Great sound for the money. 5.1 dolby surround.

Very hard to find anyone who is willing to repair it.

I was very impressed by this receiver when I purchased it and it worked well for many years. Very good surround and a crisp clean sound out of a pair of very average speakers that I have. I never has the hissing problem that so many have talked about, but recently I have has issues with the 'A' speaker channel shutting itself off. I guess I can't complain since this isn't a high end reciever and everything else is still in tip top shape on it.

Sound and ease of use

Subwoofer output is sort of weak. Yo have to really pump up the system to hear subwoofer.

I bought mine in august of 2001. I had no problems until november of 2002 when my video port went out(video 1 out). I can use the audio outputs for sound but there is no picture. I took it back to where i purchased it from and those dimwits cancelled my extended service plan and no one knows why or what happened. But since then i have gotten it repaired and now i don't even use the video ports. Coaxial cable hookup sounds great with my dvd and optical sounds great with the x-box. But over all I am very satisfied with my reciever. Word of caution (don't by audio products from circuit city,they suck!!!!)

Even though it says one shouldn't do this, I'm writing an addition to the review I wrote a couple weeks ago......to fix the "PROTECT" sound cut out a friend of mine suggested I make sure the speaker connects aren't touching at all...I checked this and, even though it didn't look like they were touching to begin with I moved them around a bit the problem stopped and hasn't happened since. Due to my soured Sony history I still fully intend to try and switch receivers under my 4-year service plan, though.

I had this SONY STR-DE545 for about 2.5 years. A couple of days ago, it suddently lost the voice, at first I thought my DVD player is wrong. Then I found even the radio won't have sound. LCD displays all ok. I opened the box, re-plug, now I have this "Protect" display after the radio display for 3 seconds... Unfortunately I did not buy service plan. SONY product only last for 2.5 years, it is a shame...

Wide options of soundfields; sounds great when it works; despite numerous criticisms I found the remote worked great for me and worked with my other-brand VCR, TV, and DVD players.

Recurring lack of quality control with Sony products

I consider myself more knowledgeable about A/V electronics than the casual movie watcher or music listener--I know better than to buy all-in-one systems, and I know the value of a better-than-factory-issued cable--but I'm no audiophile by any means. Aside from more mainstream quality brands like Onkyo, Dennon, or Harmon Kardon I've never even heard of a lot of the truly high-end namebrands reviewed in audiophile magazines). This review is a summational vent against Sony products, with my DE-545 experience being the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." In ten years I've gone through six Sony Discmans, and finally got smart and switched to a Panasonic three years ago--it hasn't given me any problems so far. In 1998 the first-generation Playstation I bought in 1995 broke, and I had to pay $80 to send it in and get it fixed. A friend of mine had all Sony components in his home, and said they performed wonderfully, so I figured I'd give Sony another a try on the home A/V front and bought the DE-545 receiver and a Sony 400 disc changer (unsure of model number) over the course of a year. However, due to my past problems I played it safe and bought 4-year service plans on both items. In 2001 I picked up a Playstation 2--It stopped playing DVD's properly so I sent it in this past Monday (thankfully I get another one for free under the 2-year plan I bought with it). Okay, now the DE-545....the thing has hissed noticeably but bearably since day one, but worked fine otherwise so I didn't mind. Got THE TWO TOWERS DVD on August 26th, and after a couple problem-free playbacks at volume level 10 the receiver suddenly starts cutting off and flashing "PROTECT". Both the manual and other reviews on this site say to turn off the unit and unplug it for a while to fix this. I've done this repeatedly. I've tried different outlets. I've tried different powerstrips. The damn thing won't play the movie past volume level six or seven without cutting out. Thank God I bought the 4-year plan with this product. Hopefully Best Buy will let me exchange it for a comparable model of a different brand rather than forcing me to get it fixed--after ten long years, idiot me has finally learned my lesson. Aside from future Playstations (since there's no choice but to buy a Playstation made by Sony), I WILL NEVER BUY A SONY PRODUCT AGAIN.

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None

Sounds great movies,cd`s sweet sound with the optical out`s.

