Great all-around receiver for non-audiophiles looking to upgrade their system.

EQ setup, battery life of remote.

I picked up this receiver the first day Audio King got them in stock. I owned the 50ES prior to this for about a month and took it back for the upgraded model (+10 or 20 more watts/channel). Anyway, in the strengths column above, I note the word NON-AUDIOPHILES. My def. of an audiophile is someone who lives and breathes (and can afford) high end audio equipment because they know the difference between vacuum tubes and transistors. I am not an audiophile and I think this is a great receiver both for the money, and for the average audio enthusiast.

Not only does the Sony do its job, it does it well. I can't believe some of the reviews I've read on this receiver, particularly the ones where they gave it one star because of the remote!! Rediculous. First of all, Sony is not stupid. They do market testing and research...how do you think they got so big in the first place? The remote is a SELLING POINT. It has that initial FLARE that people look for when shopping for new stuff. I will agree that it is not as practical as I thought, but hell, I can create macros so that one button turns on my receiver, my dvd player, my tv, and starts playing the movie. That's cool. As for battery life, I knew this thing ate batteries before I purchased it. So what did I do? Picked up a set of Energizer ACCU Nickel Metal Hydride rechargable batteries. I haven't bought batteries since AND they last for over a month before needing recharging (I CONSTANTLY use the remote and have owned the receiver for nearly 2 years).

I don't want to waste all this space defending the receiver so I will say that, for a lot of people out there who are entering into the world of Home Theater, they could do A LOT WORSE than picking this baby up. I am quite satisfied with it and it does a great job of powering my Definitive Technology BP2001TL fronts, BP2000 center, and BP2X rears. Try finding a better receiver for what the current cost of this one is (I believe you can find it now for about 600 or 700 retail). Everyone has their own opinions but one thing holds true...Try before you buy!

Oh, and IMHO, I think the reviews that gave the RECEIVER a single star because they didn't like the REMOTE should be removed. They bring down the overal rating and give the impression that the receiver itself is not good. Just my opinion.

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa, Pioneer, receivers under $400

Power.

Overall I'm very happy with this unit. Compared to my HK it doesn't have the power or the punch at twice the rating, however it's home theater qualities are superior. As a home theater component this unit's sound quality and sound field versitility should be able to accomodate any size room or room configuration. The sound is clean and natural for home theater audio. I recommend this unit hands down for home theater but if your looking for an A/V reciever first and a music receiver second. If music is your first priority look to HK. I also agree with the review submitted by Jeff-speaker selection is the key to your enjoyment of this unit. I like Infinity for this unit.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon

I submitted a review of this unit a couple of months ago and nothing's changed since.

I just wanted to comment on two issues I keep seeing coming up here - battery life on the remote and no subwoofer output without using sound fields.

I have had this receiver for 1.5 years and I'm only on the second set of batteries for the remote. Are the people who suffer from short battery life leaving the backlight on or something? I use mine when I need it but as long as there's some light in the room I've found the backlight isn't necessary.

Secondly, the Auto Format Decode sound field setting does not modify the signal at all. Try using that if you want to use the subwoofer with no sound modification.

Power and clean sound. Dolby digital and DTS sound great. 5 year waranty.

The remote. I'm getting used to it but it is a tad cumbersome.

I read some of the other reveiws here before I bought it. I listened very closely at the store and couldn't detect any hum or cross talk. I've been listening at home as well and mine sounds great. I can only deduce that the one star ratings that the last several reviewers have given it are due to defective units. I've been watching movies mostly and DTS in cinema B DSP is fabulous. I can't hear any hum at all on the quiet parts of soundtracks. In the movie Se7en the rain sounds very real throughout the movie. I was going to get some new speakers soon, as mine are 5 years old and getting tired, but now I can hold off for a while as this receiver has given them new life. For what I paid, I am very happy with it. By the way, I think 6.1 and 7.1 for home theater is overkill. George Lucas needs to quit worrying about THX sound and digital cameras and start trying to make another decent movie.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

In the winter it keeps the house warm!

Sound, features and remote

I'm VERY unhappy with this product. After 2 times being sent to Bristol Sony Service Center it still does not work right.

There is a lot of cross channel noise and the DSP modes have a lot of hiss and such. When I use the DTS mode it takes so long to "unlock" this also happens with DD5.1.

The remote is of no use. I'm on my third one! The first ate
bat's like they were candy and it just was so hard to use. You can't read the thing and even at close range it does not respond to commands. The second one was DOA! Sent it back and the third one is better with bat's but it's only good for volume and you have to be right in front of the unit for that. None of the other commands respond to the remote.

The sound is not what I would call quality sound. I bought this unit for my office and I'm sorry I did. I wish the salesman was more honest with me.

A lot of the troubles I'm having are also reflected in others letters here too. There must be a lot of defective STR-DA555ES units out there.

And YES! The bass is boomy. I don't think I'll chance another SONY next time I buy stereo equipment.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

good construction, clean sound

boomy bass, lack of punch to the music, detail, clarity, soundstage.

