SONY TA-V88ES

Commentary

ES series AV amplifier with built-in Dolby digital processor equipped with digital cinema sound technology.

A 24-bit DSP is used for decoding the Dolby Digital.
It can be connected to the digital output of the DVD player to decode and amplify Dolby Digital.

It supports the bus redirection function of Dolby Digital and allows you to divide the low-frequency range to other speakers. This allows you to enjoy dramatic surround sound playback even when you use a small speaker that tends to lack the low-frequency range, by letting the subwoofer handle only the low-frequency range.
The crossover network processing for low-pass extraction is done in the DSP with 24-bit processing at the digital stage.

It is equipped with Cinema Studio mode and Virtual 3D mode by digital cinema surround, which is Sony's original surround technology.
Cinema Studio Mode allows you to enjoy the sound effects of three different types of Sony Pictures Entertainment studios.
In the Virtual 3D mode, you can create a sound field unique to a movie theater more actively by making full use of 3D acoustic technology. It is equipped with various modes : Virtual Multiria, which allows you to enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by many rear speakers, Virtual Rear Shift, which allows you to get a sense of a wide sound field like a movie theater, and Virtual Enhanced Surround A/B, which allows you to play back the sound of the rear with only the front speakers.

In addition to the surround mode of digital cinema sound, it is equipped with a total of 29 programs and 56 surround modes, including modes for reproducing sound fields of concert halls and live houses.
You can also tune up to your preference by adjusting various parameters based on preset modes.

The D/A converter is equipped with a full-feed-forward digital filter and an advanced pulse D/A converter.
In the full-feed-forward digital filter, low-order bits, which were previously rounded off, are transmitted through a separate route, stored in memory, and combined with the result of the next stage operation. This enables oversampling operations that also reflect low-order bit data, thereby almost completely eliminating requantization noise within the audible band.
In the TA-V88ES, the advanced pulse D/A converter is integrated into a single LSI together with a full feed-forward digital filter to achieve more stable operation.

Each of the front, center and rear channels has its own digital tone controller that can adjust the high and low tone in the digital domain.

A dynamic 5-amp system with front L/R, center and rear L/R amplifiers is adopted, enabling more powerful surround playback.
The power stage uses a parallel transistor with two NPN-type and two PNP-type elements arranged on the same plate. This allows the temperature environment to be matched and the amplification characteristics to be matched. In addition, the plate on which the elements are mounted is of a large size. It functions as a stabilizer to prevent sudden changes in temperature to improve stability.

A large transformer with a wrapped core is used for the power supply.
In conventional EI core transformers, E-type and I-type magnetic steel sheets are individually laminated and then combined (welded or bonded) to form the core. However, by adopting a wrap-packed structure in which E-type and I-type magnetic steel sheets are stacked alternately, there is no part that is cut in a fault in the magnetic path, reducing leakage of magnetic flux.
The electrolytic capacitor is also equipped with a large-capacity and large-size type for pure audio that is carefully selected through repeated trial listening not only in electrical characteristics but also in acoustic characteristics.

The S. T. D. power supply circuit, which is an arrangement of the S. T. D. power supply circuit installed in the pure audio amplifier for the AV amplifier, is adopted. In this method, a diode for preventing reflux is inserted into the voltage amplifier stage (A class stage). Even if the power amplifier stage (B class stage) consumes a large amount of current instantaneously, the power amplifier stage can operate stably.

A FB chassis is used for the chassis.
This chassis is made of metal material of sufficient strength and thickness, and the whole chassis is firmly fixed as one box by the frame (Frame) and the beam (Beam) passed from side to side. In addition, members with different natural vibration modes are combined by using different shapes and sizes to reduce the vibration of the whole chassis by mutually canceling the natural vibration.

The heat sink uses a high-rigidity large heat sink made of extruded aluminum that is tuned to suppress harmful fin squeal. The heat sink itself is also firmly fixed to the chassis body to reduce vibration structurally.
Moreover, in the TA-V88ES, the power transistors are arranged so that the front L channel and front R channel, which are the most important channels for channel separation, are separated into separate heat sinks to obtain good separation characteristics.

The legs are equipped with an eccentric insulator.
The eccentric insulator has a structure with a screw hole to avoid the center position, and by changing the phase of vibration, it is canceled and transmission to the chassis is reduced.

Uses 6 series volume with die-cast frame.
The use of die-cast frames greatly reduces shaft wobble and reduces sound quality turbidity caused by contact points.

The 3-1 stereo (Hi-Vision surround system) has a dedicated input terminal.

Equipped with an AC-3 RF input, it supports Dolby Digital Audio, which is converted to RF signals and recorded on a Dolby Digital Laser Disk.

Equipped with base boost function, you can increase the impact of low sound with one touch.

It has a direct pass switch that allows you to bypass surround, tone control and base boost circuits as needed.

A simple menu operation using cursor keys is adopted to improve operability.

Wireless remote control with learning function is included.

Model Rating

Type	AV amplifier
Maximum Practical Output (EIAJ, 6 Ω)	Front : 150W + 150W Center : 150W Rear : 150W + 150W
Total harmonic distortion rate (20 Hz to 20 kHz)	Front : 0.05% or Less (at 6 Ω load, 100W + 100W output)
Frequency characteristic	Line : 10 Hz to 50 kHz + 1-3 dB (when direct path is ON, analog system)
Signal-to-noise ratio (A network)	Line : 86 dB (when direct path is ON)
Surround Mode	29 Program 56 mode (refer to the surround mode list below)
Dolby Pro Logic Input Balance	Auto
Tone control	Front, center and rear independent Bass : ± 10 dB (center frequency 90 to 992 Hz) Treble : ± 10 dB (center frequency 1.0k to 8.6 kHz) Increment / decrement step : 0.5 dB
Input of video equipment (audio & video)	Line 5
Video equipment (audio & video) output	Route 2
Video monitor output	Route 1
S-image input	Line 5
S Video Output	Route 2
S video monitor output	Route 1
Digital input	Light : 4 systems Coaxial : 1 system AC-3RF : 1 System
Digital output	Light : 1 system
Audio input	Phono MM : 1 system Line : 4 routes
Audio Out	Rec out : 2 lines Front L/R : 1 system Center : 1 system Rear L/R : 1 system Two sub-woofers Headphone : 1 system
AC outlet	Power switch interlock : 2 systems
Pwer	100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz
Power consumption	380W
External dimensions	Width 430x Height 160x Depth 435 mm
Weight	Approx. 17.0 kg
Attachment	Remote Controller with Learning Function RM-P501
Surround mode on the TA-V88ES 　 Dolby Pro Logic Dolby Enhanced Pro Logic Small Theater Midum Theater Large Theater Mono-Movie Cinema Studio A Cinema Studio B Cinema Studio C Night Theater Virtual Multi Rear (A / B) Virtual Rear Shift (A & B) Virtual Enhanced Surround A Virtual Enhanced Surround B Arena Stadium Game Small Hall Large Hall Small Opera House Large Opera House Small Jazz Club Large Jazz Club Church Live House * Acoustic * Karaoke In surround mode with *, in case of AC-3 input, processing is performed after downmixing to 2 ch. Therefore, the sound field becomes the same as that of analog 2 ch input.