Everything

None

We can't hear any hiss from this unit. We both have 100W speakeres and reasonable cables (not gold plated or anything). All of the speakers sound great, and we can't hear no hiss from any of the speakers. High volume, low volume, any input source, you name it! We use tape, copmputer, DVD, tuner and CD inputs and they all sound absolutely great!

About the remote, apart from the buttons being not so ergonomically positioned, the remote is absolutely great! High range, high angular range, I could use it for my Panasonic VCR - couldn't use the previous Technics remote to control my Sony TV...

Overall, I think this is a great receiver. I don't know what they're selling in the US, but the receivers we bought are really great.

Similar Products Used:

Technics S-AX 720; Technics DX-930

Bass Boost, Cinema Sound, I'm a Sony loyalist

The HIIIIISSSSS!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't read the reviews for this receiver before purchasing it. Sure enough, when I connected my speakers to the receiver I heard a constant hiss. It is definitely annoying! I took the receiver back to Best Buy and got my money back. After reading the advice of other reviewers, I found an internet price of $282.66 for the STR-DE845. I took that price to Sears and they matched the price. Talk about a great deal! I ended up with a far better receiver for less than the msrp of the STR-DE545.

Bass Boost, Cinema Sound, I'm a Sony loyalist

The HIIIIISSSSS!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't read the reviews for this receiver before purchasing it. Sure enough, when I connected my speakers to the receiver I heard a constant hiss. It is definitely annoying! I took the receiver back to Best Buy and got my money back. After reading the advice of other reviewers, I found an internet price of $282.66 for the STR-DE845. I took that price to Sears and they matched the price. Talk about a great deal! I ended up with a far better receiver for less than the msrp of the STR-DE545.

HIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't read the reviews until after purchasing this receiver. Once I hooked up all of my speakers, I heard the annoying hiss. I took the unit back to Best Buy and got a refund. After reading the advice of other reviewers, I found an internet price of $282.66 for the STR-DE845. I took that price to Sears and they sold me the STR-DE845 for that price. Talk about a great deal! The 845 is definitely a far better product and the remote looks a lot better...and for less than the msrp of the 545.

Power, different sound modes, and Cinema Sound, and Bass Boost

The DAMN HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

No Kiddn' about the HISS, how can Sony relese a product with such a problem. I have had two 545's and the second reciever had a louder HISS, I guess this tells about Sony's build quility. But on the bright side, I talked to the Sony Store and they said they will fix the problem.
On the bright side, I do love all the sound mode's. Also watching movies in the Cinema Sound C is awsome. Also I mentioned above, love the bass boost. In conclusion, this would be a good reciever if it wasn't for the hiss, but I hope it will be fixed or I'll demand my money back. And I'm a little disapointed at Sony about the quality of the 545.

Similar Products Used:

Technics 940

Lots of features, plenty of power.

A perfectly adequate remote with a few totally unreadable buttons.

I only use this unit for home theater purposes, and for that it is great. I have three different brands of speakers and none of them hiss. I asked the salesman about itand he said they hade some units waitng to be sent to repairs. Apparently the hissing problem is well known. However, If you do have it, just send it back for repairs and you will be very pleased I think.

POWER FOR THE $

THAT HISS, YES I HEAR IT TOO.

RECENTLY MY KENWOOD RECEIVER OF 12 YEARS FINALLY DIED. I WAS NOT YET READY TO GO OUT AND BUY A NEW HT SYSTEM. I ONLY WANTED SOMETHING TO REPLACE THE OLD RECEIVER FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS UNTIL I AM READY TO GO ALL OUT.

I WENT TO CIRCUIT CITY AND TALKED TO A NEIGHBOR OF MINE WHO WORKED THERE. I LISTENED TO AN ONKYO(484 I THINK). IT WAS 299.00. I HAD ONLY HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT ONKYO, BUT TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I WAS NOT TOO IMPRESSED. IT SEEMED VERY WEAK AND HAD LITTLE OR NO BASS. I CONTINUED TO LOOK BUT COULD NOT DECIDE ON ANYTHING. I THEN WENT OVER TO SEARS. THEY HAD THE SONY 545 THERE AS AN OPEN BOX FOR ONLY 209.00! SOMEONE HAD BOUGHT IT AND RETURNED IT 2 DAYS LATER. IT LOOKED NEW. ALL I HAVE RIGHT NOW IS A PAIR OF YAMAHA BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS AND A KENWOOD CD PLAYER (ALSO 12 YEARS OLD). THE RECEIVER IS JUST FINE RIGHT NOW FOR WHAT I NEED. AND FOR 209.00 I REALLY CAN'T BEAT IT. YES I CAN HEAR THE HISS, BUT ONLY IF I SIT IN FRONT THE SPEAKRES AND TRY TO HEAR IT. MY CDS SOUND GREAT AND THERE IS PLENTY OF POWER AT 100X5. MOVIES, YES WITH VHS, SOUND GREAT ALSO. THIS RECEIVER WILL SERVE ITS PURPOSE FOR THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO UNTIL I GET READY TO BUY A COMPLETE HT SYSTEM. IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT THIS RECEIVER DON'T PAY 300.00. TRY TO CATCH IT ON SALE OR POSSIBLY OPEN BOX AS I DID. I THINK YOU WILL BE PLEASED. BESIDES IT IS A SONY!

Similar Products Used:

KENWOOD

Good Looking

Hiss and Power

I did not like this receiver that much because I thought it
just sounded like an oversized walkman with hiss. You can try to get used to the hiss but you wont. DD movies were OK except everytime someone said a word with the letter s in it. Music listening was weak and not very natural sounding.
Well I'll say it again, I think it SOUNDS LIKE A OVERSIZED WALKMAN WITH HISSSSSSSSS. Get a Yamaha or an Onkyo.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 5240, Yamaha 5250, Technics, Denon

Pretty good sound for its price, great for home theater, and i like that blue light that comes on when you play dvd's.

Not enough power, needs better remote, not enough opt in/outs.

depending on you setup the recievers pretty damn good, but distortion occurs at high vol. The only bad thing is that it feeds too much bass to my missions! my mom is yelling at me because her ass is getting a massage on the 2nd floor.

My Setup:
Sony Wega 32"
Mission 765's (front)
Mission 760's (rear)
Bose vc-10 (center)
Mirage (sub)
Sony STR-DE545
Seakay AC filter
Transparent Reference cables
Monster optical cable
Monster coaxial cable
Sony DVP-S7000
JVC hi-fi VCR
Sony minidisc player

Similar Products Used:

yamaha RXV7000

Nice sound and good value for DD, DTS and 100X5

Too few S-video inputs, no front a/v inputs and can't read to remote.

Good value and excellent buy for the first timers not wanting to break the bank on a DD system.