Sony STR-DE445 A/V Receivers

Sony STR-DE445 A/V Receivers 

DESCRIPTION

Dolby Digital/DTS receiver

USER REVIEWS

Showing 21-30 of 52  
[Jan 24, 2001]
GlamisX
Audiophile

Strength:

price

Weakness:

hiss

I tottaly agree with the person that has posted below, finnaly someone is intelligent. Like he said, moster cables are going to fix jack because the problem is internaly. Sony needs to get there act together and put out some quality products, like back in the day. Im pissed at my sony reciever and I wish I would have bought anyother one. Dont buy this retarded reciever, no matter how low the price is

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 29, 2001]
Phil Crawford
Audiophile

Strength:

DTS,Dolby Digital,Prologic Decoding,Tons of inputs

Weakness:

little hiss

I simply love this receiver because of the DSP and all the decoders, input and the 5.1 input for a new decoder later on, and the thing i like the most about this receiver is the bass boost.

Similar Products Used:

JBL PB-10 Sub,Technics SB-CR 77 Front, Technics SB-CS 50 Rears, Technics SB-C80 Center, Sylvania DVD Player, Magnavox TV, and all the cable is monster

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 07, 2001]
Odin Caulfield
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Value Entry to Dolby Digital and DTS

Weakness:

Cluttered and confusing interface, high THD

This Sony DE445 is my first receiver purchase on Oct 2000. As a college student, you want to be up-to-date in the latest gears, but your wallet won't let you. I think this receiver fits the bill well.

I want to watch movies in my dorm because I never have time to walk 5 miles (no car) for the movie theatre. Anyway, I went to the Cambridge Soundworks Store and to buy their Basscube 8 and I saw the Sony for sale at $189. I bought it, seeing that 80watts per channel is pretty good, and it has Dolby Digital/DTS. The other systems such as the Onkyo and the Marantz were over 300 bucks. I couldn't justified the $100 price difference.

After bringing it home, it was a snap to setup and I began listening. The interface is confusing, so I basically setted the best configuration (large/small, speaker distance, etc...) and leaved it that way. I paired this Sony with a pair of Cambridge Model 17 bookshelves and the Basscube 8. I think it does a reasonably good job. With movies, I really like the way the special effect and dialog come out. With music, it gets tough because of the relatively high distortion (THD) of this receiver.

If I put a pair of large fronts with this receiver (like the JBL NS310 or CSW Tower models), they will distort easily, which is bad for the speakers themselves. Definitely, this receiver cannot supply the smooth distortion-free power to speakers that you audiophiles demand. But, for small speakers and casual listening, it is fine. I want to point out that I do not hear the hissing sound that a lot of people reported on Sony receivers. I guess they fixed it.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 07, 2001]
Michiel
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Everything

Weakness:

Only 1 digital input.

It's the perfect reciever. I don't have the problem with the the hiss everyone talks about, even with the max. volume.
The reciever looks also perfect in combination with the Sony MDS-JE640 as minidisc, the Sony DVP-S336 as CD/DVD Player and the Sony SA-VE325 as speakers.

My advice for everyone with the hiss problem; Buy good speakers and cables.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 29, 2001]
Richard Owen
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price, it's silver which looks nice in my living room.

Weakness:

Bare minimum inputs, no banana inputs.

Can't beat it for the price and no hiss with my Eltax Hollywoods. Don't see how anyone could possibly justify spending any more money on an amp unless they REALLY want more power or NEED more inputs - unless you have money to burn :-)

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 24, 2001]
Mic
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

DTS, Price, ease of use

Weakness:

Remote!
80 Watts (?)

I clearly bought it for its price and its value for money. It seems to be the less expensive DTS receiver in the market. Skimming through the reveiwers most of them complain about hiss from the speakers! Is there any chance that there was a problematic series exported to the US?
I am using Sony's SA-VE315 speakers and the only way to hear hiss is to pump up the volume above 12 and place my ear next to the center channel, when the amplifier is set-up to 2-channel output! Otherwise, everything works fine! HOWEVER, i have not yet placed Normal speakers in the unit (SA-VE315 are micro speakers), therefore I can not be sure for hiss...
Generally I still feel happy for the purchase, while the sound of the old 1980's Sansui can not be beaten!
For the Wattage, the products specsa in Greece mention 60W per channel, apart from the SubWoofer (100W).
The only problem in my 445 comes from the remote which CAN NOT control Sony's KV21FT1 TV set, something that seems strange! If anyone knows anything about that case, please let me know!

In general I feel happy with that purchase and am looking forward to hook up a DVD as well

Similar Products Used:

Sansui (the old Japanese ones!)

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 09, 2001]
marty
Casual Listener

Strength:

it is a solid system for people like me - sometimes viewing a DVD or listing to CD's or radio

Weakness:

only 1 digital input :(

it's ok for normal user's and you can connect a lot of things to it

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 16, 2001]
Nelson
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price, DD5.1, DTS

Weakness:

Hiss from Certain Speakers
Remote

I actually bought this on a whim because it was offered to me when i bought my Klipsch SF-1 Floorstanding speakers. I hadn't really gotten a chance to test it, but it had minimal hiss and sounded ok.

It really isn't too bad, other than:
1. It hisses a lot with my DB Plus 80 Watt Bookshelf speakers when i use them for my rear surrounds..
2. No binding posts
3. The Remote is very limited

I pretty much use this thing exclusively for watching DVDs, and playing low level music. It is hooked up to Klipsch SF-1 Fronts, Klipsch SC-1 Center, Klipsch SS-1 Surrounds, Energy e:XLS-10 Subwoofer..

it seems to get rather distorted at medium to high volumes as well.. the current from the amp is not the cleanest. Music sound a little dull, but when u listen to electronica like i do, it doesn't really make a huge difference.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-3804
Sony STR-DE575

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 06, 2001]
Ustun Geyik
Casual Listener

Strength:

For a small house it is quite capable of everything

Weakness:

A second optical input

It is a quite user friendly non problematic reciver.

Similar Products Used:

My brothers Yamaha DSP-A5

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 08, 2001]
Chris

Strength:

DD, DTS and Pro-logic for a great price.

Weakness:

It needs s-video connection

To the people hearing a hiss-What kind of speakers do you have? I have had no problems with mine. The sound from the sony is just as clear if not better than the pioneer and i don't even use monster cables. I think this receiver is very fairly priced.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 409

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 21-30 of 52  

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