!!!! by the way nobody has responded to my post about cleaning the laser on this player, cmon guys!!!!

 

[MirandaX]

I picked one up on Tuberoller's recommendation. It's very good. The sound changes quite dramatically (for the better) with burn-in.

I'd agree that the NS-500V is on the brighter side of neutral. It would be a good match with a system that's slightly biased towards a darker sound (NAD integrated amps, older tube gear, Sennheiser HD600, etc.). It's not as good a match with brighter gear (e.g. the Melos).

 

[FCJ]

I actually now have two of them (one for DVD-only, bought the other day at Best Buy for $140--they still have a couple of units left). Burn in appears to be extremely important, and has made a large difference (for the better) in the sound. I haven't been bothered by, or really noticed, excessive brightness. In any case, it's a steal for the price, and thanks to all for the recommendation.

BTW--SACDs on the Sony do live up to their billing, especially "Blonde on Blonde" and Miles' "Big Fun."

 

[recephasan]

the brightness of the 500V can be 'fixed' by using the menu and setting the filter to soft (or something of that order, I cannot recall exactly).
This takes the harsh edge at the highs.
weird thing that I had to use a TV to change audio functions.

 

[recephasan]

fyrfytrhoges - I would not clean the laser unless there is something wrong with the player. and then, maybe with compressed air.

treat the lens like any expensive camera lens - never use cleaners, use only breath and cotton cloth. any other treatment will either scratch the surface or take the coating away.

 

[elambo]

I got one from crutchfield.com earlier this week.

For all that it does it's an absolute steal. The SACD side sounds great and the redbook side is very good, too. Oh yeah, and it's also a DVD player that LOOKS good, too - they through that in for free. I've been letting it play around the clock since I got it to get it broken in and I'm noticing a slightly smoother sound since the first day I got it.

In two weeks it's leaving to be modded by Ric Shultz at EVS. He (and many others) claims that it can be a very serious SACD and redbook player with a few mods. I'll post my impressions here after I get it back.

 

[dougli]

I have been enjoying this player for the last few weeks. It has been a huge improvement of the Toshiba SD-2705 I was using for audio (whci wouldn't be hard to do, I admit). I agree with recephasan's recommendation on changing the audio filter from the default of "sharp" to "slow" in order to diminish the brightness. It does have to be hooked up to a TV to do this. Now, "slow" is not the opposite of "sharp", but whatever it's called, I think it improves the sound. The first time I used the slow setting, it sounded kind of rough, but when I tried it again after some more burnin time, it worked just fine. And I have no complaints about this player's video performance, either.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

recephasan-my old sony dvd/cd player started skipping in dvd mode, the picture would skip as well as the sound, I went and bought one of those disks with the tiny "brush" on the end and now I can only play disks for about 10 hours or so before I have to use the disk again, I had never used the cleaning disk before it started skipping, what does that mean??? Does it mean the player needs to be serviced???

 

[recephasan]

Well, fyrfytrhoges, I am by no means an expert in this, but common sense tells me that you can't be getting your lens dirty every 10 hours.
I've had CD players skip because the transport mechanism, the one that moves the lens over the disk surface went bad. That did cause skips and bad reads. I also have a portable CDP that will skip when placed on its side, but will not when lying flat, where the screw mech. does not need to support the weight of the laser assembly.
So, I don't know for sure but seems to me you got another problem.

By the way, does that brush at the end clean the lens or the screw the lens assembly travels on?