Excellent sound; Lots of features and flexibility; Well build (heavy!);

Poor Remote Design

I bought the 930 for my growing home theater hobby/addiction, and I'm quite happy. Lots of power, excellent flexibility with the sound fields, and easy setup. Visually, I liked the design of the front flip down panel.

I disagree with the some of the critiques of the manuals. I found them more than adequate. However, due to its sheer volume, it may be somewhat intimidating to less experienced users.

The biggest flaw I can find is the poor remote design. The flexibility and programmability (macros) of the 2-way remote is a great idea. However, the implementation is poor. I hate having to flip up the remote panel to access the number buttons.

Overall, a great product. Kudos to Sony!

Sound,Ample Power,Features

None

This Receiver is the best value for the money I have a
toshiba 2109 dvd player which is great, I have had the dvd
player for about 3 months now, most of that time I used
my pro-logic receiver which I thought sounded great it
has 100W-X4.
But everyone was telling me that DD5.1 is so much better
I was not going to upgrade I kept telling myself how much
better could my dvds sound it was great already.
but I started to check out other receivers looked at many
reviews the db930 seemed like the one to go with if I was
going to get one, I called rich at soundcity
I got the # from this site 18008885343 ext714 rich was very nice he answered all my questions didnt rush me off the phone I couldn't help it I had to have one I paid $419 deliverd.
let me tell anyone out there who was thinking like me that
pro-logic with DVDs sounds great,it is nothing once you
hear a DVD movie on DD5.1 it is like night and day .
and having a great receiver like the db930 is even that
much better, this thing sounds great, even my cds have a
much cleaner sound.
I know alot of reviews at this site busted on the remote
and manual I like the remote and the manual is not that bad
I do have a "one for all" cinema 7 remote which can
learn upto 28 commands which I use most of the time it is a
very good remote I got it at best buy for $24 Its well
worth it.
I used a XLO/VDO ER-6 digital cable for the digital feed
from my dvd player, I was confused as to what cable to go with, this one had some good reviews, Im not dissapointed it is a very good cable I also got this from soundcity for $25 1 meter length.
I know this was a long review but this site has helped me
so much I just wanted to try and share as much info as I
could to hopefully help someone as everyone at this site
has helped me.
In closing You won't go wrong with this receiver it is
what can you say "GREAT!" for the money you can't buy a
better receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Pro-logic Receiver Technics SA-GX770

-This unit gives a lot of features for the money.
-Lots of inputs and outputs, s-video switching, 100 wpc, about 20 different soundfields (overkill, if you ask me.)
-Binding posts for 5 channels
-HEAVY



Expect a price of around $400, plus about $20 shipping. Some places to buy it: One Call, www.buyersedge.com (submit a request and you will get a return with this price.)

-Sound wasn't particularly impressive, sounded like any other Japanese receiver. You're real value is that it packs a lot of features.

I had this unit about 2 weeks, then returned it. The sound was good, didn't totally blow me away or anything. I like the Denon 1800, 2800 better. I'm going to buy the Denon 1800, it's about $30 more ($429 from Joe Momma, $439 from Wild West Electronics) I've heard the Yamahas in this price class sound better as well. It just didn't grab me.

Remote is a universal, non-learning. It's a 2-way, so it receives info from the receiver. It tells you via an LCD what sound zone you're in, for example. The annoying part is that there's a 2-3 second delay every time you use the remote to do something because the remote has to communicate with the receiver to find out what state the receiver's in.

After 1.5 weeks of use, during a movie, all surround modes went "Zooopfff". Dead silence. Couldn't get any of them going again. only 2 chan. worked. Then 1/2 hour later, that went away too. Then the unit wouldn't turn on any more. Totally dead. My wiring was good, had used the setup before for years with my JVC Pro-logic receiver with no problems (since the Sony left, went back to the JVC, no probs.)

If you get a price, be sure the dealer has unit in stock, heard they've been scarce lately, and dealers will BS you that it'll be in Tuesday, then Friday, then next Tuesday, etc, one dealer I talked to in Mid Dec. still doesn't have them, but it's "any day now!" Of course, his price was lowest, but he doesn't have any.

Don't buy from ElectronicsWorld (AKA Sammans electronics) of New Jersey. They respond to www.buyersedge.com, so if you use that site, you'll hear from Sammans. Their price was $408+$24 shipping, not the lowest, but at least they had it.

Listen to my horror story: I called them when this happened to my receiver and they told me to bring it to local Sony service. I wanted them to replace it, not Sony service, they agreed, so $50 in shipping later, they got unit back, looked at it, didn't call for a week. I called them, guy put me on speakerphone and the guy proceeded to yell at me in broken english. Yelled at me! Said unit worked fine when he got it. (So what's that mean? I was lying? Yeah, I do this for kicks. I like to punish myself. I'm CRAZY like that!!) He said he re-sold my unit for $470 to another guy who bought $3000 worth of stuff from him. Why was he telling me all this? I still don't know. Guy was nuts. Yelled for another 5 minutes.

