Left channel is blanc.

I found this receiver at a used gear shop, and had some money to spare so I picked it up for less than $60. I tried it at stereo mode in the shop but the sound was not impressive. I however bought it, thinking if it was not good enough I would put it in my spare room. Lemme keep it short. I got home, connected the receiver to Samsung BD player, Samsung DVR and a my polk speaker system and I was amazed by the power and quality of the sound output. The receiver is clear, although the sound seems a lil' bright to my ears. My listening area is 18X12 and at 20dB the walls and floor vibrate to the sweet sound of this sony. DD Movies sound low and u might need to take the volume up to 25-30dB depending on material. DTS is plain awesome.
All my connections are digital so I do not know how it might sound on analog.
My complain about the receiver like others might have mentioned, is with the EQ. It is limited to bass and treble. But at the dead cheap price I paid for, I feel guilty complaining. It has temporally replaced my far more expensive separates made up of a 10 year old marantz preamp and a power amp which were too powerful and cumbersome for my listening room.
If u can find this at a used shop like I did, give it a try. I bet u will be pleasantly surprised at how this 'outdated' receiver sounds when connected to good sources and speakers.

DD and DTS sound great, plenty of power and great DSP modes, S-video switching, multiple analog and digital multi-channel options, and the blue light rules!

EQ is a bit limited (just Bass & Treble), No A/B speaker option, No composite input on front - 685 came out a month after I bought this with both of these options...

I purchased this receiver a year ago as the centerpiece of my very first 5.1 setup. To this day, I can still awe my friends with its performance and features. I am using an inexpensive satellite/sub combo by KLH (a brand which I recommend if you are looking for quality, affordable, entry-level equipment), and this system rocks my house! There are enough DSP modes for most applications, even though I use the A.F.D. (auto format decode) most of the time, and plenty of settings to mess around with and customize if you like to "tinker" as I do. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, and would definitely recommend it to anyone in the market for a good Dolby Digital/DTS system that doesn't cost a fortune. P.S. That blue light is the best thing ever... gives you that warm fuzzy feeling every time a movie starts. :) And I haven't looked into the 685 but it seems like a 675 with more features and a cooler-looking remote... only 4 stars because 685 came out THE DAY AFTER my 30-day exchange window was up! lame..

Clarity; Plenty power so it gives a very stable freqency character, even if basses come through; Switching power supply so you can hook up your cdplayer on it.

eq doesn't have a big range, but what it does, does it clear.

I bought this reciever to replace my 22 years old reciever (jvc 2x100watt@16Ohm). The reason was mainly to connect my pc digitally to the reciever. I have it hooked up with 2 tannoy mx2's and 2 jvc boxes for surround. If you are a lover of pure music listening, this amp is a very good choice. It produces VERY clear and powerful sound. However, if you like playing with the equaliser, you will find here a weak point. It can only be set as far as 6db+. I used to have an equaliser that could do 12+, plus a loudness function. If you own a sub, which you probably all do, it doesn't matter. But having spend al my money on this baby, i will have to do some time without an overwhelming bass. No big deal though, because the sound is really great. I haven't spend a lot of time yet in the surround modes, cause i don't have a 5.1 set-up, but 2 channel mode is very good, so i am convinced that 5.1 channel is at the same quality level (with dts and all).

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No HT systems, this is my first one

5x100 watts Clear Sound with nice Transistion Nice speaker posts Plenty of connections (opticals in&out) Awesome blue light and dimming display Overall you can't get a better deal for the money. Just don't put it on cheap speakers then blame your receiver for the cheap sound!!!

useless preset eq's and a small lacking of customizable eq settings.

