A good friend bought one of these turds we listen to it for a couple of hours. Next day, back to the store it went. Pure poo poo. Replaced it with an H/K AVR25 MKII, head and shoulders above.

Ok, i sorry to say this but i neally bought a Sony Strde-715 as my first reciver, until a heard the great things that Yamaha can do.
I had a Sony 715 on order and not only did i not get it after 2.5 months of waiting but when it did finaly show up at the store i had already cancled the order and gone looking for other recivers.

I now have a wonderful Yamaha RX-V992, that i give a 4.5 out of 5 to but i also now own a Yamaha 5 Disc cd change with Pro Bit.
I feel that Yamaha Shits all over most of it rivals because they have the knowlage to know how to desing and research their own processors, that i think are some of the best in the world, like the "PRO BIT" technolagy in the High end CD players, and their YSS chips and the way that they are still a really good "SHIT HOT" piece of Electronics.
I wish that i had maybe held off for the launch of their new RXV-995 but i guess that when you hold off for one then the next and so on!

I give the Sony Strde 715 a rating out of 5 of 3, i guess that its an "OK" reciver for a lower price of $799.00 Rec. aus!

This is the 2nd "low-end" Sont receiver I have purchaced. The first being fataly wounded in an Insurance covered lightning strike. ( a direct hit even blew the PS in my coffe maker!!) Now that I have lived with this receiver for quite some time (almost 2 years of heavy demand), and am ready to upgrade, I can give it a complete unbiased review.I use this receiver for equaly for music and movies, and have used several speaker combinations. The longest combo was hooked into an old pair of infiniti column II's. Let me tell you that speaker selection has EVERYTHING to do with the way this amp sounds! The infinitis have 2 10" drivers each, one crossed at about 100hz and firing vertically down, the other firing forward and crossed at about 400hz. These are also relatively eficient speakers (im guessing at a sensitivity level of around 89-90. Typically, using a transistor amp with piezo tweeters will give you an "extremely bright" sound, and thats what I got! The bass was very tight due to the sealed cabinet disign, but seemed somewhat lacking. While always using a minimum of 16 guage, o/f wire, The distortion from cd's was "acceptable" for a receiver of this class. This amp has a direct pass option and was used 99% of the time for music. Ill get the the sound fields later... speaker combo result: With the older infinities and piezo tweeters, you can expecty a fatuiging sound from your speakers, but no fear of the amp running out of power. It will play with good consistancy ata ALL volumes.
Next I installed Hardwood floors in my listening room. and needless to say, the old speakers had to go!...so they did. After demoing countess speakers at my local shop through sony amps, and others in its price range, I had narrowed the candidates down to 3 pairs of apeakers. The B&W 601's, NHT 1.5's and the mission 772's. After listening to all 3 pairs in my room. I found VERY interesting results! First off..The B&W's at this price range (350.00 pair) did not do any justice. They were flat and lifeless with chesty bass, similar to how the sounded in the store (but B&W's on clearance for 350.00....I just had to try them!)no match with this amp. Second..the NHT 1.5's...(550.00 pair) these are by FAR the best speaker I have ever heard in the under 1000.00 price range! When hooked up the the "cheap" sony str-de715, the absolutely sing! I can hear every string humm on the guiter, the inhale of a flutist, and the drum stick hitting the tarp before it goes thump! I can also hear the distortion in the AMP..you know, that invevitable hiss at moderate volumes. Also, this amps lack of Bass shines through! The NHT's are not efficient at all, and can handle ANY range of volume the sony can throw at it. i also have a PROPERLY placed velodyne 12" sub, and this makes the WORLD of difference! but that is unfair in this amp review so well save that for the speaker section. Overall, no bass in the amp, shines through with vocals and consistant power, all the way up (almost). And finally the missions (280.00!!!) I would swear Sony and Mission had developed this combination for each other! The misions are also ineficient (85) and require lots of power, but they are also ported, and this is what makes them the PERFECT combination for this Sony. Without the sub, Bass was tight and clean, the highs came through nicely, and the Sony never broke a sweat driving the at 3/4 volumes. For the mony this is the best combination I have heard in any "low end" receiver-speaker combo. For the money, youll have to hear this combo to believe it!
The verdict:

Sony str-de715
positives
has very clean power for its price with minimal break up.
Distortion is accetable for this price range of receiver.
Has been bulletproof through 2 years of abuse (I do use a fan/filter audio rack)
Pro-logic decoding is pretty accurate.

negatives
No bass at all
the sound fields are basically a gimic, and sound like an echo taking a crap.
rear speaker volume sounds way underpowered.