I wish it had more than two optical out`s. I have a dvd, Ps2 and a CD player, all with optical outs, one short

Iv`e read about the hiss problem, and I too had that problem. But after fooling around with the features, and wireing the speakers with 12 guage, Walla no more hiss. Also iv`e never had the clicking problem.

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Iv`e had no problems with this one,,,why look around.

Cheap, good power, lots of crap u dun need.

THE HISS..BAD SONY SERVICE ><..

At first I experienced the hiss. It was very annoying..and after about 6 times bringing it to service and 6times being returned in the same condition I gave up. But 3 days before my warranty expired..the System went coo koo..and It started Buzzing and it was barely tolerable. So I sent it bak to serivce and they fixed the buzz and now there is no hiss at all..well a little..but very very little. It turns out that the problem was caused by a bad tone amp.

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none really

plenty of power for entry level, small room setups

electronic failures with sub out and problems described above

Bought 1 year and 3 months ago. Have had several large problems. First, at random times during operation, all channels cut out and sound only comes through left front channel. THis problem is only solved by several attempts at shutting off power for several seconds. Very Frustrating! More problematic, the sub out has basically quit working. THus, I have to route my sub throught the speaker level inputs. This has lessened the clarity of the bass response. The sub out apparently played at much lower overall volume when used with the sub out exclusively (Boston PV400, 600, 800 all used in last 1 year, 6 months of receiver's lifetime) even when the sub out was working. Thus, the last audible sound I received from the sub out ( a few months ago) played at significantly lower volume levels than my current speaker level connection. THe Boston pv800 (excellent) was connected to the the bypass crossover input to avoid cascading crossovers with the receiver's low pass. Both of these problems described above have plagued me since one or two months of product use. Reportedly, the entire non-ES brand line from Sony has problems. Of course, I am within my two year Man. warranty, so I will get these problems addressed by Tweeter's servicing program. Stay away! Much better products at this price range, such as HK, Marantz 4200, Integra 5.3, etc. Stick with a product with atleast a three year warranty like Marantz or Integra. Before my receiver starting acting up, I helped my father purchase a STRDE945 from Sony. I have experienced none of the above problems for the year he has had it.

Price, Power, Ease of usesage

Strong Static, Heat

HI, The hiss is present. But It is not as bad as some people here described. Almost every model below the 545 ie. 445 etc suffered this problem. Althought Sony of Canada has not reconigzed this problem..Many others have and getting the problem fixed is easy. When the hiss drowns out by sound, this reciever sounds good. Incomparable to high end audio but in its price range its one of the best sounding recievers I have heard. I would also recommend Pioneer recievers the Mos-Fet amps sound nice. I am just running 4 polk audio r10 and a polk center and a Acoustic Reasearch long throw sub and it sounds nice in the kitchen where the hiss in not really noticeable. YEs I have a Home theatre in the Kitchen =)

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Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, Carver

Adequate Power. DTS, Good Looking. A+B speakers. Good processing. DSPs.

Cheap Clip Spring Speaker Outputs. Not Enopught Digital Outputs,Heating Problems.

I have used this reiciever for more than a year now. I do notice the hiss. The hiss IS there. After going to Service Dealer THREE times! I gave up. But I'm not that upset that it generates this hiss. You can BArely notice it when the volume passes 5 or 6. This reciever sound nice, and has enought power to deliever good sounding music without any audible distortion. Regarding people complaning about over estimated power rating. well, pretty much all recievers are over estimated. You would be surprised at how little power you actually need. 50 watts per channel should be enought for 90% of your listening. But having Extra power never hurts. This thing is no way 100 watts. So neither any reciever at this price range. I would this thing pumps out about 70 watts. At first I found rear channels are a little bit weak but I put my 3 way Towers as the rears with 92 db sensitivy so there pretty loud now. Considering my front Towers are only 90db. This allows me greater flexibility. I wish this reciever had components. But thats ok..Also this reciever has heating problems, but it nothing a cheap fan can't handle. This is still a good , I would recommend this reciever.

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Technis, Pioneer, Harmon/kardon