This receiver sounds wonderful! In the past six months I have owned JVC884 and an Onkyo 656. This Sony easily beats them both. The only thing I wish it had was on screen display. The set up was easy. I've listened in DD and DTS, both sounded amazing.

What are the differences between the 333ES and the 30ES? Their specs and
the price range seems to be the same!

Thanks,

smaug

I have a seperate system for music, so my review is based on AV use only. I love the SVHS switching. The receiver works well in all modes. I usually use either Digital Dolby, or DTS, as I use it primarily with DVD's. I bought through Onecall. For $600 it would be VERY difficult to find a better quality reciever. I give it a 5 for overall value, though I don't think I would rate it as high if I paid full retail.

Have had the 30ES for a couple months now. It is great. Dolby Digital sounds great. Only use a few of the sound fields but better to have too many that not enough. Could use a little more power for music tho'. Outstanding for home theater. Remote is cool, no problems as of yet...

I am very happy with this unit, after 3 months of use. The best combination of digital inputs/output, s video switching, and analog inputs/outputs for the price($601 + tax). The wife loves the dd/dts blue light indicator. I use a pair of NAD 2200 Power Amps for the front & rear channels, along with a pair of Klipsch KSW-10 subs. I chose this unit over the STR 50 ES mainly because of the problems with its remote. Others considered: Yamaha DSP A-2 and 2095 (at least twice the price with similar features). Drawbacks: No inputs for future formats(not a huge factor considering you will probably have to upgrade your DVD player, satellite receiver,etc.)and remote will lose its signal(just reinsert batteries). In my very open family room the sound is accurate and fills the room. The huge array of tweaks should fulfill any type of room environment.

I purchased this unit 3 months ago. Allowed time for break-in. Unit is excellent in the surround modes (DTS/DD). Even though the sound is a little ruff around the edges, it's good enough to enjoy movies and sound tracks. Operation is fairly easy. Straight audio is another matter. It's lack of depth and soundstaging would not get it listed in Stereophile magazine. It also has a lack of convincing musical presentation. It sounds very mid-fi. Of course, that's not why you buy one of these. In todays market, it's a good buy (especially at a discount). Unit sounds more powerful in surround that pure audio modes.

Originally owning a low-end DD/AC-3 Kenwood, I first upgraded to the Sony STR-DA925 recently. HUGE jump in sound quality. A trip back to the A/V store to look over the "clearance" priced DA30ES convinced me to move up another step. I've had the DA30ES several days and am extremely pleased. The WIDE variety of options on tweeking the sound allow for tons of flexibility in the final "audio presentation." For the money, I would say this is an ideal receiver for the the person who does not have a specific "Listening Room/Theatre Room". My "A/V" room is the living room, and the Sony allows me to adjust the sound to make up for the bad accoustics. Is it a $2800 Denon? *Heck* No! But, IMO, it beats out many of the mid-range ($600-$1500) Denons and Yamahas. The DA30ES sounds slightly cleaner than the DA925 with music, and I like the idea of a 5 year warrantee. I purchased mine on "clearance" for $499.00.

WOW, I nevet thought a Sony Receiver can do so many things. I've own Yamaha and Dennon Receivers and this is my First Sony, I am impressed. My last amp was a Yamaha 1103 Series, Since my VCR, DVD, MD, CD, LD is Sony I decided to go ahead and try the Sony to have the matching components. My intension was to get the "new" 935 but after talking to other Audio Enthusiast, they told me that I could not go wrong with the STR-DA30ES. Especially for the priced I paid for it. I hope I can use the Remote with my EchoStar Satelite Receiver. Have not try that yet.

I've had this receiver for about 6 months, and it's done all I've asked it to do. I primarily bought it because of the combination of DD/DTS decoding, 5 S-video inputs, good build quality and good price, and it's delivered in all areas. It's now been replaced by the STRDA-333ES, though there is almost no difference between these two models so the reviews for the 30 should also apply to the 333.
I do have a few minor complaints about the 30, which drop my rating from 5 to 4. For one thing, Sony fudges its numbers (even on ES equipment) with regard to power. This receiver is rated at 80 watts per channel, but only at 1khz, not through its full range. I had an Onkyo pro-logic receiver prior to this Sony which was rated at just 50 watts (20-20,000hz), yet the Onkyo clearly had greater reserves of clean power than this Sony. Also, my unit runs extremely hot - and in fact while watching one DVD ("Contact", during the deep, bassy alien transmission) the receiver went into circuit protection mode. It was necessary for me to power down and restart, not to mention lower my volume to keep things going. This has only happened that one time, but it was enough to drop my confidence in the amp portion of this receiver a bit. Lastly, Sony advertises this model as being 4/8 ohm capable, but this is accomplished with a resistor switch, so your available power and sound quality will drop at 4 ohms. I would only recommend this receiver for use with 8 ohm speakers, and it runs hot even at 8.

Bottom line is you get what you pay for. If you want the best quality amps for a decent price, go with Yamaha or Denon. If you want tons of features, s-video switching, all-metal construction, and a 5 year warranty, go with the Sony. I have not regretted my decision, despite the weak amp in this model.

I upgraded to the STR DA30ES from a Harmon Kardon Dolby PL receiver and found the sound of my B&W speakers to be more ragged. I have since bough Phase Tech Teatro 10 tower speakers and which have build in subs which offloads the job of driving low-frequencies hard. The amp runs much cooler now (I was wondering whether it was a class-A amp it was so hot) and sweeter. Adding a sub-woofer further reduces the raggedness of the sound, although this is not great for straight stereo. Sony lies about the power. It is not 80w x 5 this applies only to the main speakers. I also have a Sony Carousel DVD player and have experimented using the coax dig in vs. L&R in from the DVD. I have found that the output of the DACs in the DVD is much smoother than the sound of the DVD via coaxial input as the receiver only used 24-bit/48khz conversion whereas the DVD used 24-bit/96khz conversion. Listening to the DVD's output is my preference for music, particularly more delicate classical or acoustic music. A great amp otherwise, although I wish it had better power reserves. I'm thinking of buying the Outlaw 5ch power amp as my only real critiscism is with the power amp.