Good Price, Great Surround, DTS and sufficent power for average home theater system

Glow in dark buttons is hard to read. No connection for Passive Subwoofer.

I didn't hear any of those hissings, maybe it's becoz I used Optical Cable for input :), I'm quite surprise to read that lotsa people out there complaining about it.

Sound great with good speakers. There's option for you to add two extra speakers in front (as if you didn't know abt. it already).. I tell you, they add that extra ambience and intensity even without you cranking the volume up.

Sure glad I bought this piece of equipment.

Similar Products Used:

Earlier Sony receivers and amp

Autoformat detection (AFD), DD, DTS, DPL, easy set-up

Hiss

Okay, I got this receiver shortly after they came out and it does not run hot and I never noticed the hiss/noise until I read the reviews on this site. From level 1 to about halfway the hiss is slight and constant, from half volume to max it grows considerably louder. I usually only listen to it at volumes that are 1/4 to 1/3 of the possible volume so let me describe the hiss....it's just a general background noise, fuzziness like the difference from listening to tape to a CD. When I'm 3-4 ft away from the speaker I definitely notice, the middle of my 12x14' room it is noticeable, but if anyone's talking or I'm playing a CD it's hard to say I notice unless....it's orchestral music. Because with orchestral music you have so many soft tones and times where barely anything is heard, the hiss starts to come out. Of course when the volume's getting cranked close to or at max there's no mistaking it. I even hooked up other receivers HK, etc. to see if it was wiring, etc and none exhibited the same problems. Even my older Sony receiver which is respectively a lower model than what I went for this time (current equiv would be STRDE445)didn't exhibit the hiss. I've taken mine back to get fixed as I still like the receiver, but I am disappointed. I'll report back as to Sony's success or lack thereof in fixing the receiver. I'm boosted by the hope of two earlier posts which imply that Sony is finally starting to admit there's a problem. If you can get one that doesn't hiss I think you'll enjoy it. However, for most people buying I can't say I recommend this receiver because it's more trouble than it's worth. Heck, I'm already in for $299...I don't want to have to drop more money for something else and how am I supposed to sell this to someone else? I mean if I'm not willing to sell it to some poor schlep, how does Sony market this thing and take so long to start admitting there might be a problem? I only hope that they take care of me they way I believe they should.

Similar Products Used:

HK AV210, Sony STRDE350Z

d.t.s.

hiss

It's a great unit for the price. BUT, if can't handle hiss, stay away from this unit. The level of hiss this unit puts makes it sound like old band gear..

Similar Products Used:

sony

Good remote control, design

Volume control with predefined steps, heat, some unreadable buttons on remote control

I bought DE545 and I was totally surprised! Terrible HISS from all speakers at any volume level made me crazy. I never heard such loud hiss from any other audio device (except from noise generator :)
So I tried to call to service and ask if they are able to repair this hiss. They said OK and they replace some processor in front panel circuit board.
Now 545 is almost silent, and noise level does not depend on selected audio mode. Little hiss is heard only at very short distance (<1 meter) and this is acceptable for this category of cheaper receivers. (My previous Technics receiver hiss at the same level)

A serious weakness is heat: I understand that power means heat, but I cannot understand why designers place vent holes on the top of the device. Hot air raising through this holes and my CD player which stand at the receiver is at ten minutes hot too. So I must place receiver at the top of my devices to prevent them from this heat.

Another problem is master volume with only 32 factory preset levels for whole power range (100W).

When I read reviews that mentioned leak of power, I decided to make some serious measurement. So I took 8ohm/20W resistor, osciloscope and sinus signal generator and tried to measure output power.
Result is, that maximal output voltage range is +/- 40V, that means output power 100 Watt : P=(U/1.4142)^2)/R = ((40/1.4142)^2)/8 = 100 (Whole volume range has strictly logaritmic character, as you can see at www.volny.cz/p.vesely/sony)

My advice is not to buy this receiver, buy 845 instead.

Sorry about my poor english...

Similar Products Used:

Technics

Auto Frequency Selection - Tells you exactly what the current audio stream is encoded in

Great Price

Sony Cinema Effects are great for Stereo tracks and Cable TV

No hissing sound (maybe they fixed it?)

Excellent choice of settings in calibration

umm...

I don't know where these people get their hissing from.. Maybe they fixed this problem, or maybe their speakers are blown, but I can't hear any hiss worth mentioning at all..