Refused to sell me another one, said my wiring was bad. So I got a credit for $408, but I was out about $80 for all of the shipping, and I now have nothing. Consider it a lesson learned. Buying mail order, you probably won't ever get the manufacturer to honor their warranty, so the only recourse you have is to deal with the dealer. Even if dealer says they'll take it back, it's still $50 each time for shipping. And if you get a wacko like this, who spoke english perfectly well when I first placed the order, you may not want to deal with them when there's a problem. Consider you can buy unit locally for about $500, for the extra $100 + $35 sales tax (no tax on internet order), you're getting a dealer you can just drive to and a valid factory warranty.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-1800, Sony STRDE935, Sony STRDE 635

Pleny of inputs, binding posts for all speakers.

can't use the s-video output with a composite input.

Upgraded to STR-DB930 after I got surrounds for the STR-DE935 and heard a loud hiss in the rear channels. I got my local dealer to match $425 from OneCall who matched Soundcity's price. I didn't even crack the manual, but I assume it is just like the DE935's. Personally I find the remote to be quite easy to use, except for having to lift the cover to access the number pad. I like the looks better than the DE935 because the fold down panel covers most of the buttons that aren't used all the time. I give it five stars because you can't get this many features for such a great price anywhere else.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DE935

Many digital out/inputs (built for digital future), Hi-end ES componentry, 2nd audio output, 2-way remote, solid & clean 110W power delivery, DTS & DD decoding built-in

none yet

This is such an amazing deal for anyone interested in entering the world of high-end home audio. Although Sony has never been known for building the best consumer-level receivers (weak power mostly), the ES models are on par with anything put out by Harmon, Yamaha and other entry level high enders.

This unit has EVERYTHING and MORE of what the home audio enthusiast (not novice, not expert) needs to build a complete, quality and killer home-theater system: MANY Coax and Optical digital inputs, several S-video in/outputs, DD AND DTS decoder (!).

I have seen some mixed reviews of the remote. Right off the bat I'll say: Find me another receiver of this quality in this price range that offers you a TWO-WAY, BACKLIT LCD DISPLAY, UNIVERSAL REMOTE, and I'll compare and contrast. Even the STR-DA333 (more expensive, less feature rich ES model) doesn't give you one of these. IMAGINE: Using your remote while watching a movie IN THE DARK! Sure, the manual is a bit muddled, but, I found with a little time and a little thinking, this remote is not hard to configure and use.

If you can find one, and you need to step up to a REAL home theater anchor, BUY THE STR-DB930. You will not regret it, and it will treat you well for many years, through many technological advances.

Similar Products Used:

4 year old Sony STR-DE model

lots

erganomics

sony should send everyone who bought this revceiver 10 bucks for reading the inexplicably difficult manual. the language isn't foreign, but the grammar sure is. obviously the great outweighs any bads that sony is guilty of. the remote is kinda cool actually. looks like a cell phone. 5 million stars......

Similar Products Used:

old sony

Many features, outputs, sound, construction

What is the deal with the remote and manual?

I'm not going to go into all of the great features of this receiver. I'll just say that I don't think that you can find a receiver with better sound/features/construction for twice the price. (I paid about $400 from OneCall.)

There are a couple of little things that bug me though: 1) I wish you could dim the display from the remote; 2) I wish it had a stand-by light

I would really like to give the 930 5 stars, BUT the manual has got to be the worst ever from Sony. I finally just put it away and started to mess around with the controls. I'm sure I still haven't learned half of the stuff that this receiver can do. The other thing that keeps it from getting 5 stars is the POS remote. Just plan on using a different remote.

Similar Products Used:

Older Pioneer Dobly SS Receiver.

2ND Audio Output.

Manual and explanations of all features.

Glad I found this site. It helped me make my final decision on what and where to buy. This unit does more than I expected. It is packed with features some which I will never use.

Surround decoding works very well. Still playing with frequency cut-off's in the Equalizer settings. Each speaker does need some tweaking to get the sound right. Set my surrounds to +5db and it worked good. Distances from fronts/center/surrounds 10 feet from prime sitting area.

Did find that surround decoding does not function correctly with my TV hooked to the TV/SAT inputs. Only get sound from the center and right front. If I let my VCR tune the station, then the decoding works fine. Will try to move the outputs from the TV to Video2 and see it that works. Possibly the TV outputs are doing something, but it works fine in 2 channel stereo.

All in all this unit is great for the price. Sound City provided it with some PSB Image 4T speakers (mains). Speakers are impressive. Playing the movie theme from 2001 showed off their abililty.

Remote is fun to play with, but I can get faster results by getting up from the couch to make changes. So far it works most important features from my VCR and TV, but not all such as PIP.

Don't know why Sony does not list this unit on their website. It was worth every penny, pound or DM paid.

Similar Products Used:

None to this date.

Incredible value - build quality

Remote

I too first bought the DE935 and because of this site I returned that unit for the DB930. Probably the best decision of the year - anyway - you cannot beat this product for under $500 - I listened to Denon, HK and Nak - I've owned plenty of high end gear over the last 25 years and you cannot beat the value and sound quality of the DB903. Very close to ES -

price,inputs,power

perfect system for my budget or any budget.strong and clear,all the inputs anybody could use.
great price.the EQ is tricky to adjust but very thorough.remote is different but it works with all my
componets

Similar Products Used:

AKAI,PHILIPS,SONY