HUGE SOUND,SMALL PRICE ALL IN ONE PRODUCT. GREAT INVESTMENT!

REMOTE IT'S DEFINITELY TRICKY!

I WAS LOOKING AROUND EVERYWERE ONLINE & OFFLINE FOR A RECEIVER THAT COULD DO IT ALL FOR REASONABLE AMOUNT OF CASH.
I ALMOST BOUGHT THE STR-DE835, AND LIKED THE STR-DE935 TOO. BUT WHEN I READ THE FEATURES OF THIS LITTLE MONSTER, THAT WAS MY CALL. OVERALL EXCELLENT BUY, I GUARANTEE SATISFACTION.

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PIONEER, TECHNICS

Price, Quality, Features, DD and DTS

Remote

well, I had to chuckle after reading the delaware review that compared this receiver to a poor guitar amp. let me just say that this receiver is well worth it's weight in gold. now that the honeymoon is over, I am still extremely satisfied by this receiver unlike the other receivers I've had in the past. I listen to a lot of music and the 2 CH Stereo mode is excellent. The numbers don't lie @ 0.05% THD whereas the Onkyo's and others are 0.08%+ THD... where the 2 CH Stereo mode falls short is the sub, that is, there is no sub output when using 2 CH Stereo. Sony's reasons are 2 CH Stereo is just that, 2 CH Stereo...period. It has it's place. If you want to use the sub, hit the AFD (Auto Format Decode) and voila, L R and SUB are now playing.

now for the hiss, I have experienced zero hiss from the rear speakers or any of the speakers. I'm using Paradigm Monitors all the way around, 7's in the front, CC-350 for center and mini's in the rear. maybe the outlets aren't grounded in Delaware?

the receiver has performed flawlessly since the day I bought it. I'm hearing notes I never heard before with the Onkyo... Dolby Digital is great with DirectTV... I have zero.1 complaints about this receiver.

my .1 complaint is the remote, functionality is good, readability for the glow in the dark buttons is terrible. so using the money I saved from the 830 (vs. the DB930) I'll go out and buy a *nice* universal remote.

I also have a friend that has the same setup as I do except he has the ES receiver. Let me tell you he is simply amazed at how well the DB830 sounds and performs...had he known about the 830 he would have saved the money and gone with it over the ES. don't get me wrong, the ES receivers are nice receivers but you will get more for your money with the DB830.

I still give this receiver 5 stars, even with the poor remote.

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Garbage Onkyo BS THX Select, Sony ES

Myriad of inputs and outputs for the money

Quality control; remote control

I bought this receiver based on reviews here and from Europe. I think this receiver is a great value but I have already sent it back to Sony to be fixed. I had a noisy right rear speaker output. It lasts approx. 10 mins. before the 830 warms up,then it disappears.
Even with this problem, it's still a great buy.

Clean Sound,Can adjust from remote.

Remote button labels. No S-Video input on TV/Sat Switch.

Along with many other reviewers, I too got most of my information from this review site. I am glad that I did decide to purchase this unit. When removing it from the box, you can tell by the weight of it that it is built solidly. Hook up was a breeze. The only problem was the lack of an S-Video input on the TV/Sat switch. Those with a DSS Sat. will have to use another input such as Video 1 to hook up the S-Video. This unit is full of power that sounds clean in my opinion. I have only had it a few days and still have not got it adjusted just right, but so far it sounds great. Can't read the green labels on the white buttons on remote very clearly. Dolby Digital sounds so good on this. I am also using an Infinity CC-3 Center, Infinity RS-2 Satelites, Cerwin Vega D-5 Fronts, and a Yamaha Powered sub. The only problem I see is tweeking it just right to what you want, there seems to be a lot of room to control all the settings. I paid over $1000 many years ago for a VSX-D1S, and at more than half the price off from that, this is one great machine!

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Pioneer VSX-453, Pioneer VSX-D1S

Great build. Good design. Plenty of configuration and expansion options.

HISS!!, and of course the remote.

This is my first home theater receiver and I am for the most part pleased. The 830 has a great design and plenty of power. Of course the remote is terrible, but that was replaced by a learning remote immediately. For the price I can't imagine finding a better deal. The DB series borrows parts from the ES line and it shows. The 830 weighs at least 30 lbs. and has a huge heat sink and transformer.

The only thing that holds me back from giving it 5 stars is the unbearable hiss. The unit hisses, even at zero volume, whenever the display is one. Thankfully you can turn off the display and the hiss goes away. I have been told that this is a design flaw that occured in only a few units. Seeing as I like having the display turned off I never went through the hassle of sending it off to be repaired.

Other than that this is an excellent product I would recommend if you can still find one.

