Power, price, features

Gets hot, remote, A/V ports

Pleasantly surprised. Plenty of power for the buck. I have no hissing and crisp, clean audio (even using substandard cabling and speaker wire.) Most of the power is generated from the last third of the volume knob. Some people find that annoying or believe it's a lack of power, but It has little negative effect on me. The power is there, even compared to much pricier models. Great receiver, but gets HOT! I highly recommend it.

Good price, lots of features and NO HISS!!!

Remote, but that's so minor

Sorry guys, no hiss. I have the receiver hooked up to Sony SS-MF515's front, SS-CN490 Center, SS-MB105's rear and a MV-SA40 sub. No hiss at any volume level. I am using the optical cable connection and it sounds great. I don't know about the power output but in my opinion, it's right there. I used to have a sony 120 watt receiver and this one is 20 watts less and performs just fine. I read the reveiws on this site after it was wrapped and under the tree and was concerned about the dreaded hiss everyone was complaining about.

When I hooked it up I didn't hear any and have been enjoying my DVD's in rich sound.

Remember, adjust the rear and center levels WHILE the movie is playing. Not all DVD's are created equal.

The remote could have had more thought put into it but it is easily learned and I can work with my eyes closed. Took about a day.

I love having 1 remote instead of 4.

Also, I LOVE SONY!!!! Always have, always will.

Peace

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Sony and um, Sony

Clarity, Remote, Ease of use

Lacks a little power

Sony makes one of the best recievers out there...The only thing that I have a complaint for is that alot of recievers with the same rated power are alot louder. I have a friend with a Yamaha 100 X 5 and his is as loud as mine with the volume half way up... but this reciever is great and I wouldn't get rid of it except for another sony...

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Yamaha, Onkyo, Technics

Clarity, Remote, Ease of use

Lacks a little power

Sony makes one of the best recievers out there...The only thing that I have a complaint for is that alot of recievers with the same rated power are alot louder, but this reciever is great and I wouldn't get rid of it except for another sony...

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Onkyo, Technics

Smooth sound spectrum across entire range; good Dolby Surround processing

What hiss? I have yet to encounter an amp that doesn't generate some. Poor speakers with inadequate crossover circuitry will hiss more.

For the money the Sony really delivers. Using speakers designed by Brian Cheney (VMPS Tower II series) the Sony really produces a clean audio signal. Dolby processing is excellent. Remote a bit complex, but I have found these devices do either next to nothing or so much that they cannot be anything but complicated! Just have to learn the config and it becomes easier. I've always had luck with Sony products and this one is no different. I could have gone high-end, but what for? When this chunky little box delivers the goods so well.

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Vintage Sansui 140w/ch monster with the Sansui Feed Forward technology of the 80s. JVC, Toshiba, Eico and Stromberg-Carlson Tube Amps

Its a sony and for $$ vs features, its a great buy.

Hiss (but only audible in non digital mode).

For price vs feature it a great buy. I was looking for under 300$ Receiver and after lot of search and numerous visit to various stores, I settled for Sony. The sound is good for an appt as you can't put up volume too much high.
The so called hiss, I didn't encounter when I switched to digital mode but in other mode also its too less ( in fact I can hear only when I'm too close, 1 feet or so). BTW 445 I used briefly has too much hiss.

I got a open box at $240, earlier I brought 445 for $250 but returned and got this one. The 445 has lots of disadv compared to 545, no s-video, 1 digital input, no AII control and no universal remote to name a few.

Similar Products Used:

Str-de445

Ease of operation. Jog wheel and setup features. Price.

Over-rated power, remote control, hiss at any volume with any input, and yes, I used monster cables and everything. Lack of digital inputs make this receiver impossible to expand.

Don't buy this receiver. I thought I would save myself some money and buy the 545. The first thing I noticed was the hiss, and believe me after a few days it will become unbearable. Also, there is no way on this green earth that this receiver puts out 100watts per channel. I loved the operation of this receiver and desperately wanted to like this piece of equipment. No can do. I took it back to Best Buy and wanted to get the Sony 845, due to the similar operation, but they were sold out. How was I to know that that was the luckiest thing to happen to me. I splurged and got the Yamaha 5250. *****The receiver is the single most important component in youy HT, choose wisely*****. I was amazed at the difference the Yamaha gave me in overall sound reproduction. It made my speakers sound incredible, and the power output is every bit of 100 watts per. Not to mention digital inputs galore. The Sony product line might look cool and even act cool, but it definitely doesn't sound cool. Spend more even if you can't afford it, you'll be glad you did next week and next year.

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Yamaha 5250

DD/DTS capability, low price, multiple digital inputs.

Nothing major

Wanted to add DTS decoding at a cheap price. Have not noticed any hiss with either digital or analog inputs, with the exception of when skipping through tracks on a DVD there is a slight hiss/pop. Nothing I can hear while the disc is playing. It doesn't have as many sound fields as the 635 but I didn't use them anyway. It would be nice if it had a component video input/output, but that's a bit much to expect for a $250 unit. I'm pleased overall with its performance.

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Sony STR-DE635

Cheap, lot of possibilities

Hiss....

Also in Belgium a hiss... (in Dutch : vreselijke ruis). With the volume on level 1, you hear a little bit of music (as expected on level 1), but a lot of hiss. I'm not an audiophill, but I wanted an AV-receiver for the following years, and a good on too. An I can't give this money to a machine that makes a lot of hiss, even more than my old Philips from 15 years ago.
Changed it (thanks to the good service of Audiovision (Mechelen)) in a Yamaha - paid 60 USD more for a clear soun without hiss. Sorry, no Sony anymore...

Affordable
Lots of features
Good sound quality
4 OHM speaker support

Horrible remote ergonomics.

We've only had this unit for a few days now, but so far I'm very impressed with it. We selected it because it was the only low end DTS enabled receiver that would drive my Dad's ancient (but high quality) 4-OHM Norman Lab speakers. We added 3 cheapo KLH speakers for the center and 2 rear speakers and ended up with a very nice system for the casual user.

I seemed to have dodged the dreaded hiss somehow. I am very happy with the sound quality. There is a very little hiss, but cummon, this isn't a $1000 unit. Its no worse than other commodity amplifiers I've heard.

My only beef with the unit is that while the remote can control my Toshiba TV, Toshiba VCR, and Toshiba DVD, it makes it difficult. Surely a remote with better ergonomics could have been designed. But again, this is a low end receiver and I should be glad that it will control everything.

After just a few days, I'm very happy with this unit and would buy it again given the same budget constraints.

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none