Other Source Component Reviews

Another conven-ient Sony exclusive (and we don't know why other manufacturers haven't figured this out) is that the player will automatically find the 5.1 soundtrack on many discs that would otherwise default to the two-channel track. This didn't work for all such discs, though. The DVP-S9000ES couldn't find the 5.1 track on Paramount's Braveheart DVD, for example, so you still might have to do some manual labor with certain titles. Press the audio button to cycle through the various soundtracks.

Once we found the right soundtrack, we could focus on the image. The picture from Braveheart looked great from the NTSC (aka interlaced) outputs, but it was the progressive outputs that really shined. We connected the player directly to our Runco DTV-991 front projector. There were no switchers, scalers, or other processors between the DVD player and the screen. The picture was stunning! Scotland's rocky cliffs practically jutted out from the screen. The player offers exceptional detail. Colors are vivid and bright, while fine details are clearly discernible.

The progressive scan recognizes 3:2 pulldown and presents a picture free of artifacts, as well. Tests showed that the player picked up on film-originated material without a problem. Our requisite Armageddon DVD was played without any jagged lines or motion artifacts. The player works as good as or better than the best line doublers.

Similar to other Sony DVD remotes, this one has well-laid-out buttons, no flip-up panels, and backlighting.

By the same token, the audio was equally impressive. Understand right up front, though, that this is, in a sense, SACD-light. The player supports the format's potential for 2.8224-megahertz sampling rates (with frequency response to 100 kHz and dynamic range above 110 decibels) and uses the superior Direct Stream Digital technology rather than CD's pulse-code-modulation (PCM) technique. However, because they lack 5.1-channel outputs, many early SACD players, including this one, limit you to two-channel reproduction of SACD material. SACD's potential for multichannel playback is every bit as important as its higher resolution, so hold your final opinions on the matter until you hear it in all its glory.

As for our opinion of the two-channel version, it's better than CD, there are no two ways about it. How much better is going to depend a great deal on the rest of your system and, as always, your ear. SACD's superiority lies in subtleties, nuances, and details, which tend not to be appreciated nearly as much outside the halls of audiophilia. The masses crave bigger, faster, or better, and SACD isn't going to give you that, especially on an old bookshelf system. I've read report after report of people sitting down to SACD, expecting to be blown away, and coming away disappointed—all the while missing the point. In some respects, you've got to listen for the differences at first; however, once you hear them, you'll start to truly appreciate what SACD is all about.

The holy grail of musical reproduction is, of course, reproducing the sound of live music—and I'm talking more about a live-in-the-studio environment, not the distorted, jumbled mess that is the sound of most large rock concerts. In my opinion, SACD definitely delivers a sound that is much closer to that ideal. One of the first things that struck me about it was the timbre of the instruments and its remarkable "correctness." Pianos sounded like pianos, a bass sounded like a bass, and acoustic guitars sounded acoustic. In our side-by-side comparison with CD, I came away with the very generalized opinion that the SACD sounded extremely close to the real thing, and the CD sounded, well, like a CD—which is still good but not quite right at the same time. Detail and depth are the foundation for this opinion. There was true dimensionality to the SACD's soundstage, as well as an accurate sense of layering that is crucial to creating an impression of natural, accurate sound. Complementary to this is the clearly superior detail of SACD recordings. Picks and plucks, scrapes on the strings, the breath in the saxophone—it's all there effortlessly. Once you've listened to the SACD version, you can go back and pick up these details on the CD version, but you have to try so much harder, and they still aren't nearly as pronounced.

The upper-midrange and treble harshness of CDs is another area that has been improved upon here. Brass instruments, harmonicas, cymbals, and other eardrum-assaulting sounds are smoother, silkier, and again more natural. Like I said before, this is subtle, and you really don't appreciate it until you go back to your old CDs after your ear has become accustomed to something better. I'll use a TV analogy that many people can relate to. You like your 25-incher, but you decide its time to step up to the 36. Those extra 11 inches don't blow you away at first; however, after you've gotten used to your set and then you go over to the house of a friend who's still on a 25, you begin to appreciate your new set so much more. Most people don't think there's anything wrong with CDs, and there really isn't, considering the quality of the average audio system. But I don't think you can fully appreciate the benefits of SACD until you've listened to it for a while and then go back to CDs.

Sure, you can buy a regular DVD player for almost pennies. Then again, if you're looking for the state of the art, it'll cost you. The DVP-S9000ES isn't meant to be an inexpensive player and isn't targeted at the average grocery-store shopper. The player is aimed at high-end home theaters—installations that deserve and can take advantage of both good-quality progressive-scan DVD images and high-resolution Super Audio CD sound quality. In these regards, the player delivers. The fact that it includes both features, among others, at this price makes it a surprisingly good value.

Highlights
• SACD and two-channel 24/96 digital audio capabilities
• Progressive-scan output