Just check out the "Strengths" in this review.. My favourite option has to be the AFD, so you know exactly what stream you are listening to (great for DVD's with both DTS and DD)

Awesome receiver for first part of your HT! Great value too!

Excellent features. No stupid flashing lights. Optical/lots of RCA jacks. Live! and Hall effects great for regular Movies. Scenematic B fantastic for Space Sci-Fi!

Yes, the remote buttons do not light up. But I have a single remote controlling everything! Heat can be a problem. Keep the top clean

Excellent A/V unit. With decent speakers no hiss is noticable as everyone seems to complain about.
My setup
Sony STR DE545 A/V
Sony CD Player
Sony NL50 VCR
Sony D360 DVD
Toshiba 36" 36A40 TV
2 Jensson 4way towers
2 Sony Bookshelves (from older mid system)

Clean and crisp sound, plenty of punch, attractive unit many, many options

Does not have phono inputs

I previously had a Technics SA-GX350 which I was very pleased with but wanted to upgrade. This was a 95 model, and did not have 5.1 channel or DD or DTS. Originally found a Technics display model that had the options I wanted on close out at Sears for an attractive price, but when I got the unit home it would not work properly. I returned it and after some haggling with the sales manager got the normally 300 dollar priced Sony STRDE545 for 250.00. Since then I have read a few reviews bashing this and all the Sony DE models but I cannot agree with these other reviews. I have not experienced the hissing and other noises some of the others have commented on. Perhaps I just got lucky, but this so far has been a very nice receiver. There is no static or background noise at all. Sound is crisp and clean, with plenty of power for bass. When I tried the Surround modes, I was quite simply blown away. There was simply no comparison to my Technics. Operation and set up was a bit confusing at first, but once I read through the manual it was actually pretty simple. As a vinyl lover I was a little bummed to find there were no phono inputs, but I resolved this by using another old Technics amp I had put away. I ran the turntable into the phone inputs of the Technics, and connected the tape out jacks to the aux in jacks on the Sony.

Overall, for the money I believe the Sony is a fantastic receiver and cannot agree with those of you who have been so critical of it.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Technics

DD,DTS,100wattsx5,A/V inputs

Remote buttons but i really dont care how many times do i really press those buttons

Well i got the 545 for christmas from my parents. Im really into this Home Movie thing. and I heard all the differences between the 545,845,and 945. And i picked the 545 there was no difference between any of them except surround modes and the 9 had 110 watts. The 545 is a great a/v receiver i have watched many many movies and listened to many music cds on it and i think with some sound adjustments this reciever sounds great good bass and clean sound.(no hiss at all).i also had gotten the SAV-315 sony home theater
system and it sounds really great with this reciever. I hightly recomend this to anyone in fact i showed my best friend this and went out and bought the same setup and he doesnt leave his house anymore. ps just dont use too much compression cause it does limit the volume alittle too much when up all the way keep it off or in the middle and you should be ok
lata

Similar Products Used:

JVC Pro Logic Reciever

Plenty of Power, 11 DSP soundfields, lots of inputs....NO HISSSSSSS!!!

Only 1 S-Video input.

I asked for this reciever for Christmas prior to reading all of the bad HISS reviews on this site. I was already trying to find a way to explain how I was taking this back and getting the 845 even before I hooked it up. I decided to give a shot before I took it back. I'm glad that I did. I have had it for 2 weeks and have had absolutely NO HISS at any volume level. No hiss w/ either the Optical Digital audio or with the RCA cables I am using from my DSS satellite. Even the crappy VCR sound does not give me any hiss except for the expected VCR sound.
My only complaint and reason that I still may consider taking it back for the 845, is the lack of a second S-Video input. This is causing me a lot of trouble in that I cannot have my: DSS, DVD, VCR, and Playstation all connected at the same time. I have to swith between the DSS and the Playstation. Other than that...I love it!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Denon, JVC

Great bang for your buck; DTS; an awesome starter medium end receiver.

May run a bit hot.

While many of you have had and suffered from the dreaded HISSSssss. I have to say, I rushed home, put on my receiver and listened. I must have looked like a madman telling everyone to "Shhhh."

Nothing...

Pure silence. No hiss whatsoever. I hope Sony fixed whatever bug the system had.

One minor thing... I used a really long speaker wire on one of the rear speakers and only of I jam my ear on the speaker grille can I hear the slightest of hisses. I would say that's spiltting hairs, though.

Thank god this one doesn't hiss...

Similar Products Used:

None.