Opinion on Sony Receiver?

[Number1]

Future Shop has a special on this receiver right now, $200 off:

Sony 7.1 Channel Home Theater A/V Receiver (STRDH800)

It supports these formats: Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby TrueHD, DTS ES, DTS HD, DTS, THX Select

It looks like a good 7.1 receiver and has pretty good reviews on the net.

TechRadar

Reviews

It's cheaper then anything else available with these features right now.

Currently I have an older Sony 5.1 receiver and it's not bad.

Any opinions? How would it compare to say an Onkio TX-SR507 with similar features but $150 more?

This Sony looks like a really good deal.

 

[JackBurton]

What if I were to tell you the Onkyo TX-SR507 was on sale at Amazon for $332.48 with free shipping? Would that make it easier on you?

And yes, I'd definitely get the Onkyo over the Sony.

 

[Number1]

What if I were to tell you the Onkyo TX-SR507 was only sale at Amazon for $332.48 with free shipping? Would that make it easier on you?

And yes, I'd definitely get the Onkyo over the Sony.

Canadian?

 

[alcoholbob]

Asside from the high end digital line their low end analog receivers produce less power than their competitors. Onkyo has the most pure amperage in their receivers than anything else in their price range. You can definitely tell from the tweeter hiss/crackling when you turn up the Sony receivers at an above average volume level.

 

[olds]

The only Sony I would buy (and have) would be their ES line.

 

[Chess]

Personally I like Denon and Onkyo...

 

[vshah]

Personally I like Denon and Onkyo...

agreed, for audyssey and video upconversion

 

[Number1]

Thanks for the comments gentlemen. Not many Sony fans in here. Its not like I am getting a Bose, LOL.

From what I read on the net, most people who get the Sony have very positive experience. There is nothing up here in Canada at that price that compares right now. I will probably get this today and try it. I can always return it if I don't like it.

 

[Pacfanweb]

You'll never find Sony mentioned in a serious conversation about HT.

I'd never own another one, for sure.

 

[Number1]

You'll never find Sony mentioned in a serious conversation about HT.

I'd never own another one, for sure.

Why? I have one now and it works fine. It's not perfect but I paid $300 for it 4 years ago and I think I got my money's worth.

The new one would add all the new HD audio formats as well as HDMI connectivity for less then $400 Cdn. I don't need up converting.

I can't ear anything above 16 K and my new sub is powerful enough to overcome any hearing deficiencies in the low end.

I am not a purist or an audiofile and if I can get all the features this amp provides at a price I can afford why not? Nothing else comes lose right now.

As I said most users are happy with their purchase. I can't see why I would not be. I can also return it within 30 says.

 

[Pacfanweb]

^Might work fine for you, but your post addressed nothing that I wrote.

Sony never mentioned when talking serious HT receivers

I'd never own another one


you asked for opinions, then you want to argue about it?

I'd never own another one, because I've had two and they were totally ball-less. (not to mention one broke prematurely, was a known problem and Sony did nothing about it)

And I'm correct in saying you typically won't see Sony mentioned in serious talks about HT receivers....that's just a fact. They are simply out-performed at any price point by other brands.

Now, again...if you're fine with it, that's great. But you did ask.

 

[Number1]

^Might work fine for you, but your post addressed nothing that I wrote.

Sony never mentioned when talking serious HT receivers

I'd never own another one


you asked for opinions, then you want to argue about it?

I'd never own another one, because I've had two and they were totally ball-less. (not to mention one broke prematurely, was a known problem and Sony did nothing about it)

And I'm correct in saying you typically won't see Sony mentioned in serious talks about HT receivers....that's just a fact. They are simply out-performed at any price point by other brands.

Now, again...if you're fine with it, that's great. But you did ask.

I didn't want to come across as hostile. I did ask for opinions. I don't consider myself a "serious" audiophile and I think this is going to work just fine for me.

 

[cubalis]

I had this receiver in question (DH800) powering my living room setup (Paradigm mini monitors x 4 and cc370) and while I liked the features, it simply didn't sound very good.

I felt the highs were rolled off and the lows/mid was muddy. Also at lower volumes such as night listening these issues were even more pronounced. I wish I could have taken a REW measurement but didn't have the means at the time.

