Compared to some receivers, I believe it may be somewhat easier to operate. I like having the different components easily visible on the front, and dislike the selection from the LCD on some new units. There''s a blue light that comes on when you have Dolby 5.1 ch that makes it easy to know that it''s on, and it looks kinda sharp.

1) There is only one S-VHS input connection and no front input connectors. I purchased a Sony A/V switcher with multiple S-VHS connections to hook up game cables & allow the sound from the TV & DVD to go thru the stereo. This was costly and hard to set up. 2) The volume turning knob does not have a light on it, so you do not know the volume level using the remote. 3) The remote is very poorly designed. The poor colors & small lettering make it almost impossible to select items without having the lights lit.

Overall, I''m very pleased with this unit. I purchased his receiver along with a set of 6 speakers including subwoofer. I bought it for a deluxe ski condo rental (see www.parkcitytownhome.com) and was afraid it might be too complicated for the renters. However, along with some brief instructions, I''ve had no real complaints and many compliments. The are three Sound Settings (AFD, MODE & 2CH) that allow greater listening flexibility among Movies, Videos/Games and AM/FM, tapes/CD''s.

GOOD POWER FOR MOVIES IN DOLBY DIGITAL AND AFD BUTTON NICE JET BLACK FINISH

HOPING FOR A BUILT IN FAN CAUSE GETS TOO WARM DURING LONG PERIOD HOURS.

I BOUGHT THE UNIT AT TWEETERS.ETC ,AND THEY SHOWED ME THE UNIT IN USE DURING A MOVIE SHOWING AT THE STORE AND AS I HEARD THE PERFORMANCE IT HAD INSIDE THE UNIT I COMPARED A COUPLE OF THE OTHER SONY RECEIVERS,KENWOOD BUT I HEARD SOME RUMORS THAT DTS ISNT THAT GREAT I WOULD HAVE TO GO FOR DOLBY DIGITAL ALL THE WAY.CAUSE WHO REALLY DOES NEED DTS DECODING I'VE HEARD MORE THINGS ABOUT DD THAN DTS I GIVE A 5 STAR FOR SOUND AND PERFORMANCE.

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SONY STRDE425,OLD ONKYO STEREO RECEIVER

I guess the price is somewhat of a strength based on what you're supposedly getting.

HORRIBLE remote (can't see buttons in a dark room, can't get any of the buttons in the secret compartment area to work); HORRIBLE instruction manual (no codes for my CD or DVD players, very confusing constuctions, terrible grammar, et.al); receiver/remote doesn't provide any acknowledgement that your programming it correctly; set-up procedures are geared toward a hifi enthusiast and not anyone lesser; etc.

I felt that I owed it to myself to comment on this item since it was this exact forum that provided the impetus for my purchase of same. I was originally slated to receive a JVC receiver from hifi.com but the Sony was substituted since the JVC wasn't compatable with the free Samsung DVD (another piece-o-sheet). As the JVC wasn't getting all that good of reviews her, I graciously accepted the Sony even though I would have never went looking for a Sony based on my previous experiences with Sony products. Nonetheless, I was primarily only worried about the purported heat generated by the receiver but I figured to just put it on top and outside my e.t. center. (it should be noted that I have since moved it inside the e.t. center so I could put the DVD on top). I really haven't detected any extreme amount of heat. That's about all of the good thins I can say about the receiver. If I had a shred of initiative, I would box it up and return it to hifi.com but it's become a sort of "I bought it, I'll learn to live with it" thing. Additionally, I would like to comment on the lack of service I have received from Sony...they simply will not provide any info regarding their products so take that for what it's worth. This should not be confused with the service I have received from hifi.com which has been nothing short of exemplary! Too bad they are peddling a sub-standard product such as this receiver. I can hardly get anything out of the rear speakers but I am sure that this is not a speaker problem as I am very pleased with the bang-for-your-buck I got with the Cambridge speakers. I always wanted Bose but I'm glad I got the Cambridge...but I will allude to that when I do my speaker review. All in all, I am very dissapointed with my long awaited entry in the home theater set-up since the receiver is really the mind center of the system.