I use this reciever with a set of yamaha speakers and an Acoustic Research sub. I bought the speakers bigger than my reciever (more power handling then needed for this reciever). I can put this reciever on full power and ALL channels come out crystal clear. Voices aren't overpowered, the action and soundtrack are well balanced, and the sub rocks my house. Setup is easy with or without the remote. However some common sense and the ability to read the words on the remote are necessary. ALL options are available to access by the units console (buttons on the front). I also did not find much use for the preset EQ's. It remembers the settings for your devices dvd, vcr, cd player, etc. All are customizable to your taste, setting up for music and not having to change your setting when going back to DVD. Solid decoding for DTS and Dolby Digital, and really nice speaker posts. I especially like using "banna plugs" so thats a plus for me! Your system is only as good as your leakest link, remember that when shopping. A really nice reciever can sound cheap on bad speakers (as the case in some reviews)

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Sony ES reciever, Onkyo, Yamaha... I'm sticking with the soney str-de675 (in bed room) and my Sony ES in the "Movie Room". You can't beat the either sony for the money.

almost everything

some useless surround modes, delay in in sound output when switching from one source to another

Overall, this is a very exceptional reciever. It can handle everything I throw at. For example, the Nutcracker sounds simply awesome. Classical music is no problem. As for rock, it is not any different. Movies, the different sound channels are extremely well=presented with any movie. Try Lord of the Rings dvd........you'll be impressed. The musical score in 5.1 brings the whole movie to life.

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Main L/R speakers: Sony SS-MF600H Center: Sony SS-CN495H Surrounds: Sony SSM-B100H Subwoofer: none yet.......base is good enough from the mains (they are incredible.....SOny has a sleeper on their

ease of use

REMOTE REMOTE REMOTE

my wife got this unit for me for christmas after the pioneer unit we were using finaly gave out and so far i like the unit (cant say much for the remote and the book tho)

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cant realy compare the pioneer!

This unit is decent musically, however with its poor movie reproduction its hard to recommend this system.

Movie reproduction,very very poor vocals often lost in heavy action parts of movies.

I originally bought this receiver not fully researching av systems.Overall this unit is decent at reproducing musically.It provides decent depth, however tends to lack bass at times.Where I was greatly disapointed was in the ht reproduction.Vocals are regularly overpowered in action parts of movies and overall tend to lack depth and clarity.

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I am now using Rotel Rsx-972.One the cleanest sounding mid ranged priced systems.Before buying test a lot of systems dont make the same mistake i did with the sone 675.

Cheap, light and small footprint.

Cheap, underpowered to rear channels, does not work well with music in 2 channel or 5.1 Stereo.

I got this at a local tweeter's that was having an open box sale. I picked this up because I wanted to run my SB audigy Platinum through the numerous speakers in my puter room. Sad to say that with the Audigy there's no true way to run Digital multichannel out from the puter to the Sony.... Sigh, when my Onkyo 787 went in the shop I switched the Sony to my main HT hook up down stairs. Frankly for movies or music, this machine doesn't compare. I find the set up confusing, the manual almost totally worthless. The set up is unnecessarily cumbersome. The remote learns nothing and is poorly laid out and not back lit. In DTS mode it performs adequately but in music it just doesn't match the clarity and versatility of the Onkyo. A mediocre product at best but "alright" for entry level HT.

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Onkyo 787.

ProLogic II really seems to process the bass better than my old receiver, great sound with CD''s and radio. Easy to set up and start cranking.

Seems to get hot easy, but nothing a small fan won''t take care of. The manual could be better, but no biggie.

This is actually a 2002 STR-DE685 but I can''t seem to find any reviews of this model. To the powers that be, if you add the 685 I''ll post a review appropriately. For now, I''ll just talk about it here. There are a few small differences between the 675 and 685, most notably the 685 having ProLogic II and a few more inputs. Also, the 685 has fewer of those useless soundfields, which was a plus for me (why pay more for something I won''t ever use?) I highly recommend this receiver to anyone looking to break into the digital/dts market. I originally had a Kenwood ProLogic hooked up to my Bose Accoustimass 15 system and it just wasn''t cutting the mustard. Because I have a lot of VHS tapes, I was really interested in PLII. Let me tell ya, my VHS movies have never sounded so good! This thing rocks!! I can''t wait to get a DVD player latched on to this baby and see what she''s really made of, but for now I am experiencing "Digital-like" sound and I love this receiver. If you are currently looking at a great, mid-range receiver you need not look any further. Pay a little extra and go for the 685 if only for the PLII processing. I''m about to squirt a few tears, I''m so happy with how my VHS movies sound now!

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