Sony DVP-NS500V SACD/DVD Player

My brother was reading a review of this model in the latest issue of The Absolute Sound and just bought it for $149 at Best Buy.

Seems like a great deal to me- even just as a DVD player alone. I was just curious if anyone else has this model or is familiar with it. Thoughts/opinions anyone?

 

I have two of them. I bought it just for the SACD player. I'm sure there are better sounding units out there but for this price you have to buy it. It's good enough to show how superior SACD is to its redbook counterpart. I bought my first one so I could hear 5.1 mixes of TOTO IV and Brubeck's Time Out.

The picture from the DVD player is pretty good. I also have a Panasonic DVD recorder which has a much better picture (and cost almost $950 more). Black from the Sony isn't quite black unlike the Panasonic's picture which is a deep, dark black. The picture from the Panasonic is also more solid and brighter.

I also have a higher end Toshiba DVD player I bought for its HDCD decoder. The Sony snubs it's nose at it. That thing is ashamed to even be around the Sony. I thought that Sony player was the best player I'de seen until I got the DVD recorder.

 

I like mine as well (and you can't beat the price). A nice machine all around and I think the SACD and redbook cds sound nice and smooth. After playing with it for a while, I would definitely recommend it.

 

How is the sound of this player? I was thinking it might make a good backup unit. There are mods available, but that would kind of defeat its purpose right?

http://www.tweakaudio.com/Sony NS500V.html

 

For the price, I don' think you can beat it. I have a Panasonic and JVC DVD player as well and I think the sony beats them both. As a cd player the sound is nice and smooth (not harsh) and pretty warm sounding. I use it as my DVD/CD/SACD player in my home theater setup and I am not disappointed at all. I only have a few SACDs to play but my Toto IV (IMO) sound phenomenol!! Even my DVD-A's (using the DD 5.1 or DTS tracks) sound great. It also has quite a few adjustments within the unit to make it fit your particular room. And again, the price is great on this one even at $170 (which I paid). I would certainly buy this player again.

 

I just bought this player (DVP-NS500V) on clearance from BB for 129.00. Came with the remote, but alas no owner's manual.

Anyone know where I might get a manual? Or--would anyone be willing to scan the manual and send me either the scans or a pdf file? I'd be very grateful and I might be able to work out some kind of mutually satisfying trade now or in the future.

I sure wish the Sony site had more information!

Gardo

 

I love my 500V. Superb video and red book CD and nice sounding SACD to boot. Limitations: Limited Bass Management (none in stereo SACD), no timing alignment adjustments in SACD, not the ultimate in noise free SACD operation (more of a measurement issue but it is not at all close to therotical limits for noise).

Richard.

 

Gardo,
The manual is 95 pages. Would take a whopping long time to scan or photocopy. Maybe Sony sells them?

 

This superb entry level unit does not offer any such option. But do note that every review I have read over the years concerning Red Book filtering options has fallen back to the default option as the one preferred for serious listening.

Richard.

 

Ow. If that's all English, then obviously I DO need this manual!

Today I'm going out scavenging for a new-in-box unit. Just a few hours of playing with this machine yesterday was enough to get me hooked, but good. The SACD of Billy Joel's "The Stranger" sounded absolutely superb--even brought tears to my eyes a couple of times. And as I watched the last hour of "The Fellowship of the Ring" with my family, I was bowled over by the video.

As they say in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," it was vaaarah niiiiiiice.

Gardo

 

Sony does sell them. Call 1800 222 SONY for a phone link to their parts line.

Richard. PS Tell them it was missing and you may not be charged.

 

Okay, got the new-in-box from Circuit City yesterday. My findings in an A/B comparison with the open-box unit from Best Buy:

The video seems a touch better with the new CC unit.
The audio on both CD and SACD seems a touch better with the open BB unit: a little smoother, a little more "solid," with (surprisingly) louder, deeper bass. The new CC unit sounds a little thin and a little bit brighter in comparison.

Is this a burn-in issue? The open-box BB unit had been on display and turned on for a long time: I'm guessing at least three months. Could that account for the difference I'm hearing? Also, I'm mindful of the Absolute Sound review in which one sample was bright and strident regardless of burn-in. Has there been a lot of sample-to-sample variation with this model?

Good: something else to obsess over.

Gardo

 

I like mine a lot (even at the near list price I paid when it came out - ouch!!!) - I disconnected my Marantz CD 67SE after comparing the cd sections of both players - the Sony is a warmer sounding unit (which is odd considering the last Sony cd player I had was mighty harsh...)

 

I know it's not polite to reply to one's own post, but I did want to post a short update.

When I got to do some listening this morning, the Day After the Circuit City purchase, I noticed that the difference between the new "crisp" unit and the older "bassy-smooth" unit had narrowed considerably. Now the crispness had faded into a generally lively and dynamic presentation, and the bass seemed better controlled and balanced. Sounds to me like even a few hours of burn-in made a difference--or else the differences are so small that my judgment isn't entirely precise or reliable here. Either way I'm okay.

Just before a road trip today, I put in the gold disc of CTA. Uh, okay, that sounds wonderful. Then I put in the MoFi gold disc of Blood, Sweat, and Tears second album. Whew--another wonderful sounding disc. Then a quick listen to BS&T 4. Ditto. I'm betting that all my best-mastered Redbook CDs are going to offer up some revelations on this player. And my SACD of Wynton Marsalis's "Standard Time, Vol. 1" sounds scrumptious. It's very exciting to think I'm getting this kind of performance out of a player that cost (after CC matched BB's price) 150 bucks. And it does MUCH better DVD than my old Panasonic A110. A full 525 lines of horizontal resolution, lovely color, impressive handling of contrast and texture ... okay, I'll stop slobbering now.

I'm not saying the player is perfect, or that mods would make no difference--but I am saying that this performance (CD, SACD, AND DVD) at this price point is really something extraordinary. The player's discontinued, but I spotted a few here and there today. Many more of the 5-disc changers--BB has them going for 250. I imagine there'll be a closeout on this model soon. I hope it's within thirty days: the one thing the ns500v lacks that I'd like is a headphone jack.

I wonder if Best Buy will stock the replacement models? Sony's done a great thing by making this machine so affordable. Will the trend continue? Now would be a great time for a big push.

Oh, one more thing: I scored an SACD of Weather Report's "Heavy Weather" today at BB for 12 bucks. Now that's a good price point.

Gardo

 

The 500V does on-board letterbox conversion to perfection. Few DVD players can pull off that trick. Have not checked to see if it has tamed the chroma bug most players display.

Richard.

 

What is that?

 

Well; you know how there are audio nuts. There are also video nuts. Most digital to analog video converter circuits make mistakes. With a static display on a large high resolution display you can see that some color aberrations are visible. To the video nuts this is a reason to avoid a player. In my opinion this is not a major issue and some of the newer chip sets have addressed some if not all of these color errors. Far more important is correct letter-boxing of wide material on a conventional set. Most DVD players introduce significant errors in the display. Price does not seem to be a factor in finding a good player.