Definately the remote

I have used the STR-DA50es for almost a year now, and I have truly enjoyed it. There is plenty of power for me with this receiver, and I am not at the level yet to realize any difference in seperates versus all-in-one receivers.

The biggest drawback is the remote, but I did know that when I bought it. I have to say that if the remote is the biggest drawback of a receiver, then that's not too bad...I'll deal.

Anyway, I love the sound, and I am now looking for a new speaker system to fully compliment this great receiver.

I also should mention that I bought this at NetMarket, which I was advised against, but they had the best price, and I was very happy with everything. It took a little while to get to me, but it was definately worth saving an extra $100.

The only reason for the 4 stars is the remote, otherwise overall would have been a 5.

I love the performance of this receiver. I've had it about 11 months and it hasn't dissapointed me yet! The sound and build quailty of this is fantastic.Sony has seemed to have thought about every possible angle you could dream of and covered them superbly.This unit has enough inputs and outputs(analog,fiber optic,and even a coaxial) to hook up even the most complex systems.The fiber optic switching network is truly a work of art,that I have not seen even on other units costing two and three times as much money. My one complaint,the two way touch screen remotes battery life is very short.I must replace them once a month.I've been told that sony has revised it for their new 555 and 777 models and will exchange mine for the new one.otherwise i'm very happy. I give my sony DA50ES 4.5 stars only because of a slight remote problem.It truly sounds amazing on music and movies through my martin logan SL3 mains-martin logan cinema center-martin logan sylo rears-and sunfire signature subwoofer. Happy listening!!!!! PS:You guys are great,and a big help! Thanks for a wonderful web site.

Having read this thread for a few months, I finally dove in and purchased my 50ES (Kief's AV had a wait of only 2 days, www.kiefsav.com, and good service!). I have had it for a month, but have perversely only used it on stereo materiel - I am upgrading my entire speaker package next month to 5.1. However, I CAN say that the 50ES is a great stereo reciever, very clear, nice articulation, and an amazing soundstage from my Polk RT8s. (One nice 50ES feature for the RT8s is the bass extension setting, as the Polks lack some bottom.) I also like the build quality for it's price point - certainly not a Krell, but noticably better than their non-ES stuff. This thing is _heavy_, and solid.
As for the remote - well, it LOOKS cool, and it kinda does the job. But it can't control all the functions of my SONY 720 VCR (like eject)! And it can't even control the POWER of my SONY 151 CD changer!! Come on, Sony, give me a break. These are not 15 year old components (less than 5 each). This is criminal...how badly might it control non-Sony equipment???

On the plus side, mine is the new remote, and it has not eaten its first set of batteries yet. I use the backlight each time I turn it on, to deal with mediocre contrast on the screen. It makes it readable enought...

Having said all that, I find that I am very satisfied with the SOUND quality (my friends have Acurus, Marantz, Denon, Martin Logans, Vandersteens, and Thiels, so I have some basis of comparison). I am listening to all of my CDs again, and finding new acoustic information that my old reciever couldn't deliver. I bought this unit as a mid-priced "bridge," until the DD/DTS/SDDS/EX/??? digital standards wars are over, and then I'll invest in seperates. So far, so good, and I'll post a review of 5 channel when my new speakers and DVD player show up. As has been said here before, 5 stars for the (stereo) sound, minus one for the remote!

For every person that has complained about this unit, I could site a page number and the cure to most technical problems. Bottom line, read the instruction manual...you'd be amazed how stupid some of your comments are! Overall I love the unit. For the price it's top of the list. The remote has been fixed and the overall sound quality is superb. If you can find one, buy one...and then read the manual!

