"Oh, it's a Sony" from your friends. More s-video inputs than I'll ever use.

Runs HOT even with the volume low. Very audible transformer hum. Customized channel display quit after 5 months. Mid-fi. AM band sensitivity very poor.

My first surround receiver. Nice at first, until I realized that my trusty 1985 Sony was far more hi-fi & had better power at the same 80-watt rating. I mostly like the 30ES for theater, but my CD's suffer somewhat. The 30ES wouldn't accept custom channel display settings after about 5 months, and was quirky even earlier about it. (Mirroring my experience that Sony circuitry is prone to miscellaneous failures.) I use a $30 Sony remote because the original is a very bad joke. The single wire subwoofer output (controlled by the receiver) was crummy too, & I had to use the old fashioned 2 wire approach to get some control over matters using the sub's controls. (Running Boston Acoustics speakers & Boston THX certified sub.) All the soundfield options are a waste of effort. Sony has generally gone downhill over the last 10 years, and I have looked elsewhere for some of my stuff. Wish I had looked elsewhere for a new receiver too.

Similar Products Used:

Circa 1985 Sony AV 80 watt receiver.

Lots of inputs

The remote and the instructions

I purchased this unit "Refurbished", from a Sony outlet store here in PA. I've always had good luck with this in the past, and am able to buy equipment that would normally be out of my price range. As usual, Sony does a poor job of writing the instruction book. This is my first Dolby Digital receiver, and I'm still not sure about some of the setup parameters. The equalizer settings for front and subs make sense, but what are the frequency settings for? I assume they are intended as cutoff frequencies. I'm using a Polk RM-6500 sub-sat system with this receiver, and the sound is pretty good. It sounds better than my prologic receiver did, but not that much better. Sony would be better off spending the money on the amplifier instead of endless soundfields. I bought this receiver because it is an ES. I'm glad I got a good price, I doubt I would have been happy if I had spent $700 on it. The remote is nice, but Sony could build a learning remote like the Onkyo. I've always been happy with Sony products in the past, and this receiver is no exception. Nobody has built the perfect peice of gear yet, and it's unlikely anybody ever will.
Does this receiver excel? No, but it's not a $2000 investment either. Does it sound good? For $500 to $600, yes it sounds very good. Does it have enough bells and whistles to keep us playing with it for a while? Yes it does.

My leap into home theater was with the STR-DA30ES. I was concerned that home theater meant giving up "hi-fi", but I was wrong. I listen more and enjoy it more, and have become quite fond of movies now. I am driving Acoustat electrostatics - the amplifier runs VERY hot - so I switched to outboard amplifiers, but am using onboard amps for center and rears (DCM Time Windows). Custom sub/amp on the bottom fills in the electrostatics nicely. The manual has to be among the poorest written (For excellent writing check out an RCA DSS dish manual). The remote quit accepting downloads for some reason - still messing with it to find out why. I find the programing to be a bit erratic verging on alien (I am a controls engineer by trade, so stop snickering). I give it a 4.5, but only because of the remote - last week I would give it a five. I have spent MUCH more for a lot less. Great value. Lousy binding posts unless you like banana jacks.

More than adequate power for DD/DTS movies, dual subwoofer outputs, auto format decoding.

could always use more power, touchpad remote would be nice.

An excellent product, first intro to the Sony ES line. Strong performance on DD/DTS movies, extra soundfields are a bit excessive however. A touchpad remote (as in the 50es) would be an improvement over the universal that comes with the 30es. I would recommend the product to the casual enthusiast who wants solid performance, great warranty (5 years) at a reasonable price ($700)

Very easy to use/setup/plug stuff in

Remote is only ok, no 6 ch inputs like the 333ES

A very fun receiver. Very versitile, works well in many situations. Sounds great, and if you look around, isn't really that expensive. Not quite as good as the 333ES for the same price, but well worth 500-600$. Plus, since it's Sony, aesthetics weren't ignored either-looks as good as it sounds.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon AV40

Sony is introducing eight new audio/video receivers this summer. Check out this site: www.sel.sony.com/SEL/corpcomm/news/consumer/119.htmlThe 30ES is being replaced by the STR-DA333ES which has 80 watts of power into all five channels. In addition to the built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoder, 5.1 channel inputs and preamp outputs are also included. The STR-DA333ES will be available in June.