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Akai, Nakamichi

Easy To Use, Many Environments and The Cool Blue Light

Very Hot Sometimes, The Pathetic Remote Control, No digital cable included

When i bought it i had to wait two weeks for the speakers, so i hooked up my 2 old speakers and i used v.semi-m dimension and the sound was already very good. Then i saw that i didnt have digital sound because the blue light wasnt on, so i bought a digital cable and the sound was even better.

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None (only a stereo receiver)

Price, features, remote (I like it, OK)

Goddamn dimmer keep flicking on and off

I have used this reciever for a couple of weeks now and I must say it rocks. The setup was a little tricky but got the hang of it. It even has more features than I could possibly need. The universal remote is wonderful exept for the input selector buttons wich are white with light green text on them, wich makes it absolutley impossible to read them in a dark environment. To memorise their location won't be a problem, i think. The reciever doesn't have a cooling fan wich makes it pretty hot but as long as you put it in a well ventilated area its fine.
I haven't tried usig rear speakers yet but the Dolby Digital decoding really blew my mind even in 3-stereo. The channel separation is a million times better than my old DPL minisystem. I hope to purchase new speakers soon along with a powered subwoofer. One problem though, the LCD display dimmer function keeps turning it self on and off sometimes so I might return it for a new one.

The power is more than adequate for my small room (2.7x2.8m). It has plenty of bass even without the bassboost when I use my passive subwoofer, wich i don't use too often because the room is too small to reproduce deep bass anyhow.

I got it for about 3800 SEK ($450: electronics are expensive in sweden) wich was a lot cheaper than the compeating models like the Pioneer VSX808 and the Onkyo TX474 (4500SEK). Good product at a low price. Thats value for ya.

My system:

Sony STR DE635 reciever
Pioneer S-P510 front speakers
Pioneer HPM-70 for center speaker
Salora/Nokia 28" TV
Sharp VC-MH711 VCR
Pioneer S103 DVD-ROM + REALmagic MPEGII board

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Pioneer vsx808, Onkyo 474

bang for the buck

sony should not be allowed to pick colors....the remote...white with green letters on the buttons....go figure

This stereo has really enhanced my movie viewing pleasure. i got the systems w/ the sony theatre in a box. The whole thing is great. Much better than my old pro logic set up. Although there are many other systems out there I have yet to find one that gives the options for the same price.

Also, mine hasn't even got anywhere near to running hot. Atleast not yet.

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sony str-d711

Nice looking and seems to be very well built. The soundfields are good and a DD receiver for only 280 is very good.

The remote sucks, receiver gets too hot at times.

After i bought this for only 280 i was very happy. then when i got home i almost wanted to cry. the remote sucks, the receiver gets hot, a hissing noise when listening to music or movies loud, spring clip hook-ups and only two digital inputs. The reason i bought was because it sounded good at my friends house, but doesn't work for me. Buy onkyo if you can, a little more expensive, but a lot better in performence. Even my sorry pioneer receiver is better than this.

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onkyo, pioneer, and a few sony receivers.

very well put together,great sound,alot of hookups and the surround sound is unreal

not very user friendly but with some effort it all comes together

at first it was a little hard to assemble all the wires to their corresponding connections but with some time and trial and error it all came together. i am really enjoying this system.

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sony all the way

awesome

none

awesome,very very good investment

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yamaha

HAS GREAT SOUND! and tons of power. very clear at high volumes.

gets very hot!

It is a great reciver I have had mine for over a year and I don't think I will have to upgrade for a long time. I use some 10" sonys and 12" omgeas that sound very clear. For me there is only one way to lision to music and that is LOUD! So if your the same way I am I strongly suggest this reciever.

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need a little more bass