Sony STR-DA50ES A/V Receivers

Sony STR-DA50ES A/V Receivers 

DESCRIPTION

A/V RECEIVER DOLBY DIGITAL & DTS

USER REVIEWS

Showing 31-40 of 200  
[Dec 16, 1999]
Timothy O'Connor
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Clean sound,

Weakness:

Remote is a little annoying.

Ive owned this product for more than a year, and am extremely happy with it overall. It does all I ask, and has not missed a beat. Its powerful, clean and smooth. The Auto format decoding works well.

Its not perfect, but the let downs are not enough to knock it down by a mark.

The remote is a weekness, but its not as bad as others would have you believe. I strongly suggest you switch it off yourself after use. This cuts down battery like hugely. It lasts about 7-8 months or so if you do this. To the guy who cant record from CD to tape, er I think you should re-read your manual :-) I do it all the time.

The DSP modes are ok, but I dont tend to play with them that much. At least they dont degrade the sound that much, and the cinema modes can be effective at times.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 795

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 22, 1999]
Douglas
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great Sound/performace for the money

Weakness:

Remote-SUCKS

This was one of the nicest DD and DTS units for the money when I bought it $649 from oade.com

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Nov 04, 1999]
Steve
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Value
Features

Weakness:

Remote

I have had this unit for 6 months so far and have been very happy with it. I have found it to be a very good value, full of features, and good sounding except for a bit of hiss (especialy when using the digital processing modes).

May main complaint on this unit is the Remote. The display is pathetic, and the batteries do not survive for more than a month. I actually use the remote from my 10 year old Sony receiver, which can still control the main functions of the 50ES.

I have read some posts (on this review section, and the other one for the same model) that people have been shipped a new improved remote with a test DVD for free, and a $50 coupon. They even get to keep the old one to boot.

I have contacted Sony Canada and Sony USA and after a bit of a run around, both have claimed that there is no improved remote, no such offer, and no package with a DVD.

Is this a hoax somebody is starting to get everybody to call Sony, or is this offer for real?

Can somebody post some kind of package number, contact name at Sony who know about this, or any other info? It would be much apreciated.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 29, 1999]
sony discontnued
a Casual Listener

J and R which is probably the most respected mail order place of all says the Sony 50ES is now officially discontinued. They are now awaiting the end of July for the Sony555. It will be the same thing with of course the fixed remote and 6 channel input. It will also retail for the same price. The 50Es I have is still 5 stars for value.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Apr 23, 1999]
Ray DiLorenzo
an Audio Enthusiast

Purchased DA50ES receiver from Reference Audio (699 plus shipping). I've had a week to live with it. I must say I do like the receiver very much. I am using it with a Sony 7700 DVD, Sony HiFi VCR (798), Sony Minidisc player (JB920) & Sony CX55 CD Changer. I previously owned a Sony 915 receiver that I had for a little over a year. It was my first experience with Dolby Digital. The sound from the 50ES is cleaner. Not dramatically cleaner, but noticeably cleaner. The soundstage is much wider than the 915. Overall a better performer. The setup was easy. The remote? Well, what can I say. The box did not say "new improved remote" on it, but Reference Audio told me when I ordered the receiver that if the box did not contain the "new" remote, they would swap with me (they said they had two "new" remotes in the store. I did send the remote back and did receive another remote, but I can't tell the difference in performance. Some have said that the new remote has an E at the end of the model number, but I checked with Sony and they said that the E model remote is for the TA-E9000ES pre/pro. In any case, do yourself a big favor do not bother with this remote it is a white (or gray) elephant. It seems to work OK, but it is much too cumbersome. I highly recommend you buy a SL9000 Universal Remote. IT IS FANTASTIC!! It will operate everything you need in a much better package. 5 stars for the receiver, but take away 1 for the poor remote. By the way, some have suggested using the 30ES remote. Sony will sell it to you for $155 plus shipping. For around $100 you can get the SL9000 remote and probably be much happier!

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Apr 23, 1999]
lee
an Audio Enthusiast

While I generally have been a big fan of Sony products I feel I must let you know about a current miserable experience I am having with Sony.
In February I received my STR-DA50ES that I ordered from a reputable retailer during an out-of-town business trip. I did not have the opportunity to put it through its paces until March 18th when my home theater speaker system was installed. The receiver was unpacked and seemed to work well until the third day of use when the protection circuit triggered and would not reset.

