Im 18 years old and this would be my first Digitl Recever. My parents bought me a sony book shelf system about 5 or six years ago, i played that thing till it died. It sound unreal but i had it ON for the better part of four years of its life toward the end I had noticed a depleation in the sound quatily but that is to be expected it got move from house to house and was left on all the time. i retired it a couple months ago( gave it a proper buarial, at the dump) all in all it probley was the best money that i had ever spent on any audio equ. After it pass away i went to good will to find audio things to satisfy my audio needs. I found a technics receiver and a gemni preamp with a fisher cd play it work for a while but the stereo had a very nasty hiss.When I got a good paying job i went out and bought conterversial STR-DE725.
I bought the system on a whim and threw caution into the wind so far I i love it. It has all the options an audiophile could ever need (not that i would call my self one). I love all of the sound fields and find them very usefull in big room(living rooms, great rooms) as I do in my bed room, they seem to make the "sound" of my seem bigger. I am sad to admit that it dose lack a bit (large at that)bass. But as any one with a brain knows that when the system is set up for a sub (with sony recomends for STR-DE725) you should use it. i am useing infinity sm82s bought the same year as my stereo, these speakers are WAY to big for my little room but they doo all right. and i have AR surrounds. Speaking of surrounds this thing has more surround pwoer then my frined class A+ technics stereo that he paid a grand for. Pathetic. All in all if set up right the system sound good it just takes good speakers and good intelegance to know how to do it. i think the people how gave it a crapy rating would think diffrently if the knew how to operate a reciver.

I GIVE MY BABY A 4 STAR, GOOD SOUND, EVEN BETTER PRICE

I've been hearing since I've purchased my STR-DE715 that I bought a piece of crap. I refuse to believe this. I've used Sony products for 23 years and continue to trust the components they make. This reciever may not be top of the line in sound quality, it may not produce quite as rich a sound as say a Bose system does, but it is no piece of junk. Maybe there are those of you who would say that I don't know what I'm missing and should try listening to something else. I have, I know what's out there. All I'm saying is is that I knew what I was buying and what I expected, and the STR-DE715 delivered that. Don't tell me that just because it bears the Sony name that its a piece of junk; I know better. You Sony-haters need to be a little more objective and fair-minded when evaluating a product, especially those of you who are without any expertise in the matter at all.

Looks good - has lots of features (that I never use).

lousy speaker connectors, poorly powered, has been in for repair twice

In general, this unit will do for the very casual listener, who has kids sleeping upstairs and can't turn their A/V receiver up but past a whisper. Where I noticed it's limitations was with the purchase of some rather decent speakers (Mission 702's and Paradigm centre and rears). The unit can not drive them. I can barely hear the rears and centre channels. This unit claims 100W per channel - it sure can't deliver. It also runs very hot.

It is now time to upgrade and I am seriously looking at the Yamaha brand. I don't care about the toys anymore. I am just looking for a pure theatre experience, not several modes I will never use.

As an aside, every Sony product I have has broken down. My camcorder has cost me 3/4 of the original purchase price ($1500 CDN) in repairs -I have barely used it. In order to eject tapes with my Sony VCR, I have to unplug the power and plug it back in. My Sony TV has a bowed picture when viewing "letter box" formatted DVD's. The 715 receiver shorts out screaming "Protection" on the LCD display if I turn it past 10 o'clock. I purchased all these items within 1 year of each other, and they all failed during and unfortunately after the warranty periods. I just can't afford to own Sony any more, not at any price. I gave them a fair chance and was let down. I agree with a previous posting. "Sony is carp, I think that is was it means in Japenese."

I got one of these as my first receiver. I experienced two problems with the thing, but that is because it's beat to shit now. The B speakers don't work anymore, and the Theatre mode has extremely low volume in the rear channel.
it was a good receiver. Oh and by the way to the jack ass sony haters...if you buy the low-end products you get low-end quality...the ES series kicks all ass, and the products in japan are better than the products they export to the US, just think about that...japan based company, hates america, why would they release the best stuff here?

Power, Clarity and Imaging

Highs, Feature Navigation

Unlike many of the people on this page, I am quite satisfied with my purchase. This receiver delivers what it promises and quite well. I have a professional ear for music and although better receivers can be purchased for much more money, this receiver performs flawlessly for it's class. I have always been extremely satisfied with Sony products. I also own the above listed Sony receivers. Don't listen to the negative crap on this page. This receiver will deliver.

Similar Products Used:

Sony GX700ES, SonyDB-830, SonyDB-930

Looks cool

1: no mode memory for input selections
2: "cheap sounding reproduction"
3: lack of Bass Management
4: lack of setup functions (ie. individual speaker delay, room parameters)
5: spring clip speaker terminals
6: bad tuner
7: volume motor "hiss"
8: runs hot

I was using an old Pair of Infinity ColumnII speakers with this amp, for quite a while. Sounded loud enough; and with older style sealed midranges, piezo tweeters and 2 ten inchers in each cabinet, I was pretty stisfied with the sound. As I became more "edjumakated" with high end audio, I purchaced a pair of NHT 1.5's and a BIC 12' powered sub. unfortunately, I am using the same str de-715 amp. Heres my biggest complaint with this amp (missing from the "weaknesses" section....NO LOW END GRUNT! Nada, zippo, zilch! Sounds like the NHT's are crossed over at 400hz with this amp! With the addition of the sub, the Bottom end is filled in nicely, BUT...there is an annoying hole at about 100-400hz. No mid bass in music, and holes in movies. I know these speakers are capable of good mid bass because I "borrowed" an old technics (silver, with an analog tuner, solid state, 55 watt, 2 chanell) amp..and WOWIEEEEE. Yip, thats why I bought these speakers! After that moment I started looking for things I didnt like about the amp, and most are listed in the "weaknesses) column. I have since "borrowed" many other Amps and receivers as I have a friend in the High end audio business. While were on it, the Dolby decoding in the sony is pretty lousy! Its time to sell this amp and replace it with Outlaw's new 6:1 65watt receiver.

Summary: with inexpensive speakers, the flaws of this amp are well hidden. Add revealing speakers and you may as well junk it! Because this is a mass market amp, Ill only judge it on what most inexperienced shoppers (like me when I purchaced it) care about.

YOU COULD DO BETTER FOR THE MONEY, EVEN USED.

Power: says 100 WPC..cool! 5
Asthetics: Looks cool 5
Bells and whistles: Not many 3
Tone adjustment: only digital bass and treble 3
Decoding ability: Cant really hear the rears! 3
Sound: mass market speakers 4
Sound: Revealing speakers 2

Overall: based on target market(not an average) 3.5