Many options to adapt system to room environment

OUTPUT SECTION TOPPLED ON ALL CHANNELS - NOT WORTH FIXING, EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE

I too, just had my rear channels blow out on this model after about 3 yrs. or use. Then the front ones let loose a few weeks later. Before then it had performed adequately with my Bose Surroud theatre speakers. I had bought into the whole "Sony family" concept when buying my DVD player about a year and a half ago so that the components could talk to each other easier. HOWEVER, in light of this breakdown that would have cost $200-$250 to fix, I'm re-evaluating the idea of even buying another Sony product of this caliber.

It's got a pretty face, lots of bells and whistles.

Rear amps have blown out twice. Remote is unique.

I bought the Sony as a compromise ... I wanted a Denon receiver. Setup is pretty easy. Sound is a bit bright. The unit has inadequate heat sinks and runs hot. Digital inputs are not switchable and S-video inputs are insufficient for any reasonable home theatre application. Graphical User interface is unique ... NO universal remote can control this receiver. Within 18 months of purchase, my rear channels blew out (I only use moderate loudness levels in my HT). Had the rear amps repaired and bought an outboard cooling fan. Now the left rear amp is blown again. I can't recommend this receiver. It doesn't integrate well with other components, the remote is unique, and its unreliable.

My primary concern when purchasing a Dolby Digital Receiver was features as opposed to sound quality. For the most part I think this receiver met my needs. The on screen display makes everything much easier to use. Another reviewer mentioned he doesn't want the display over the movie, and I can see that as a concern, but I have found rarely do I need to pull it up while watching a movie - I just make my setting adjustments before the movie, and maybe tweak volume while it's playing (which does not bring up the OSD) Even if I did need to bring it up during the movie, I have found it not to be a big deal, but I guess that's me. Within the OSD there are many great features and settings - one thing I had a problem with was the macro feature, which was almost, but not quite what I needed. Because the composite is not routed thru the S-Video, I found that I could not hook up the DVD player thru the receiver S-Video and the VCR thru the receiver composite, so I planned to run the VCR thru the receiver and have the Svid cable go from the DVDplayer to the TV directly. The problem with this is every time I want to watch a DVD, I have to switch to that function on the receiver AND pick up the TV remote and switch to a different input (for the svideo). I tried for days to figure out a clever way of getting the macro stuff to work and switch it to the proper input when I push the DVD button on the receiever remote, and switch back to the other input when on the VCR function. couldn't quite do it.. Other than that, I think the sound quality is decent - I could have probably paid more money for a receiver with half the features and slightly better sound quality, but I would have barely noticed it - the features I notice.

On screen menus, Sound, Detail , Everything

no Dts

The sound Quality from this receiver rivals my Krell amp. On screen menus control everything even high-end abstract pieces. Using now for 2 years and still nothing better has hit the market. A perfect solution for a for an all in one av receiver.

Similar Products Used:

HK,Krell

COMPLAINTS:This receiver has a lot going for it. It's got a good foundation for the interface and an excellent DSP (which included the AC-3 part). Here's where Sony missed the boat completely. There are NOT enough S-video inputs!!!! Is there any excuse for not having an S-video input on the TV/DSS input?! Also, why is there no S-link connection on the receiver for the DVD. Their DVD plays have them but there is no where to plug them in! There should also be a record out function for the DSP. In the manual it says that the DSP samples everything analogue that comes in at 48KHz so why does it no spit that digital signal out the optical digital outs! And this is really not sony's fault but why don't more receivers have a switch for the front plugs that let you use it as an in or an out.

Also, the onscreen display is something that I would never like no matter how it was done. I don't want to see anything on top of my movies. I like Kenwood's idea of having all the graphics on the remote. I even like just having a simple menu system on the front of the stereo like my old Pioneer VSX-505S. In fact, if I hadn't a need for AC-3 I would still be using that Pioneer VSX-505S. Man, that was a great stereo, just needed some S-video and banana plugs! FYI: I've had the 915 Sony too and even though it didn't use the silly OSD the remote still left a lot to be desired when compared to the Pioneer! Unfortunately the Pioneer AC-3 systems just didn't have the inputs and the features I needed, and I hear that they don't sound as good either. It's a shame.

PROs:
The best thing about the receiver is that DSP, not for all the mostly useless sound fields it has (which don't sound bad, but if it's a good recording you don't need them), but for how smart it is. I really like being able to route the 5.1 AC-3 depending on your speaker config. I have Cerwin-Vega RE-30's and do not need a sub so when I purchased an AC-3 receiver I needed to make sure that it would be able to route the LFE channel to my fronts.

It's got what I would call right above average sound to it, although I do prefer hearing my CD's using my Pioneer PD-5700 rather than the optical transfer with my Sony DVP-S3000. (FYI, as far as I can tell the DAC on the 1015 and the DAC on my 3000 DVD player sound exactly the same.) It sounds rather good in Dolby Digital, but I don't think that's as hard to sound good at as music reproduction. It's important to note that although I do not know all that much about high-end audio equipment I am a music performance major and I do know a great deal about how a live concert sounds. The sony comes fairly close but just isn't so.

Maybe the ES line would fix most of these problems. If someone out there has one the current AC-3 ES models could you please contact me via email. I have a few questions that I can't seemed to get answered about them.

When I bought this unit, I did so for all of the S/Video inputs and the dolby digital decoder. I have since purchased a Sony 500D DVD player which has it's own decoder so I am pretty sure I wasted some bucks. What I don't like about this receiver is that the composite video isn't translated to the SVideo.... I wanted to use one output source to my Sony 61", but it seems that it can only pass through composite or SVideo based on whatever the input is. The overall sound is good, but it the onscreen controls are clumsy. Also, because of the Svideo vs composite video problem. When the television is in composite mode, I lose all of the onscreen controls making it basically useless. Overall, it is better than any other receiver I have owned to date in terms of just plain audio quality which is always my bottom line.

I GOT THIS RECEIVER FROM J&R FOR $599. SO FAR I LOVE IT . THE DSP SOUNDFIELDS ARE VERY REALISTIC. I LIKE THE ONSCREEN DISPLAY BECAUSE OF IT'S DETAIL. THE ONLY THING I WOULD CHANGE IS THE JOYSTICK REMOTE, AFTER HAVING AN STR-G3 I GOT USED TO THE EGG REMOTE THAT IT HAD.ANOTHER THING I REALLY WISH IT HAD WAS PREOUTS BECAUSE IT DOES HAVE A BIT OF A LACK OF POWER (100wattsx5)WHEN TRYING TO POWER SOME KLH 15'S.YOU CAN'T REALLY GET ANY BETTER FOR THE MONEY AND I THINK IT IS WELL WORTH IT.