After calling Sony they instructed me to take the receiver to my local authorized repair center. Without hesitation, my receiver was in the shop as the doors opened that Monday, March 22nd. Unfortunately, today marks the fifth full week my receiver has been awaiting repair. As I routinely called my service center they informed me that they were awaiting parts from Sony (some had arrived and others hadn't). Around April 14th I again called Sony to ask them what was occurring. The repair service rep apologized and said the remaining parts would be sent under "expedite" status to my repair center. Guess what, a week and a half and still no more parts.

I called Sony again today and the repair service rep essentially said there is nothing they can do. He stated that products under repair at factory authorized centers are allowed six weeks to be repaired before replacement is considered. Products that are sent directly to a Sony Regional Repair Center are allowed four weeks. Even worse, he went on to say that after such time it is the responsibility of the local repair center to contact the Sony regional technical representative to decide whether repair should continue or replacement is warranted.

Looks like I'm pretty much SOL. Sorry about the long message but I just spent close to $4,000 on Sony gear and I am extremely disappointed to discover that Sony provides such poor support for one of their "flagship" products (i.e. the ES line). I guess it should have been a clue that they went to market with a defective remote. To add insult to injury, I went to remove the Sony batteries from the remote (RM-TP501) and the damn things had already corroded all over the remote.

Just something to keep in mind as you make your purchasing decisions -- Sony may produce nice toys but heavens forbid they should fail. Buyer beware!


OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
[Jan 25, 1999]
kyle
an Audio Enthusiast

I did what I thought to be extensive research on receivers and I decided on the sony. One, because of the multiple s-video inputs and dts capability. I had also wanted to try the acclaimed ES series. I am happy to say I am very pleased with the sound output at 100w/cha. and i had heard the receiver gets unusually hot, but i don't think this one plays any warmer than any other receiver i have owned.
The numerous sound field options do seem a bit excessive, but it's fun to play with just the same. Right now i have it powering a set of new paradigm mini-monitors for the mains and they sound great as well, however i think they still new to be broken in some more.
I was warned about the remote, and thought, 'come on, how bad could it be' and yup, it's fairly useless. Forget about it all together in a brightly lit environment.
However, for $649 including taxes,shipping, and yes, full warranty, it can't be beat. For it's full retail price, i may have shopped around some more, but it still would have been on my top three. I give it full rating for price/value and solid performance. As for the remote, i can learn to live with it.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Mar 06, 1999]
tristan
an Audio Enthusiast

Really nice reciever. The best in its price class. I've had mine for 3 months and I'm more than satisfied. You can really tell the diferance in ES amps and regular sony ones. Ony down side is the remote eats batteries.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Feb 07, 1999]
Feroz B.
an Audio Enthusiast

I owned this receiver since Dec. 98. In my opinion this receiver is an Excellent product. However its remote control is equally bad, so bad that its really frustrates you. I think that remote is equally as important as the receiver. If I had to buy this recevier all over again, I would never buy it unless Sony changes its remote and improves drastically.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 28, 2001]
Karl
Audiophile

Strength:

Amplifier, design, input flexibility

Weakness:

Remote (though not as bad for me as for others)

This receiver was a good deal at $1000 when it first came out in 98 or 99. About 9 months ago the Mil. Exchanges had a few of these left from their Japan/Hawaii stores and sold them off at $400. They were a steal. The sound on movies is excellent. I have used a couple of different speaker set ups with this unit--from Bose, Polk, and Mission--and it is capable of driving them well. The amplifier stage is excellent, I notice no low-level balance bias, or hiss at high levels. This remote is quite useful if you have Sony products, such as Minidiscs and CD players with title displays--because they are also displayed on the remote. I have been having a hard time with bass when employing a subwoofer (bose or Polk), actually having too much bass--still working on that problem. unlike a reviewer below, I have had no problem recording from cd to tape--just use the analogue inputs and outputs. I have also not had a hard time with batteries on the remote (my current batteries have been going for the last 8 months, but the first set of included sony batteries died in 3 weeks). The display is only readable with the backlight on and some functions on other sony products DO require their original remote-this one is not, but should be programable. The other complaint I have is that there are no 5.1 channel inputs. There are outputs, to use this as a preamp, but no inputs. This precludes the use of multi-channel DVD-audio or SACD units with this receiver.
All that said, this is an excellent receiver, with enormous flexibility (eq.s, sound fields, and more). The sound is very good, and decoding has been flawless for me. I like the idea of a touch-screen remote. This one is a bit large, and a bit inflexible. I doubt you can find this model anymore, but if you do, and you are ok with the features, you won't be disappointed with its performance.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha and Denon

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 31-40 of 200  

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