Verdict
You get what you pay for! this amp delivered on just what I expected. it has been reliable and consistant for 2 years and plays music with acceptable distortion. There is no bass in the amp itself and will need to compensated for by using ported speakers that would normally sound muffled on a higher end amp..I was lucky to have found the perfect mate in the mission speakers, and for the money, this combo ROCKS! ( they sound equally good in the store on all other sony low end receivers) ie. low end=all non ES receivers. I am giving the Sony 3.5 out of 5 for mainly for its good, clean power. The crappy sound fields and lacking bass output prevent a higher rating.

And if your wondering which speakers ended up in my listening room.....it was the NHT's....Due to the fact that the receiver will be upgraded to either sperate component pre/pro, or an ES series receiver which has substantially more bass output. These NHT 1.5's really are GREAT speakers!

So there you have my winded and hopefully informative review. Feel free to email me with any questions on this topic.

As a casual listener I find the STR-DE715 to be a perfestly acceptable piece of equipment. I find it hard to believe that so many people who have critisised this product have never owned one, they have a friend or a person at work who had one and they feel that this gives them the ability to post a review. I really think that defeats the purpose of this web site.

I purchased this machine a couple of years ago for about $300. The sound is decent for the price range, but I really purchased it for the features. Having other Sony equipment (Wega XBR Trinitron, and 200 CD changer), I wanted something that supported S-Link. With a good set of speakers I have not experienced the weak bass as reported by some. However, the rear speakers are definitely weak. Vocals did appear laid back.
I sent the unit in to be serviced for a scratchy volume control. While it was away I used my old Technics 60 watt/ch intergrated amp from college. The difference was interesting. Vocals were more realistic and the high end was definitely brighter on my old college amp.

When I got the Sony back from repair the tech indicated that he replaced a chip (software upgrade I presume) in addition to the volume control. The unit sounds better than ever. Its less muddy, the vocals are correct and its brighter.

For home theather its great. If you're looking for strictly music, audition others before you decide.

When i got this thing, i thought that it was one of the baddest shit. Then, after like a month, it just totally broke on me. It just says "Protector" on the front panel and i just had it fixed under warranty. I used it for one day, it was fine, the next day, it says "Protector" again. I had waited for about a month to get it fixed and it only lasted a day..... this reciever reeks!!I hate to tell u this but u get what u paid for and i think im gonna go for Yamahas this time. -=0)

i have recently purchased the sony str-de715 for under $400 i have it hooked up to a pair of four year old bose speakers with a cheap optimus sub,and it rocked some dvd's right of my shelf at half volume,playing music through a sony vcr.sound quality is perfect movies are fun and entertaining to watch, more than enough power for anyone can stand without losing your hearing .this is a very good reciever for only $400.can hardly wait to hook it up to some really good speakers.

just dont buy it please look for something else used if you dont have sep. you have crap

I had origionally gotten the Sony STR DE 525's at crutchfield for 250 $ that wasn't a bad price!! I was happy with that receiver. But today I went to crutchfield to buy some front tower speakers. Anyways.. I saw that the Str- DE 715 was on sale for 229$!! I was like.. time to trade my other one in for this one... and so I did.. this one has the learning remote.. and more video inputs.. and more soundfields than the one that I had before... that made me quite happy. so far I have a Zenith 25' stereo tv.. a JVC HR_VP646U Hi fi stereo VCR.. and Infinity Tower speakers 2000.5 and I have satellite tv.. so there are still things that I have to buy.. but I have the basic core of a good home theatre. I give the receiver 3 stars.. it is a good solid receiver.. but I am saving my 2 other stars for the best receiver which only exisis on my mind.. so 3 stars is pretty damn good.

SONY AND OTHER COMPANY'S LIKE BOSE SUCK SO BAD IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY THEY SELL THE WORT CRAP ON THE MARKET OH GOD PLEASE LISTEN TO A USED INT. AMP ANYTHING BUT THIS PEICE OF JUNK IF I COULD I WOULD GIVE THIS RECEIVER A -10 RATING THEY! SUCK! SO! BAD! THAT! IT'S! NOT! EVEN! FUNNY!.!!