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Sony TA-DA9000ES
Digital AV amp £2,600
Sony’s first all-digital amplifier represents the shape of things to come. Alan Sircom puts it to the test and finds out what the future sounds like
FEATURES All-digital AV amplifier; 200W per channel; Dolby Digital & DD EX, DTS & DTS ES (Discrete and Matrix), Dolby Pro-Logic II (Movies, Music), DTS Neo:6 (Cinema, Music), DTS 96/24; S-Master design; Digital Cinema System effects modes; 24/192 DACs on every channel; 20bit ADC processing; i.Link direct input for SACD only; video up-conversion to component video; dimensions: 238(h) x 430(w) x 480(d)mm; weight: 28.5kg SOCKETS AV ins – 8 line (1 on front), 3 tape, all with composite/S-video; 3 component video inputs, 1 component video output; 2 composite/S-video outputs. Audio only – 4 line, 2 tape, 1 phono, 7.1 channel in, 7.1 channel out; digital audio – 5 electrical ins, 7 optical ins, 2 optical outs; remote in/out mini jack sockets; RS232a socket; i.Link socket; 7-speaker outs; headphone socket CONTACT ☎ 08705 111999 www.sony.co.uk TEST DATA Measured Power output: 120W, 8Ω, 1kHz, 0.1%THD into 2 channels 110W, 8Ω, 1kHz, 0.1%THD into 5 channels 205W, 4Ω, 1kHz, 0.1%THD into 2 channels 155W, 4Ω, 1kHz, 0.1%THD into 5 channels Fidelity Firewall: 116W, 8Ω, 1kHz, 0.03%THD Distortion: 0.003% at 50W (1kHz, 8Ω) Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz ±0.1dB
Tricky set-up, logical remote
here’s been a move of late to switch from analogue to digital in every aspect of home cinema design. Sony’s £2,600 TA-DA9000ES integrated amplifier is the epitome of this trend. It’s classed as an all-digital amplifier, delivering 200W into seven channels.
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DESCRIPTION This all-digital design essentially takes the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) data concept developed for Super Audio CD to its logical extreme. This means no filtration, no strange analogue audio components, just digits all the way from DVD player to loudspeaker. Digital sources (like DVD through conventional digital links and Super Audio CD – but not DVD-Audio – through the i.Link connector) are processed directly. Any non-digital sources (like the analogue sound from a radio or a TV decoder without a digital output) get processed through an ADC (analogue to digital converter) almost as soon as they are fed into the DA9000ES’s circuit and remain in the digital domain throughout. Any sound processing, performed on either digital or recently-digitised analogue signals, is handled entirely in the digital domain and is therefore effectively noise free. There are two possible advantages to an all-digital design. One is that it can bring the listener closer to the sound, producing a better, less polluted performance. The other is that it can be used to make an amplifier that is cheap, runs cool and is very small. Most
A veritable feast of sockets, including i.Link and 7.1-channel analogue input
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all-digital amplifiers on the market fall into the latter camp but Sony shows just why the all-digital concept is important for those who take their performance seriously, too. In addition to these digital joys, the TA-DA9000ES is bursting with effects modes, using the S-Master Pro version of Sony’s Digital Cinema System, with all its theatre and studio-replicating effects. It’s got every flavour of Dolby and DTS format (barring the latest Dolby Pro-Logic IIx or the Extended Neo 6 version of DTS) and not much in the way of video processing. This is because Sony claims that including onscreen displays and the like will let the sonic side down, even when not activated. There is also a wealth of compensations for digital audio, such as overcoming analogue speaker ‘idiosyncrasies’ and other settings that make a tone control (it has those too) seem like a very blunt instrument.
OPERATION This does, of course, entail a tougher set-up procedure than most amplifiers. Installing and setting up the system using a small front-panel display – especially a system as potentially bewildering as this one – requires a deeply logical mind. But even in full Dr Spock mode, expect panic attacks and hyperventilation as you try to get your head around this 28.5kg amplifier. This is especially true with the front panel in the down position – any amplifier that has a rotary dial for ‘main menu’ next to one marked just ‘menu’ is going to be an exercise in complexity. This
situation is not helped by the fact that for the first few days or so, the TA-DA9000ES sounds brash and hard, until its thoroughly warmed up. Being a Sony, though, once set-up is completed the amplifier is intuitive and easy to drive.
PERFORMANCE Ultimately, though, you are rewarded with a sound that, at its best, redefines the notion of good surround performance. ‘At its best’ in this context means Super Audio CD played through the i.Link connector. After hearing this in multichannel music mode, playing Dark Side of the Moon from the matching SCD-XA9000ES
“You are rewarded with a sound that redefines the notion of good surround performance” CD/SACD player, the word ‘precision’ takes on a whole new meaning. Sounds snap into focus like a military parade and the amplifier seems to cut through all the detritus that gets in the way of home cinema sound. This can be both a good and bad thing, however. The new SACD remix of Steely
The main menu for this complex machine gets its own dial
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Dan’s Gaucho, for example, has a very dry tonal balance and played through this system becomes like a martini-drinking contest in the Gobi Desert. On most discs, though, it presents the music with a directness and lack of artificiality that no other SACD replay system can match. With DVD – through digital inputs – the 200W power becomes all the more apparent. It has terrific weight behind the sound, with a drive and impact that makes the cannonades in Pirates of the Caribbean take on a real ‘thwack’ that can only happen when the main channels are solidly gripped by the amplifiers. It has an extremely clean, slightly stark character that never quite goes away but this is typically Sony sounding, only more so. You do get big-scale dynamics and excellent speaker-to-speaker integration
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FACT FILE
All digital amplifier 200W per channel DD EX/DTS ES i.Link input 24/192 DACs
but the claustrophobic thickening of the sound that a more traditional amplifier does so well is gone. This is often a benefit, as it cleans up and opens out the sound of the system, making the likes of Lord of the Rings more expansive than ever, but also seems to make tense submarine dramas like Das Boot less sweaty in the process. There’s also a distinct hierarchy of sources and the sound worsens as we descend through the class divides. Products connected through i.Link sound wonderful, digital sources through optical and coaxial sound great and analogues sources are okay but not in the same league. Most of all, it’s a crying shame that the wonderful sound from Super Audio CD through i.Link cannot be extended to include DVD-Audio on the TA-DA9000ES. It represents a tantalising glimpse of how good all-digital sounds can be and pushes the envelope for multichannel music performance. There isn’t supposed to be an agenda here, however; the two formats are incompatible at this level, at this time.
WHAT’S GOOD All-digital amplifier; very direct sound
WHAT’S BAD Extremely complex set-up system; digital sources sound a lot better than analogue; speakers need to evolve before this sounds right, too
SOUND FEATURES EASE OF USE VALUE ALSO CONSIDER...
DENON AVC-A1SRA Denon’s flagship THX Ultra 2 processing amp has recently been upgraded and now features the digital Denon Link 3 Review: N/A PIONEER VSA-AX10i The first i.Link digital connected amplifier, complete with THX Ultra 2 and automated calibration for stunning ease of use Review: Apr ’03
OVERALL VERDICT Hyper clean all digital amplifier that represents the wild frontier of how home cinema will sound in the future
CONCLUSION
The DA9000ES’s brushed aluminium fascia means business
Despite these minor foibles, the TA-DA9000ES represents the future of home cinema amplification. As more speaker manufacturers become aware of the change, they will shift their tonal balance to make the systems seem less lean. At that point, you’ll get the best of both worlds. One thing’s clear, though: once you’ve heard what all-digital sound can do, it’s hard to go back ■ August 2004 WHAT VIDEO AND WIDESCREEN TV 97