Hi-Rez Highway: REVIEW: Sony AVD-S50ES Other by DD

Model:	AVD-S50ES
Category:	Other
Suggested Retail Price:	$800
Description:	Integrated SACD/CD/DVD/Digital Amp Receiver
Manufacturer URL:	Sony
Model Picture:	View

Review by DD ( A ) on May 10, 2003 at 11:01:48
IP Address: 67.115.133.33

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for the AVD-S50ES

SACDs Used:
Bach, J.S.;"Goldberg Variations";Perahia; Sony Classical
Brubeck, Dave; "Time Out"; Columbia Jazz
Davis, Miles; "Kind of Blue"; Columbia Jazz
Evans, Bill; "Waltz for Debby"; Analogue Productions
Pink Floyd; "Dark Side of the Moon"; Capitol Records
The Police; "Every Breath You Take"; EMI
'Redbook' CDs Used:
Bach, as above
Brubeck, as above
Corea, Chick; "Past, Present, & Futures", Stretch Records
Davis, as above
Mendelssohn, Felix; "Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64", Chung, Polygram
Pink Floyd, as above,
The Police, as above
Product Description:
The AVD-S50ES combines a DVD/SACD/CD/Digital Receiver into one chassis. The S50ES, and it's sibling the C70ES, are the only integrated units in Sony's ES line.
The amplifier circuitry uses Sony's 'Digital Drive' amplifier technology, which rumor says is a variation on the Tripath Class-T technology or other sigma-delta approaches. One thing it is definitely not is a Class-D, PWM technology.
The digital amps are directly connected to the SACD circuitry, completely eliminating a full set of interconnects and any external DA conversion.
Another benefit of the digital amplifier technology is the small size, weight, and lack of heat produced. In my system, the AVD-S50ES replaced a Denon receiver of the same power rating, but in package about half the size and weight.
The AVD-S50ES is capable of playing SACD, DVD-V, CD-R/RW, and MP3 discs.
The Sound:
Living in the horribly expensive Bay Area, I'm still saving up for my first home for a ridiculous $700k, so for the time being, I live in an apartment. As such, I don't have the space for a dedicated music system and must have one system that serves my music listening (70%) and home theatre (30%) needs.
The first night I received the AVD-S50ES, I hooked it up to my home theatre set up. I put in 'The Matrix' so that my fiance and I could re-acquaint ourselves with the story in prepartion for next week's sequel. We watched the movie for a grand total of 20 minutes before my SO decided to call it a night.
With the woman in bed, I put in Chung's Mendelssohn and my reaction was........"so-so". I tried a few more disks, but my reaction never got better than "not bad". I had pretty much resigned myself to thinking of the conveniences and how this would finally let me play CD-Rs copied from my local libarary on a massive scale.
The next morning, I realized that, in my eagerness, I had let the AVD-S50Es warm up for only about 20 minutes before trying to give it a critical listen. Hardly fair. So I put in my SACD of "Every Breath You Take", set the player on 'repeat', and left for work.
7:30 PM, Day 2, Arrive Home:
WOWWWW!! I walk in the door, throw my laptop in the corner, and immediately hear a huge difference. This was not something subtle. These were differences that could be noticed 11 hours later, standing in the foyer.
Over the next 48 hours, barring breaks to eat, sleep, and work, I put in SACD and CD after CD. Conclusions:
On the bottom end, the AVD-S50ES is incredibly impressive. Even with Redbook CDs, the bass is tight and impactful with the kind of control, I kid you not, that I normally associate with dedicated power amps in the $2000+ range. This may be some result of the digital amp technology.
On the top end, the AVD-S50ES is surprisingly mellow, quite the opposite of what one would expect. In terms of tonal analogies, the top end (not the bottom end) is more NAD than Rotel, but with more definition than I've ever heard from NAD. The top-end is clearly where design trade-offs have been made and where the largest opportunity for tweaking (e.g. speaker cables) lies. Compared to the best high-end I've ever heard (various hot-running Class-A power amps), the top end of the AVD-S50ES is a bit rounded off and less extended, but still quite nice. Mind you, this mellowing effect is pretty mild. The top-end is still quite revealing, and bright, crappy pop CDs (like my darling's Celine Dion albums) will still sound bright and crappy.
The AVD-S50ES is very good at revealing detail. The leading edges of the piano in Perahia's Goldberg Variations were rendered with the right amount of attack. Miles' trumpet in 'Kind of Blue' had the right amount of burnish without being harsh or bright. Really, really top notch stuff here.
In contrast to its detail, the AVD-S50ES is merely above average in the area of imaging. Yes, the AVD-S50ES can throw a good soundstage, with both width and depth, but it's not quite as multi-layered as the best I've heard.
Summary:
Awesome bottom end, great rhythm, revealing detail, and a listenable top-end all combined into a convenient, high-rez unit that does it all. Only makes some compromises in top-end extension and soundstaging. Overall, very enjoyable and listenable.
If you have a medium sized room that must house a dual-use music/home theatre system, there is little better than the AVD-S50ES, and certainly nothing at the price point.
Having used a separate SACD and receiver setup prior to this, I'd take the AVD-S50ES any day for anything except a monster-sized room or a dedicated music-only system.
Killer bargain, and definitely a match for any dual-use (HT/music) system of separates in the combined $1500-2000 price range.

Product Weakness: Pretty hard to tweak. At first glance, it seems so simple, so-non-"audiophile" that you have to be confident in what your own ears are telling you.
Product Strengths: Reduced signal path, reduced EMI, no need for expensive digital interconnects, as purely 'digital' as you're likely to get. Inexpensive, too. Solidly built with a stylish brushed-aluminum fascia.
Oh, and my fiance says it's really cute, stylish, 'kawaii', and loves the blue LED.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	NA
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	NA
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	NA
Speakers:	NHT SB-1s (x5), M&K MX-700 (subwoofer)
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber 8TC
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz, classical, rock
Time Period/Length of Audition:	72 hours
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Pretty hard to tweak. At first glance, it seems so simple, so-non-"audiophile" that you have to be confident in what your own ears are telling you.
Product Strengths:	Reduced signal path, reduced EMI, no need for expensive digital interconnects, as purely 'digital' as you're likely to get. Inexpensive, too. Solidly built with a stylish brushed-aluminum fascia. Oh, and my fiance says it's really cute, stylish, 'kawaii', and loves the blue LED.