Power, sound clarity, design/looks, excellent remote

None really. Sometimes remote response is slow.

For the price it comes, it is a great unit so I am not diplomatic in my rating.

The DTS/DD5.1 mode is superb & green light indicates when it does decoding ;). Its powerful and have enough inputs placed at convenient places (front input helps for quick connection to PlayStation2). Tuner is also very good.

Remote is designed very well. The buttons used often are easily accessible. You wouldn't need to open flip (At least I haven't opened in last 2 months). I tried this remote on a very old TV (of unknown brand) and it could learn that too ;)

Its a good buy, and with this unit all you need is good speakers.

There are other Receivers in market too but I am sure its not possible to get all features (and ES looks in Silver color :-) this unit offers. (Besides I am ardent fan of Sony)

One last thing... it helps to read the complete manual. (S-Video is on different message bus ;)

The sound,Build quality...etc

Manual

This receiver rocks I am completely satisfied and have experienced zero problems.But I do have a couple questions that I can not seem to find in the manuel where can you name the sub buttons or are you stuck with sub 1-5 on the remote my wife hates it because right now you have to memorize what each button has been taught. For my second question where do you get to name your inputs.

Othwise I completely reccomend this receiver to anyone

Similar Products Used:

Another sony receiver that was only DD ready

Build quality,functions,connections,OSD,power

The remote, it´s quite difficult to work with but what the hell, you can´t get everything...;)

I´m very pleased with my newest purchase.I don´t know all the functions yet, but so far I´m impressed.

Sony STR-DB940
Pioneer DV-636D
Sony MDS-JE520

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 592,Sony 515,Proton preamplifier

D.S.P modes, price, number of input,clean & powerful sounds, plenty of features and design.

none. (it doesn't talk maybe)

My roomate own strdb930 and JVC RX1028,and my other friend own the rxv 595a. The STR-DB940 has everything I need, learning remote, Dolby Digital & DTS with cool dsp (esp. the night theater) and lots of features. The bass and treble sounds real good. At first I was thinking on buying Yamaha (prob. 596 or 795a) receiver but the price didn't allow me to do so. For me, I would prefer the sounds of Yamaha but Sony really did a good job on the remote, features and design.

Similar Products Used:

sony strdb930, yamaha rxv 595a, JVC RX1028

Great 5.1 Sound, Cool DSP modes, Quality Stereo, Plenty of Inputs, Amazingly tweekable, Clean styling, best bang for the buck!

Non assignable digital inputs?

I must say this is one of the best purchases I have made in a long time. This is a list of what I have connect to my DB940:
Monitor: Hitachi 27" Ultra Black
Speakers: Bose AM-10 home theater
CD Changer: Sony 300 Disc CDP-CX335
DVD: Sony DVP-S560D (w/ S - video)
VCR: Sony SLV 679HF (w/ composite)
Mini Disc: Sony Portable Recorder MZ-R37
Dreamcast (w/ S-video)
Playstation (w/ S-video)
Terk AM/FM Power Tower Antenna
All Monster Cable interconnects

As you can see I have alot of stuff connect to my 940 and all of it is easily controlled by the 2 way remote (mostly because my stuff is all sony). The remote is quite handy and has a ton of preprogrammed sources on it. I didn't have to do any of that weird remote mating ritual stuff (where the remotes are head to head) to get this up and running.

I'll first say that I am bias to Sony Equipment. Sony was the first reciever, and cd player I purchase in college, which lasted my until a few months ago. It was a great receiver, but no digital in meant it had to go. So I shopped around and everyone to me sony was a bad receiver, it had bad amps, alot of hiss, etc... I can tell you all of those people were wrong, this is one sweet sounding system. No Hiss (in any mode), plenty of power (I have had this up to 95 db), and blends superbly with other Sony components. The sound is more upfront that other receivers, but this has an impressive stereo soundstage with the almost unlimited ability to tweek the EQ, DSP, and digital domains. I have my system set so the sound is a little less up front and more neutral, but this is my liking. Again with the 940's EQ you can set this to what ever style of audio you like(bass heavy, crispy highs, etc.)