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Listened to various Yamaha's and Onkyo's

Features, Physical Build Quality, Dolby Digital Performance

Remote Control, Stereo Hi-Fi Sound

Bad move buying this product via mail order, because it now has to go back.
I decided to trust the generally reliable Sony name and go with this unit and dare I say it, without auditioning it first. I trawled through review after review on this web site and heavily relied upon the review given by What Hi*Fi?.

I have detailed some points below that I have found.

1). Generally there were many reviewers complaining about hiss, I can say for sure that I also suffer from this problem, more so where there is a soundfield selected. Generally noticable with the volume at roughly 10 oclock.
This is without any source playing. This didn't cause me too much of a problem, except if I was listening to some light classical music. It should be noted though that my previous 'Entry Level' Surround Sound Receiver wasn't hissy at all until the last 20% of the volume dial, which obviously I never turned it up to with any source playing.

2). The remote is badly coloured, and my favorite buttons are under a flap. I.e. The centre and rear level controls. However it tends to prevent me from constantly turning these levels up and down during a movie. I'm never happy. Does anyone else suffer from this annoying habit?!

3). The Hi-Fi Stereo Sound is very disappointing. My main speakers aren't ideal for the system, but, listening to music in two channel stereo is unbearingly dull. It is not so bad though with the a mild soundfield selected and the subs doing a bit. I probably only use this amplifier for 20% of time with pure music.

4). The main display on the receiver is made up on hundreds of pixels. After 6 months now, some of these are definately duller than the rest and from a distance letter and numbers look like they have parts missing.

5). The Dolby Digital sound though, I find is very good. The only criticism I would have, is that I did find it difficult to set up. You can set up how far away your speakers are and where they are placed which is easy. However the unit has a 'Cinema Sound Effect' which creates a virtual speakers utilizing the 5 speakers. The manual says that you may get better results with this effect if the speaker placement is set differently to how they are actually placed. This is fine, but, I found myself constantly changing it to begin with, because I was never really sure which was correct. It may be helpful if Sony supplied a setup DVD which helped you to configure your system to give an optimum performance. There are lots of parameters that can be changed and this may certainly help.

6.) MY MAIN CONCERN is one which isn't particually noticeable straight away. In fact I am dreading taking this amplifier back, because they will probably try to fob me off. At first I thought the sound being produced sounded dreadful and I couldn't understand why. What actually happens, is that there is low level distortion at all volume levels on the analogue inputs (i.e. CD and video1). At first I thought is was my CD player, but I listened to my CD player though the headphone connection on the player and it was fine. I plugged my headphones into the Reciever and the distortion could be heard. I ran my DVD player though the analgue inputs on the reciever and the distortion was still there. However, running the DVD player into the amplifier using the digital input resulted in the distortion disappearing.
When I first bought this product, this problem came to light very quickly, but, disappeared again. Then it started again a couple of months later and then again disappeared. However, now it does it all of the time. I should have taken it back straight away, but because of the hassle of taking it back 100+ miles away I thought I would see if it was one of those problems never re-occurs. But, it's still there, so, enough is enough!
Incidentally, other people have listened to this and can also hear it. So it's not just me... If you were wondering.

Please email me if you have any thoughts.

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Sony STR D511

overall performance vs pricetag

remote control

Got it just the day before Xmas. The performance is outstanding(nearly audiophile considering the price).The remote is difficult to use due to hard to read glow-in-the-dark buttons; this unit deserves a better one !

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none

Value for the money, overall build quality and great features

remote is hard to read.

This is one incredible receiver for the money. I also dealt with the people at OneCall and was very impressed. $369 plus $18 for 2-day fed-ex, everything arrived as promissed, on time.

This unit is great for home theatre applications, the sound is unbeliveable! I also looked at the 930 and figured it wasn't worth the extra money for a fancy remote (that is hard to operate) and a little additional power. In summary I would put this receiver up to anything in it's class and it would blow it away.

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pioneer

sound in stereo mode, easy set-up

lots of useless ambience modes

Purchsed this receiver to replace a 20 yr old Sony unit that finally gave out on me. Was not intending to purchase a DD/DTS unit, but the price was right at $300 + tax from a local stereo store. This is my secondary unit as a Yamaha 992 is my main home theatre receiver.

Very pleased with the product I have received for the price paid. The unit can't hold up against the Yamaha for sound quality and pure power, but the sound is clean and relatively warm. Many of the ambience modes are useless.

Highly recommend the receiver for the home theatre enthusiast on a receiver budget of less than $350.

Very high value rating, with an overall average rating.

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Yamaha RX-V992

I'm very satisfied with this receiver. One of the best in my opinion. The option you get for it's price are excellent! Sound is clean. A friend of mine (who has an onkyo 575)when using the 3 cinema DSP's told me so as to switch to simple Dolby surround because the sound is coming from every direction and it's too much information for his ears. Funny isn't it? I Love the cinema modes on the receiver.