I bought the Sony STR-DA30ES from OneCall on Friday. Shawn who was helping me is a new employee. He screwed up and didn't save the order. After the time that it was possible to ship the unit out, he called me to tell me that he didn't save the order and that it didn't ship out. I called on Monday before they could have shipped it, and requested that they overnight it and THEY absorb the cost of the increase in shipping. They not only paid for the overnight shipping, but they didn't charge me for shipping at all. Very nice customer service! I received the unit today! Perfect! This baby is sweet. I set it up with my entire system. I have never had a universal remote run "all" of my stuff. And when one ran some...it was a "pain in the ass" to program it. This remote ROX!!! I have my entire system running effortlessly with this remote within 1 hour. It is by FAR the sweetest setup I have ever used. I never broke open the instruction book it was so easy. The sound fields are great. Some sound kinda bogus, but there are a few that are absoulutly awesome. The volume and output is excellent! I have several devices needing s-video hookup and it handles it NP! I also have all banana clip speakers, and this baby is equipped with "ALL" speaker posts. It also has R and L sub outs, so no prob connecting the sub. All in all, there is no better unit I can find, that has all these features, and doesnt force you to have to use the damn TV to set your audio with onscreen menuing. All the menuing in on the remote screen. It communicates back and forth with the receiver. It even remembers all your settings for each device you use.
For 600.00 with 2 day shipping, you CANNOT go wrong with this unit. The only thing that I would give it a small KNOCK...it has no 6 channel inputs for future expandability. It does have "all" recent decoder technology DTS and DD...But it would be nice to have the expandability.
4.5 of 5 and I round up to 5 cuz the remote is so DAMN nice.

JR
giovino@home.com

I just received the unit and it has met all my expectations. I have a Sony DVP-S500D DVD player connected and the DD is great as compared to my previous receiver which was just pro-logic. The unit has more than enough power for my purposes.
The sound is excellent, and it offers many connection options (including s-video all around). I will say that it will take time to figure out and to customize the various soundfields as there are 29 of them.

Each field can be customized from anything to speaker levels to bass, treble, and midrange levels. With all the various customizations available, I am sure that anyone can tweak this receiver to get super sound for whatever type of room you have. The unit is a tweakers dream. Also, you can just turn the soundfields off if you want just the pure DD sound.

The tuner plays well and soundfields for each station are memorized. IF you play a jazz station it will remember to use the jazz soundfield, etc.

Sony could improve their manual. It is skimpy and should offer more details on the soundfields and suggestions for setting up the soundfields.

This unit is highly recommended.

I upgraded to this receiver from an older JVC 60W pro-logic. What a difference! The specs [60 vs 80] do not even hint at the difference in sound. The Sony not only plays louder, but much sweeter. The fatiguing edge is completely gone! Musically it is very good and it ROX in 5 channel digital. I have a small place, so I am using Infinity OV1s with this receiver, and I have no problems with lack of sound anywhere in the audio spectrum.
Setup is a bit of a pain, but I think this is the nature of the 5.1 channel beast. I just happened to have an SPL meter [decibel meter] from Radio Shack, which helps greatly in setup. The manual, reportedly skimpy, seems to have all the information - it's just not in logical order???

I agree about the questionable necessity of all the soundfield modes... But, it doesn't cost Sony much more to add them, since all that is required is more software - the DSP chip is already there for even just a few soundfields. Anyway, most of my listening is done in normal surround modes or soundfield off.

The remote is OK for the price of this system. It doesn't do a great job of controling my DVD player (Panasonic A-120) and will not control my Dishnetwork satellite receiver [only Sony & RCA sats]. Bottom line, the remote controls enough functions to be usable - but, I still have to maintain an army of remotes on the coffee table.

I looked at Denons, Yamahas, & Marantz. Some of my decision is admittedly price driven. The Yamaha 995 is great unit - out of my budget, same with the Marantz 780. The Denon 2700 sounds very good, but no DTS [has 6 channel input] and it's power really seems to dive in 5 channel - still sounds good though. You can't go wrong in this price range with the Sony, it has ample features, great sound and a strong power supply.

While it's available mail order, I chose not to wait - many MO places are back ordered; this receiver is becoming very popular. I opted to buy from a reputable local dealer and paid about $80.00 - $100 over mail order. However this dealer has it's own service department and was a pleasure to deal with - High Fidelitty, Inc., Austin, TX...

I would give it a 9 on a 1 -10 scale, so to be fair, I'll make it a 5.

This is a nice receiver. I updgraded a 5 year old STRGX808ES that was Pro-logic only. I have been a little concerned about some of the soundfield settings and the lack of an LFE adjustment but other than that, the remote is good and the functionality and specs of the receiver are good. The only reason that I bought this is because I could NOT find a 50ES (not sure if I want one with the remote problem) or a Yamaha 995. Seriously, I have had a very hard time spending my money. I like this receiver but I wanted something with a little more guts. I will probably upgrade when the 333 or the 555 come out. If you have other Sony equipment (as I do) this makes a great center piece. As a solid entry level DTS/DD Receiver this is a good buy. I give it a 5 only because it does what it claims to do, I just want to get something a little better.