How does Sony DVP-S9000ES compare to other Sony's?

I have an SCD-1, an (1996?) Xa7ES, a S9000Es and also an SACD-1000. (crazy, I know! I just sold the Phillips). The 9000 is a very nice piece, esp. for the money and formats that it does. The one down side was mentioned - it doesn't read CD-Rs. It's as good on Redbook as my XA7ES, which is saying a lot since that was the top of the line CD player at the time (actually best 1-box CD-only player made by Sony). Transport and build quality are not at SCD-1/XA7ES levels, but the aesthetic is there in spades - very nice looking/feeling piece. The SCD-1 is a bit better on SACD. the 9000 also does DVD's, I've yet to use it for that but will try soon. (not DVD-A, but just regular DVD-V). I had been trying to decide to part with the Phillips or the 9000.... despite being older, not playing CD-Rs or multichannel SACDs, I still kept the 9000. The Phillips is a great player, I liked it a lot but didnt' need 4 players.... and didn't have a lot of multichannel SACD needs. The other thing the 9000 won't do is onboard decoding of Dolby Digital/DTS.... need an outboard decoder or pre/pro for that. Not an issue if using just for music however - only with watching DVDs. The 9000 also is well regarded by the 'modding' crowd - quite a few options available including tubed output stages.

Enjoy (sorry for the rambling.)
-Ed

Ed, that might be the most fair handed and unbiased assessment of Sony players I have ever read.

I had a Sony XA777es here to compare with my 9000 es and our test went pretty much like yours. I will say that the deep bass was better on the 777 and the midrange was more recessed (in a nice way) than the 9000.

So throw in the fact that video on the 9000 is excellent and you have a very good player for a fair price.

I had a fellow Audiogon member send me a CDR, and I assumed it would be limited to play in my car. For whatever reason, my 9000 accepts and plays it perfectly. The CDR blank was a common silver one typical of those sold at Comp USA. I need to find out what recording technique and software was used to burn this !

hi Albert -

Thanks - glad you think so.

Agreed the 9000 is a good player - too bad they stopped making them. I think it betters the 999ES, at least as far as build quality and aesthetics. If they just added multichannel SACD and maybe a 2nd laser for CD/CDR, it would be the ideal player in many ways (esp. for the price).

Interesting about the CD-R that plays in yours! I have heard that report from others, but could never find the 'magic combo' of disc blanks and/or recording technique that worked in mine - all efforts proved fruitless. I use a Mac, and Toast, tried burning the various disc types; black, blue, silver, Sony brand, etc. - no luck. This @ 4x burn rate... maybe @ 1x or something it might work. These were all Data CDRs not the 'audio'-specific ones. That perhaps plays a role as well?

Anyway, a good player in pretty much all regards.

-Ed

I also have owned the 9000 and enjoyed it.It is not a "laid back" player,in terms of presentation,however,if that is important to you.Denon also has a new "Universal" (sacd,dvd,dvd-a,and redbook cd)player ,the 2900, due out in less than 30 days.MSRP is $999.
tracer

Anybody hints on where it might still available new, used?=