Clean 80x5 power, thoughtful design, great input features

2-way remote doesn't switch off my 36" WEGA Sony TV

Great value for the money; was comparing Yamaha, Denon and it was clear that my priorities were quality of sound and maximum inputs to pass the highest quality video signal. I'm now watching WAY too much TV now and my wife is getting a bit irritated. ;^)You'll never regret this purchase!

System details:
36" Sony WEGA
RCA DSS with AC-3
Sony DVP-C650D DVD player
Paradigm CC-170 Center channel
Sonance T3000 and T2000 in-walls
Definitive ProSub 100TL

Adjustable crossovers

quality

I bought this unit on Saturday the 25th of November. Hooked everything up, powered up and NOTHING. No sound and whenever I hit a button on the receiver the "mute" light would flash repeatedly. Checked all of the connections, called the dealer and explained what was happening. Obviously I took it back and got a second unit thinking I just got a dog.

Hooked up the second unit, everything worked fine, watched a dvd. No problem until Sunday the 26th. Powered up and NOTHING. A message scrolled across the receiver that said something to the effect of "please shut down the component".

Needless to say I took it back and did not get a 3rd unit. My receiver is on whenever my TV is on so I need a strong receiver. So I bought the Yamaha RX-V1000 which worked from the minute I turned on the power. Sounds great, has some decent functions (though no adjustable crossover) and it WORKS! I am so disapointed in Sony. I have been a huge fan of their ES equipment. My DA50ES works great less the piece of dirt remote. Based on my experiences and others who have posted here Sony really needs to take a look at their Quality Control!

Similar Products Used:

DA50ES, Yamaha RX-V1000, many others in the past

5 year warranty, cool blue light when decoding a digital source

The remote

I orginally bought a STRDA30ES. It had a problem, and UPS destroyed it for me on the way back from the service center.
Sony replaced it with a 333ES, and I must say I'm very happy with this receiver. I'm driving a Polk RM-6500 speaker system, and the sound is very good. Dolby Digital decodes flawlessly. I've had a few problems with DTS, the thing will drop out for a second from time to time. I really don't think it's the receiver, I blame it on my dvd player.
(A Toshiba SD2109) I have noticed the top of the receiver gets quite warm, but not what I would consider hot enough to be a concern. The remote was a good idea, but Sony could have made it a little more friendly. A universal learning remote like Onkyo uses would have been much better. I've seen comments about the flip-down panel being flimsy, I don't know if Sony changed that or not. Mine is a solid aliminum door, and feels very solid. Set-up was easy, and actually easier to do by playing with the controls than trying to figure out the manual. The 80 watt rating is adequate for my 15X20 room, I never turn the volume past half. Since I paid for a refurbished STRDA30ES, and wound up with a NEW 333ES, the value for me was pretty darn good. I can't say this receiver is worth the list price of 800 bucks, but if you can get a good deal, go for it.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STRDA865

Price, number of digital inputs.

Remote, it sucks!

Have had my STR-DA333ES for roughly 2 months now. Setup was
a snap. Funky two way remote sucks. To say that it's the weak link is definitely an understatement. Fortunately for me, my wife dropped it the second day I had it and damaged the back cover, which gave me an excuse to buy a universal remote. Other than that I'm pretty satisfied with it.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DA80ES

Signal Separation

Remote Control

I just bought my 333 and already its faulty. The signal cuts out and than comes back again...probably a short in the circuit board somewhere. WHAT a HASSLE!..Now I have go back to the store and exchange it...but do y ou know how heavy this thing is...not to mention spending another 2 hours unhooking it from my components (DVD, CD, EQ, MD, TC, Speakers)

I will probably exchange it for someting else...Ive lost faith in the ES line!...BAD 1st IMPRESSION when you get a lemon!

Could be a little more user friendly.

Very pleased with this unit. Using as a preamp. I use to have an Adcom GTP-600 with Dolby Pro logic. Wanted Dolby Digital and this is the unit I selected, didn't feel like spending $1500 for the Sony 9000es preamp. I also run Adcom amps with 200 watts to each Klipsch speaker(which are awesome). When I watched my first DVD I was very satisfied with my purchase.

Sound Quality, 5-year Warranty

Delayed Remote Response, Ergonomics

System:
Sony CDP-C450Z 5-Disc CD Player
BIC Venture V82S? Speakers

I finally ended my long struggle with Sony's STR-G3 receiver, opting to take a $570 credit towards a new receiver (the 333). I had attempted to get the STR-G3 to work for 2 years, and had taken it back 3 times for the same problem, so I decided to move away from the frills (GUI, Air Egg mouse remote) and move toward the light (ES line, 5-year warranty, rugged construction, focus on sound reproduction).

Well, though I don't have much of a supporting cast to test all of the 333's features, the sound reproduction was far superior to the G3's. I suppose I should have expected this, but I didn't think the receiver could really color the sound that much.

I do wish there was a girlfriend-friendly remote, as the old G3's remote made my dorm room into a love nest! Since I got the 333 I've lost my girl and haven't found another! (But I may be more at fault for that than the receiver.)

The availability of DTS and DD decoding is great, and I enjoy watching my Vikings kill the Packers on Stadium mode, where John Madden sounds like he's coming out of the walls! I do recommend tweaking the soundfields down a little bit, though, to not overpower the sound itself. Thankfully the 333 provides plenty of opportunities to customize these and other functions to satiate my hunger for features. I just look forward to the day when I can hold a beer in one hand, a girl in the other, and nod my head like Jeannie to fire up the system, turn off the bass boost, or activate the sleep mode. THAT would get 5 stars!

I love this receiver. I used to have Yamaha 995, but it was too bright for me, so I decided to go with Sony. Well, for five years warranty, you just cant go wrong. I am very happy with this receiver, since I only pay for $500 including shipping.

Good clean sound, ample power

remote blows, some noise through digital inputs

Overall, an excellent receiver with great sound for movies and very good sound for music also. I also own the yamaha 795, the br noise is a little lower on the yamaha however it is not evident during playback. The inputs on the sony are far superior as the yamaha lacks s-video support for dvd.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha 795

Clean Sound, Value

Worst Remote EVER, Terrible Manual, Overly complex

This remote is the worst ever. As far as I'm concerned it is unusable for my TV. Direct channel access is under the flipcover. Impossible to use. It is also so slow. Some times the units just talk to each other and do nothing. Further, because it is two way (which seems to have no advantages) you can't use a universal remote.

Second, the manual (which I've read cover to cover a number of times) barely covers ten percent of the units features. I still don't know how to use the EQ section. Can I save an EQ setting for the CD and a different one for DVD. This thing would have been much better if it used on screen menus instead of the display on the remote or on the unit itself. Also, why did Sony make the test tones move from speaker to speaker so quickly? Hey, how about moving ever 6 seconds. By then my sound meter might actually settle on a reading.

Now the good news. The amplifier is great. It runs hot, but puts out clean sound with a nice wide soundstage. I have found no noise in the 5.1 decoding. Also, the price makes it a good value. Improvement on the ergonomics and remote would make it a great value.

Until they fix the remote and the manual (or a Sony rep comes to my house) if I had to do it over, I'd get a Denon.