The styling of the 940 is lightyears ahead of the similarly priced receivers. And has a higher end feel and look. I have an all sony set up in my apartment, with the white bose speakers. The system is unobtrusive and just lets you listen to wonderful music, or heart pounding movies. Most of my friends initially though it was an ES model, because of the look and mostly the sound quality. This is by far the most anyone will get for $400-$500. I am extremely happy with my purchase. And the money I saved on this went to expanding my cd and dvd collection.

Don't listen to the Sony trash talkers. I have listened and lived with other receivers from other companies (denon, onkyo, pioneer, harmon) and in this price range none of them can compete when you take the whole package of the receiver into account. Will a $1500 or $1000 receiver sound better? Yes, but not by much and its suppose to sound better for $1000 more. So save yourself $1000 and put it somewhere else.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite, Denon AVR-3300, Sony STR-555ES. Similar Priced Pioneer, Onkyo, and Harmon/Kardon.

Sound, remote

few optical inputs, but not a big deal

I was used to Dolby Pro-logic... what a diference... I use my Loudspeakers LANDO LX-190 (2 x 8" woofers, 1 3/4" mid and 1" high; 150WRMS & 8 ohms; brazilian counterpart of CANTON), wow! what a sound!!! It doesn't disapointed me...
One for who wants performance e price! Sony is now changing its line, so now is time to bargain!!!!

Similar Products Used:

STR-900GX ES

Remote / plentiful inputs and outputs

The Sound!!!!!

I have just decided to return my sony str-db940 receiver because of very poor sound quality. On paper the sony is an awesome buy, packed with sound environments, plentiful inputs / outputs, and a wonderful audio video commander remote control. I loved the remote which is the best feature of the receiver. The sound environments are joke... I was really excited over all the sound environments but found that only four were useful. What was most irritating was the sound quality of this 500.00 receiver. It is the worst receiver I have ever heard. The mids are vacant and the sound is dry and sharp. It is actually painful to listen to this receiver at even a low volume. This will sound ridiculous, but by listing to this receiver you will become fatigued. I even had a cd player run into an 12 band onkyo equalizer and could not create a balanced wholesome rich sound. I would recommend that you listen to this unit in the store carefully before bring it home. Please do not to pull it of the net as I have mistakenly done. Also, this baby runs hot!!!
Good ventilation is must. Before I returned the unit, I was actually pondering how to attach a small cooling fan onto the rack. Just after 20 mins playtime and the heat is noticeable. Never had a receiver run so hot before. Never.... One last comment, with this receiver proper speaker placement is very critical. One misplaced speaker and the sound environments fall apart.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha v701

Looks, sound, options, inputs & outputs, "POWER".

none, that I can think of at this time!!!

First of all, I would like to say that I love this product.
Most of the reviews I have read about Sony receivers, are not looked upon favorably. I have been looking for a couple of months before purchasing this gem. I tested several units including the ones mentioned above, and they are all great pieces, I just don't need at this time certain "bells and whistles".(ex-surround) I have spent a lot of money on my speakers( paradigm monitor 9's, cc-350, mini monitors, and a pdr-12" sub), around $1800.00 for the lot. I had bought the avr-510(h/k), and I loved it, but not powerful enough.(70 X 5 or 80 x 2) This Sony has 110 X 2 or 100 X 5, and you can tell the difference. ( high current or not?)

I think this sounds as well as some units costing twice the amount I paid for it. It comes with a 2 year and I got an additional 2 years, for 29.99. Most of my products are sony, so it works well with one another. Some of this reviews on this piece about the hissing and running hot, did concern me. It is too loud for me after turning pass half way any way, so I don't notice anything. Musically, it sounds great(but the best receiver is the SR-8000 Marantz), but at times it could be a little bassy. As far as movies, it is outstanding. It has very good detail, I was shocked.

Anybody that wants an excellent receiver, that won't break the bank. You should really give this unit a chance, you won't be disappointed.


