All!!! Power, Design, Solid Construction, Features, DTS, DD, Stereo Mode, Sound Fields, Inputs.

First, The Sony Site in the Web...
I would like Dolby Pro Logic Sounds a bit better...
The FM Antenna is a Joke...
It runs a bit hot during playback...

The best receiver under $1000 so far. I am rather pleased with it. The sound is very, very clear and the crispness of bass is superb!!!. The remote has a high learning curve but is excelent, The input are enough for my present and future equipment. My listen room is small (10x10 ft.) and the power is excesive for it, but to the 40% the sound is loud and great!. Is there a big difference between this receiver and the DE low class receiver. The Yamahas sounds well but it lacks in features, inputs, remote, etc... but its a great receiver also. This receiver is amazing! Don't think anymore, bought it and enjoy.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE245,345,545. Yamaha 793,795,795a.

Great looks, power output, connections, build quality, features, audio quality, value for money.

None so far. Not impressed by the level of information about the unit on the official Sony web sites. Before deciding on a purchase I tried to locate technical info about the DB940 and was unable to do so from the Sony site. It was only from some of the online shops that I found more detail.

Although I have only been using this unit for a couple of weeks now I am thoroughly impressed by it. Watching DVD movies with the audio in Dolby Digital is stunning.

I have owned Sony equipment before (Beta VCR, Various TV's, Camcorder) and as usual the quality of the product is superb. The unit in silver looks very impressive. At the time I purchased the Amp I also purchase the Sony SA-VE705 speaker package ($595). I have to say that the combination of the DB940 with this speaker system is superb. The clarity of the sound is excellent with the subwoofer generating some very powerfull bass. They look great too.

The RDS tuner works well hooked up to an external FM aerial. I did not even attempt to use the supplied piece of wire. It's great being able to get the presets listed on the remote. Saves you having to remember what's been programmed.

With regard to the hissing noise that some people have commented on, I can only hear a slight noise if the volume is turned up high'ish (12O'clock), DVD paused of course, and I put my ear to the speaker. There is no noticable noise during the quiet bits when watching a movie or listening to a CD.

The input/output connections on the unit will cater for my every need for the forseable future.

I found the setup and configuration of the system very easy. I hooked it up initially using the speaker cables supplied with the VE705's. This allowed me to check that the amp and the speakers were working OK without having to buy the expensive cable until I knew where everything was going. Great idea Sony! I now have it wired up with QED cables.

I did not find the remote too difficult to figure out. Once you have read through the manual a few times it becomes pretty clear. It is a little clumsy in the way you have to operate some features after flipping open the lid but I can live with that. Lets face it, once you start watching a movie or whatever there really isn't too much need to keep fiddling with it. I easily set it up to control my TV, DVD and VCR.

I thoroughly recommend that anybody interested in buying this unit should search the web for the best prices.

Current setup:
Sony STR-DB940 Receiver
Sony SA-VE705 Speaker system
Pioneer 525 DVD Player
Sony 28" TV

Similar Products Used:

None.

Gold plated terminals, Remote(a bit slow)

Everything else, especially the sound,

Before making my decision I auditioned multiple receivers within a specific price range. I also read many reviews on audioreview.com. After much research I purchased the Sony str db940 receiver back on November 20th for $799.00(regular price of $999.00)Canadian at a little audio shop in Whitby, Ontario.

Set up was OK, mind you the instruction manual was a little confusing at first but aren't they all? Sound was ok for CD's and the amplifier certainly had many different settings to customize your sound(but most DSP settings sounded cheap) Approximatelly 2 weeks later I finally purchased a Sony DVD player....rented Gladiator and The Perfect Storm...and there it was....HISS....To make matters even worse my fiancee also noticed the hiss. Anyone who plans on purchasing this receiver please try this before...While playing a DVD movie, press pause and even at low volume (3-4 on the volume) you will notice a considerable amount of background noise.

Here is where my nightmare began, when purchasing audio equipment from small family oriented stores be sure to ask for their return/exchange policies first. This extremely friendly owner/salesperson turn into a very difficult person to deal with, I could not get my money back,all I could do is upgrade the receiver to a Yamaha rxv 800 for quite a difference in price($250), but let me tell you this was money well spent. The Yamaha will get my 5 stars, what a difference now I can hear what movie producers wanted me to hear and not them hissing down my neck.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 575x, Denon 1801&1800, Yamaha rxv800, Pioneer 709

Price, features - overall value is good

Sound quality?

Overall great value for the price. Flexible, good sound, beefy output with the power to drive home-theater very well. DSP modes sound silly...but then so do all others I've played with. Compared to the HK and the Denon the sound is not as good listening to musical sources. Some slight hiss and lack of warmth. The receiver doesn't seem to have the general tonal quality of the other two units, sounds a little flat and fake. At higher listening levels, especially with the tuner the highs sound harsh and un-refined. Not bad mind you, but not quite as nice as the others. Very comparable overal quality and sound as the Kenwood. I regret purchasing this unit instead of the Denon especially, the $$ savings was not enough...but it is definately a good choice for buyers at this price range. If you can afford something like the Denon though, it is a little nicer if you are listening to music, not just watching movies.

The first one I ordered arrived DOA. This one the On Screen Display is not working? Any ideas?