I have fully modified this unit - upgraded the op amps, bypassed all electrolytic caps in the signal path with polystyrene. Replaced carbon film resistors with metal film 1%. Beefed up the power supplies. Now the sound is of audiophile quality. Detailed tight bass, clarity is excellent, soundstage is widened and depth is much deeper. Listening to the modified unit is not tiring as the stock unit. Now the sound rivals units costing twice as much.

Anyone not satisfied with the sound or needs repair of their unit, please email me.

Similar Products Used:

none

Great Sound Hooked to 901's with V10 center 301's on rear with ADS 12" sub Best sound I've ever heard

Remote and A1 cable hook ups for sony equipment (CD player)
Big Problems

This is the best sounding Stereo I've heard.....But major problems with Remote.When hooked to a Sony CDP ES 300 CD player with text on all CD's the remote stops working. I believe it has a memory problem. When i unhook the A1 cable it works fine but no text from CD's.I have returned the remote to Sony and they sent me a new one which does the same thing. I have boxed the whole thing up and returned it to Sony waiting for it to be returned repaired. I hope they can fix this problem. I bought the CD player because it sent the text to the remote so I could read the cd's with out getting up.I have a Sony DVD Sony TV's Sony VCR's all hooked to this unit.I will post again when I get it back from Sony. I'm sure they will make this right, At least thats whatI'm praying for.

Similar Products Used:

Sony And Yamaha

Clarity, detail, bass punch, 3-D mids.

Possible overheating, complicated remote.

After trying unsuccessfully to buy a Sony STR-DA777ES at a price in the $750-800 range on eBay for four months I saw Carlos' review in this forum. As you note, Carlos got his DA555ES modified by Patrick Suckoo (see below in this forum). His swapping out of the power supply, bypass of the caps and replacement of the op-amps seemed a good way to get close to the 777's sound and performance. I decided to take a chance and to send Patrick an email and see if he had any of these modified DA555ES receivers available, he did have one ready in about a week. He's an tech savvy audiophile with a degree in Electrical Engineering and apparently good tweeker skills, further, he has modified these units before. Long story short: sent him $699 plus shipping and received the unit yesterday. Well wrapped in bubble pack and no problem from UPS. Very professional.
I transferred cables from my current unit, the second-to-the-top of line Sony STR-GA7ES Dolby ProLogic receiver and started my testing with just FM radio: there was an immediate and astonishing difference! (Note: all cables, speakers, sources, etc. were the same as before) The high end detail lept out and I could hear a clarity and depth that was absent before. I couldn't believe the difference! I did not have the stock DA555ES like Carlos to compare it to, but I can say this unequivocally: this receiver kicks ass! I began to go through my CD collection and I was re-hearing detail and nuance that wasn't there before, everything form acoustic guitar and vocal harmony on the live concert cuts of my Simon & Garfunkel CD Box set through hard rock, soul, jazz instrumentals and classical, everything sounded much better. I put on my Clapton Unplugged DVD and again, higs, mids, bass seemed better, everything was better. My front speakers are homebrew three-way with ESS Heil Tweeter, Vifa mids and the NHT 1259 woofer and a custom crossover from Speaker City, also, center and surrounds are Heil equipped also, they all just sing! I had to hit the manual to sort out the soundfield options, there was a bewildering array of choices. I was just able to test that the remote worked and so I cannot comment on this controversial item. Please do yourself a favor, if you need a viable alternative to the DA777ES, check out Patrick's cost-effective modifications. Without them, the receiver is pretty good (if you don't get a refurbished out-of-box lemon)but with these mods, it's a whole other story.

Similar Products Used:

ADCOM separates, Sony STR-GA7ES

I am thoroughly impressed not only with the sound quality and low distorion levels throughout the ENTIRE RATED power range, but also with the features and ease of use. The other key to the spectacular perfomance of the 555ES is the value and features that you get for the money you spend. I have yet to find anothr unit that provides the same value to performance as the 555ES.

Got the DA555ES today. Bought it with a Sony 530 DVD player, and ES components:5 disc changer (70EX or something like that) and the ES 3-head cassette deck.
Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver Series: Fives for the front, Threes for the rear, Silver Centre 10 center and Sliver 110 subwoofer.

Awesome receiver, particularly for the price (paid $700, a bit more than some of you here, but happy with J&R, been doing business with them for 10 years, very good place to buy stuff from). KILLER sound. Just amazing. I'm no audiophile folks, but I have not heard a better system. The Monitor Audio speakers are most of it of course (if you haven't heard them, see the review in the August Home Theater magazine and then go listen to them), but I did have them hooked up to a Marantz SR-63 stereo amp (fives only) before and the 555 just kicks it big time.

The remote: I like it. Yes, a bit hard to see, yes, the auto off is too quick. But awesome funtionality. I am running it all seamlessly (it's all new Sony stuff of course) off this little box: receiver, cassette deck, CD changer and DVD player. But overall pretty nifty idea, if lacking somewhat in execution. But far from the toss it out the window item that others have judged it. But I can see why people generally hate the thing.

But for $650-$700 this receiver is an absolute bargain compared to the other receivers that are out there. For a couple of hundred more than a Wiz special, you have componentry that borders on audiophile (in my eyes).

So I am throwing down the guantlet. I now think I have the home audio system by which All Others Shall Be Judged. Only kidding. But I'm very happy, and the ES555 is at the core of my audio system happiness.