I returned it to Futureshop and replaced it with a Denon 590 for ~$40 more at the time. It was only a 5.1 and had 1 less hdmi input, but sounded worlds better.

And yes, I eq'd both receivers multiple times.

 

[olds]

I have owned various Sony ES receivers over the years and always loved them.
My last new receiver was an ES but it wouldn't work with my Def Tech speakers. They have built-in subwoofers and the receiver saw each speaker as a set. So the overload protection would go on.
I ended up exchanging it for a Denon that I am happy with.

 

[Gunbuster]

only 18lbs. I would say no.

Look at Yamaha, Pioneer, or HK.

 

[vshah]

cheapest i can find a denon for in canada is $499. - avr-590 at futureshop.

 

[PM650]

I have owned various Sony ES receivers over the years and always loved them.
My last new receiver was an ES but it wouldn't work with my Def Tech speakers. They have built-in subwoofers and the receiver saw each speaker as a set. So the overload protection would go on.
I ended up exchanging it for a Denon that I am happy with.

Not sure which you had, but there was a service bulletin a while ago to correct this with STR-DA2/3/5000ES receivers (Text). That said, I'm not particularly impressed with sony's designs, so you made the right choice

OP: pass on sony & lower-end pioneers, stick with onkyo/denon/hk/yamaha in this price range - hard to go wrong with one of them unless you're an early adopter (some firmware issues in past early models). If you can, buy refurb or a previous year's model - you might sacrifice a feature or two, but you'll generally be able to buy a beefier unit for the same price.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I didn't want to come across as hostile. I did ask for opinions. I don't consider myself a "serious" audiophile and I think this is going to work just fine for me.

The only receiver that regularly comes up in the same price range in Canada is the equivalent Yamaha model. I find the Sony has a few more tweaking options, which is why I bought one (later switched to Denon). Neither is a great receiver, but either will do the job as long as you don't expect to drive five small speakers to room-filling volume.

 

[alcoholbob]

The lack of power compared to other receivers even in the $300-600 range is very obvious. The SNR is very poor and during very quiet passages (this happens a lot in Miyamoto's animated movies) it's extremely hissy if you turn it up.

This was at very mundane listening distance (8 feet) with extremely sensitive speakers (93db).

 

[erwos]

Nothing wrong with the ES line of Sony receivers - they're often the best choice if you care about video processing capabilities, a place where Onkyo and Denon tend to lag behind at equivalent price points, or used to, anyways.

 

[najames]

Make sure your receiver has Audyssey multieq. It will make it really easy to setup and will sound great. I believe all Denons have it. Look around AVSforum and see what people think of the receivers you are considering.

I'd say Audyssey multieq is more important than the codecs personally. How many movies are available in Dolby/DTS HD?

 

[vshah]

Nothing wrong with the ES line of Sony receivers - they're often the best choice if you care about video processing capabilities, a place where Onkyo and Denon tend to lag behind at equivalent price points, or used to, anyways.

the 1910 and up have anchor bay vrs upscaling/processing, which is very very good. 1910 has the basic one, 2310 and up have the high end one. not sure what the ES receivers use.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Nothing wrong with the ES line of Sony receivers - they're often the best choice if you care about video processing capabilities, a place where Onkyo and Denon tend to lag behind at equivalent price points, or used to, anyways.

what do you mean by this? upscaling? on screen display?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Nothing wrong with the ES line of Sony receivers\

Unfortunately the OP is not talking about a Sony ES....

 

[Fallen Kell]

what do you mean by this? upscaling?

Upscaling - converting of lower resolution video sources to higher resolution by means of multiple video algorithms and formulas to interpolate from the existing data additional pixels to fill out the image. Good video upscaling will enhance the image, not simply do a direct pixel doubling, etc., but will use information from the surrounding pixels and "edge" detection to create new pixels which are combinations of the surrounding.

on screen display?

On screen display - as the name implies, it is a "on screen" display, not simply a display on the device. Now the more important feature is actually an on screen display over the specified video output, i.e. HDMI, component, or composite. Typically lower end receivers will only show their on screen display over composite, which forces you to connect composite cables to the TV as well as your preferred connection type (HDMI or component) in order to access the menu system to make setting changes.