My components are:

STR-DB940 (RECEIVER)
CDP-870D (DVD)
SLV-M91HF (VCR)
MDS-JB940 (MINI-DISC)
DV-C36 PIONEER DVD-5DISC CHANGER
CDR-30 H/K CD RECORDER
FL8550 H/K CD PLAYER
TA-W544 ONKYO CASS
HU-570 MIST (VCR)
SL-BD22 TECH TURNTABLE
DDV-9556 DUAL VCR
260-SONANCE AMP

Similar Products Used:

DS-787, H/K-510, AVR-3801, RX-V1000, and the ES line of SONY

ES looks, great home theater sound, plenty of power, very tweakable.

Minor Hissing problems at high volumes, slow and ugly remote, not the best for music, no digital volume readout, no optical CD input (but you can use the MD one and rename it).

SONY STR-DE545
When I first got this receiver I loved it. However, after visiting this damn site, I discovered they had a hissing problem. Sure enough, after I knew what I was listing for, I could hear the hissing. It didn't bother me at first, but it slowly grated on me when listening to music at low levels. So I took the receiver back to Sears (after owning it for 6 months) and they took it back - the first store hasseled me and wouldn't take it back, but the second store I went to took it back no questions asked.

I then went out and listened to other receivers on the market, particularly the Denon AVR-2801. The Denon sounded good, but it refused to get loud. Maxing out the volume was like level 4 on the STR-DB940, however there was no hissing.

SONY STR-DB940
I purchased a STR-DB940 (I'm sticking with Sony because at the price range you can't beat them and all my other components are Sony). The STR-DB940 was nice, sounded tons better in home theater than the STR-DE545, definitely had more power, but musically it was about the same. The STR-DB940 also hissed when in any DSP mode (not in analog direct or 5.1 inputs that bypass the DSP), with the hissing increasing with the volume level. In a dead silent room, with no music source playing, with the receiver on Cinema Studio A with Bass Boost on (the worst hissing combination on my receiver) the hissing can be barely perceived from the normal listening position at volume level 2. For comparison I listen to most CD's at 1 to 1.5 and DVD's from 2 to 2.5. So the hissing was not a real problem. The two way remote is ugly IMO (not as bad as Denon's… talk about a 1970's looking POS) and was a little slow in changing DSP modes or receiver functions, but worked instantaneously with volume and CD/DVD controls. However, in the end I took this receiver back as because of the deal I got on the STR-V333ES.

SONY STR-V333ES
The STR-V333ES rocks, it does hiss (I now think all current Sony receivers do), but not quite as bad as the STR-DB940 at high levels (which wasn't that bad). Musically things are much brighter and fuller throughout the entire sound range, and the same is true with the home theater sound. The remote is the same as the STR-DB940, so I went onto E-bay and bought a RM-PP404 (the STR-DE545 remote) which runs the receiver just fine. The two additional sound fields are great and all the tweakable parameters rock - its about time I can program the crossover frequencies at 10MHz intervals. The onscreen display is a nice touch, but I wish they included a graphical frequency curve with the EQ instead of just the frequencies and DB levels. I also like the fact the receiver displays two lines of digital text in its display so you can see the function and sound field at the same time. This receiver is unbeatable for the price I bought it for!!!
BTW no heat problems or protection mode problems… and I've been running the receiver nearly non-stop at and average of -45db for the past week. (I only have 15 days to return it if I have problems, so I'm running the receiver all day.)

If you haven't figured it out this review is more of a comparison of the three receivers I owned.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DE545 ($285)-Sears, STR-V333ES ($449 + shipping)-onecall, listened to Denon-AVR-2801

I have a Q for you too. I do not have a DVD yet. I am waiting for the next G of Sony changers that should have progressive scan. I have noticed with TV and Video tape that anything other than Stereo Movie, or two channel the vocal track seems flat overwhelmed by either the music or the back round sound. Is this to be expected?
I thought this could create some surround sound front simple two channel input such as CD. Again the sound in any mode other than Two channel is very flat! Esp "Normal Surround sound. If what I am hearing is the best the can create I am bummed. Two channel or Stereo Movie which I suspect are very similar still sound stupendous.
If there is something I have over looked in set up, if you have any ideas or if you think I just just got a hold of one wack receiver, I appreciate a response.
Thanks