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 3300
Harmon Kardon AVR300
Kenwood VR309

sound

slight hiss

I thought I should do an update to my first review. I was able to recreate what some of the other reviewers did to get noticeable hiss, by pausing my dvd player and turning up the volume. I found out after playing with different settings that it is related to the dolby digital and dts decoding section, but the hiss is reduced substantially simply by turning off the bass boost function. The eq function also reduces some of the hiss but not by as much. With the bass boost off and no sound I cant hear the hiss until volume 5, which is much louder than I normally listen anyway, with it on I can hear it at 2. As a reference I let my kids watch tv with the volume just above 1, movies at 2-2.5. So anyone having problems with background hiss try turning the bass boost off. I dont really view this as a big problem , since I could not tell that the bass boost did much anyway, and since I couldnt hear it during normal listening. It would be nice to have total silence, but you do get what you pay for, in this case a fairly low priced receiver that works very well. I have never heard a totally silent receiver with no sound and the volume turned way up anyway. Maybe the $2000-3000 ones dont, but I will never buy one of those, most likely anyone looking at this receiver probably wont either.

Lots of power, two way remote, ability to run two pairs of front speakers in parallel, 2nd audio output

None

I think this is a great product, it helps me get the best sound out of my klipsch speakers and makes watching movies a lot more fun. It has a lot of the ES series features with out the ES series price.

Good solid bass, clarity on treble and midrange frequencies, lotsa of function to play wif and nice solid sexy build.

hissing... but not significant if used digital connection with ADF off, a bit worst than the old strdb930.

equiped with eltax symphony 6.2 speakers and ixos bi-wire silver and ixos optical. bass a bit punchy when bass boost used

good quality av-amp for low budget price, should go for 777es.

Similar Products Used:

STRDB930, Yamaha RXV-596 and 496.

All what it has but.... I NEED HELP TO EXPLAIN HOW THE MACROS WORK AND WHAT ARE THEY FOR/ EXAMPLES APPRECIATET

Remote. Making operations is much slower than in my previous in .....

I have it 3 days and I'm very pleased but:
- see:over
- THE SCREEN ON MY REMOTE ( when the backlight is on )
is shadowy, it means there is no solid colour and
light on the remote screen. Is it O.K. ?

With any answer pls. mail stright to: ernet@kki.net.pl

Thanks in advance,

Jurek

Similar Products Used:

...... SONY STR - DB 840

Great DTS and DD!!! and the front looks are awesome w/ my Sony Wega. Bass is great and lots of tweaking you can do!

A little Hiss, not much... HISSSS in Prologic mode when watching Payperview movies:( Remote take a sec or two to bootup:( SAID to pay $530 after i saw $70 drop just after one week:(

FedEX were nice enoguth to feop it off m neighbor house instaed of leaving a note which i would be pissed but there cool wiith me. When i got this the box was HEAVY and it was paacked nice. I LOVE Heavy machines:) Came with manuals which taught me things i didnt know but need a little more updating, the remote is Okkk but not the far best, and it was a Blast to set this puppy UP.... doesnt have cheap inputs ALL GOLD BABY:) i use S-Video connections so the video transmission is SHARP and sounds great when watching movies or MTV Music. I ran Gladiaor on DTS and DD both and DTS was far more ralistic than DOlbyDigital 5.1 DOH!! but one problem was that it went in Protection Mode after Volome level 4.5... which kinda made me mad but i guess its because my speakers cant handle it even though they could handle 100watts!... The Gold outputs makes alot of difference and the quality is way clearer and image is sharper. the front inputs were useful to me to hookuip my PC, VCR, or Dreamcast, PS2 when i needed to play... one thing i also love is that you can name each MODE so its very cool to name the modes. Secondly, I love the tweaking you can do with this reciever. there are 100 options to tweak your sound in EVERY way and the best part is that its ONSCREEN! no need to get at the front to change it! there is ALOT of hiss during movies in Prologic mode but not when playing DVDS or games. I opened up my reciever to see how it looks inside and its way better design than the DE series!! way bigger transistors and the Transformer is better too. The difference between STR-DE845 and DB940 is alot. IF you watch movie every other day get DB940, if ure like me and ure just a reg Audio Enthusiast who watches dvd's once a week get the DE-845. the DE-845 and 945 are still good for DTS and DD but u gotta spend extra money for the looks and the hardware inside!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE545, DE-845

Power, sound, looks and high-end finish

?

Just had a glorious two weeks of using the sony STR-DB940QS and was planning to buy it. Now I have the opportunity to buy a V555ES from Sony for 850$. I am stuck. Which one should I buy? The STR-DB940 will set me back about 600$, the v555es will cost 850$.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to decide myself. I'd like to get the v555es, but need to make sure it's worth the extra cash. The STR-DB940 has the added advantage of bein' silver, like the TV and DVD.

Something more about this reciever. If you are used to sony the setup won't be all that hard - the remote will take some gettin' used to, but when you have, it's a dream. Surround sound is deliciously bright and the bass rocks my room. The difference compared to my old Technics is unbelievable. (as it should be seing this one costs twice what the old one did)

Will the STR-V555ES do the same to the STR-DB940 (kick his ass I mean), knowing that I will only use this setup for home-theatre - my audio setup being just fine as it is: all sony ES + B&W 804 Nautilus.

As you all might have guessed, I'm a sony-fan.

my current home-theatre set-up is:
SONY KV-32FQ75
SONY DVP-S735DS - multizone
2 x B&W 604 series 2 - front
1 x B&W CC6 centerspeaker
2 x B&W 602 series 2 - back
1 x B&W ASW1000 - sub
current amp is a technics SA-AX720 - a gift, needs replacing

Similar Products Used:

technics SA-AX720