I got this receiver from a friend who had it in storage for many years, for the purpose of using it in a 2 channel garage system for FM/AM listening. The attractive small size with 100wpc with .09 % distortion make it ideal for this purpose.

It is obvious that the surround sound performance has marched on since the days of early Dolby Pro Logic and I won't comment on this. Fortunately Sony put a front panel switch to turn off the surround and use as a 2 channel stereo receiver and I'm quite impressed with the musical and smooth sound. I was actually expecting a bright shrill sound without body and weight to the music. This receiver has none of this offensive sound.

It is unfortunate for me that the tuner sensitivity is average, but still better than a table radio I was using and better sounding to with my Polk outdoor speakers in the garage. The main fm stations are fine, but the college station 50 miles away is substantial. And am talk radio is pitfall. My experience is that all these budget receivers add a tuner as an after thought.

(For the poster below, any AM loop antenna will work. For FM add a dipole antenna with 'F connector' and plug into the fm connection, or just stick a thin 3' wire into the hole in the F pin connector on the receiver, because this is all Sony supplies with it for fm.)

I'm giving this receiver an average rating, not because of the nice powerful sound in 2 channel, but because a so-so tuner and the obviously dated surround processing. That being said this receiver would make a very nice bedroom system with a cd/dvd player, TV, and two speakers. I'm enjoying listening to fm radio in the garage with a really sweet sound.

the FM/AM statics is very bad, missing the attena. Noone sells exect part anymore, not even Sony. Can I get a compatible one

I bought new in 1998. 14 YEARS LATER using almost daily and no issues whatsoever. Great unit for the price and reliability is obvious. Pushing my JBL's sweetly. Highly recommend.

very powerfull
with the right speakers it can be suprising for budget amps.
drives my cerwin vega cls 10 easily.
bass boost is very powerful and no need to use it because the bass response is good without it.
can drive 4 ohm speakers without protection mode.
very reliable!!!
great remote!!!!!!
very good for stereo use this is why i keep it!
excellent value for money.
highs can shouty in very loud volume at times needs an equlizer for best results.
summary:
can drive any speaker
low coast
good for stereo
great remote
reliable like no other

Good sound clarity through all speakers. My Sansui's are rated at 250W, my Advent Mini's are rated at 60W, and my Advent Baby is rated at 100W. This receiver pushes sound through these speakers without being clipping at the high end [though I know better then pushing 100W into 60W speakers at maximum would damage the speakers, duh!]

None that I can find. If I want to play a CD on this unit, I have bought a dual plug unit from Radio Shack, so that both my TT and the CD can share the AUX connections.

I have a pair of Sansui SP-X8000 [frt spkrs], a pair of Mini Advent [rear frt spkr], and one Baby Advent [center spkr], a Sansui SC-5300 Cassette Deck, and a Technics SL-1600MK2 DD TT [hooks into the AUX], and have no problem pushing sound through all the speakers, when the unit is in HALL mode.

Similar Products Used:

Sansui 7900Z receiver [rated 360W], and a Sansui 5000X receiver [rated 320W].

Great Power, Great Price, All around a great receiver!

None

I got this reciever used for my dorm room. I have it powering my KLH 9915''s and the bass is incredible! I hooked up my bose speakers for the surround sound, and it sounds great. I dont know what the other guys were talking about. This receiver is great, and you cant beat the price.

This is a good pro-logic receiver. It has enough power unless you drive a Mac truck to work. The remote is good except the buttons you need to glow don't. Oh well. If you are not into digital, this receiver is okay for the price ($175-ish).

PS

I hate Sony.

I am 14 so i didnt need a reciever with monster power so i got the strde325 with 100X4. It turned out to be the right buy i just recently got 4 boston acoustics cr6 bookshelf speakers and they crank. I think this product is good when used with bookshelf speakers not 200 watt floor standing speakers. I gave it a high rating because i think it has great value and enough power for me.

Station Pre-sets, Has protect shut-off in case wires are crossed or the wire isn't thick enough to handle the power

Rear Speaker Power, Heats up quick when putting out high power

I got used to quality, high power equipment and it was very hard to adjust to the Sony STR-DE 325 Reciever. I didn't hear much power at all for the rear speakers and the bass has been going up and down and is messing up my speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Magnavox 200 watt reciver, Samson 500 watt powered mixer

It looks ok I guess

No power
Cheesy surround sound
I cant beleive the power specs on it because it is so weak
the remote is really lame

This is one of the worst recievers i have ever heard. It barely supplies enough power to run my bookshelf speakers.

What good is the direct input for radio stations if it isnt even on the remote?

What the hell was sony thinking?

Similar Products Used:

Many AV recievers in the 200-600 range