Burning in my Sony DVP-S9000ES -- best approach

Yes, it must be connected. SACD break in IS seperate. I ran mine about 16-18 hrs. a day to break in. Some prefer to keep it on 24/7. It will not be complete until say.. 500 hours, but should sound good at 190 hours or so. Don't believe those who say break in is a myth. Also try to find a reasonably priced way to gain some isolation like Vibrapods or better yet, Mod Squad Soft Shoes. Good luck.

I totally agree with Bmpnyc, including his suggestions for isolation.

One guy in my audio group broke from the rest of us with this player. He choose Symposium Roller Blocks over my selection of Mod Squad Soft Shoes. Couldn't hurt to experiment with yours to see what makes it sing.

As for break in, the content of the music is probably not worth an argument. I myself try to play a mix of material, shifting from heavy rock to classical to soft Jazz and even dynamic movie sound tracks to insure the components are bathed in a wide variety of sounds.

Good luck with your player, I use the same model in my own system. It is a great value, with stunning DVD capability, and great sound from the SACD section.

I case you missed it, the player should be connected to a dac,or pre amp, or receiver, during this break-in period.The receiver need not have speakers connected or volume applied, for break-in.