I bought the DA50 in November. The first thing I loved about it was the cool remote and all the features. It has a ton of them. I think the stereo modes are better than most, they can be manipulated to sound pretty much however you like. They accully sound pretty close to the mode it is in. I have it hooked up to Klipsch La Scallas, Klipsch KG3.5s and Klipsch Quintets. Not a good match. This reciever sounds very foward in the upper freq. that is not good with Klipsches. It sounds very brashy. This isn't as noticable through the Quintets but the other two are almost unbearable at high volumes. I now use the preouts to my old Harman Kardon to power the La Scallas and the 3.5s. It sounds better, only after putting the mids at -4 db and the treb at -2db to tone it down some. I think it is mainly the preamp section. Also, I get a noticable distortion in all my speakers at high volumes, (around 11:30 or 12 o'clock) mainly on vocal tracks like Celine Dion and Micheal Bolton. It is very annoying. So I'm thinking that this "Elevated Standard" piece is not accually any higher end that Sony's normal equipment, which I wouldn't buy. However, Sony and all the dealers insist different. This amp is definently made for more neutral speakers. I am not impressed with its performance. It sounds cheap. My Harman Kardon sounds much better. Movies are great when it is set up right.

I've had my 50ES for about a month now. I am extremely satisfied with the sound and features of this unit. I have the Sony Dolby Digital DSS receiver and am loving the DD demos offered on channel 500 (direct TV) and the pay-per-view DD broadcasts. The 50ES handles the auto detection of the DD DSS signal with great ease. The DD sound output is fabulous ... clean, powerful, and robust. Although I purchased this unit mainly for HT, I am equally as happy with the sound for pure music listening (CD, minidisc). The DSP fields are quite useful and well thought out. As far as the remote goes, I agree that it's pretty lame. I did get it to operate all of my equipment (DSS, CD, MD, TV) but I agree with other reviewers that the LCD could be easier to see and the battery life longer. Not a total waste in my opinion though.
Overall, I love this unit. I would give it 5 stars if it had a 5.1 input and a better remote. Also, I wish I had paid about $200 less than what I paid ($900). At his price point, it really comes down to two units the 50ES and the Yamaha 995. Either way go, you are going to get a great receiver.

GDS, I am interest to get one of the Sony STRDA50ES. Where is the place to get a price of $ 649.00. Let me know Please.

I purchased the Sony ES STRDA50ES in late February 1999. The remote consumesbatteries (1-2 weeks) like no other remote that I have owned. In addition, the LCD display is difficult to see, depending on ambient lighting conditions in the room. It turns on my Sony 53" big screen when I select audio only inputs such as CD and consquently I must shut the TV off. I have just mailed the remote back to Sony for repair and in reading past correspondance relating to outcome of the repairs, do not have much faith in Sony correcting all of the problems.
The receiver operates extremely warm and I am considering adding an outboard fan to hopefully reduce the possibility of component failure.
Intermittently there is high frequency distortion giving the sound an edgy and nerve racking characteristic. In stereo mode, left and right balance changes slightly over the first 20 or so minutes of operation. It might be a blessing when the unit finally hard fails and hopelfully the repair corrects all of the defects. Regretfully I can only rate my receiver 2 speakers.

For the price can't be beat! Lots of power!! And sound, is incredible. Compare to my Yamaha 690, the 50ES outperforms it in every catagory. The only down side to this receiver is the remote! It has a LCD touch screen display (sales quimmick), same as the ones you see with the 3Com organizers. It is really hard to read! Too dark, and the baklit doesn't help a bit.. At times it makes it worse. I would give it 5 stars but it drops to a 4 just because of the remote

Hello, I work for Sony Electronics Co. of America division 4 in building 54 if you want to check on me, but GDS where exactly did you get this receiver for $645? I find this very very very unbelievable. I think you're just one of those jerks that gets peoples hopes up and just sits at the computer and laughs. The Sony STR-DA30ES has a MSRP of $799 with a Ship-Out Cost of $512, so you won't be able to find it under that, the Sony STR-DA50ES has a MSRP of $999 with a Ship-Out cost of $704. So how did you get it for under $700? Simple you never got this receiver, you just wished you did and pretended you did have it, and in the process fooled a couple of people.