Plenty of sound fields, inputs, outputs, and speaker distance setup.

Distorts, and no dts

I bought this as a first reciever and have enjoyed it for a bout three years. When I first got it I thought it was so awsome then I purchased some real speakers. After hooking them up I have noticed distortion a number of times when playing the music / club surround feature. I also think this unit really lacks bass and treble, I had to hook up a subwoofer at first but not with the new speakers. Also had a 5 cd changer from Sony and it died. Over all not impressed with Sony and have had several walkmans die over the years. I am getting rid of this reciever and getting a real one, going with a Pioneer THX reciever this time. No more Sony for me. Don't get me wrong though for the money this is a great entry level reciever and sounds really good in just plain old sterio mode. I have a DVD player hooked up into the optical link on this puppy and have really enjoyed watching movies on this unit also. Of course the down side there is the center channel just doesn't seem pronounced enough or the seperation between speakers. I wish Sony would wake up and start producing some real equipment again like they used to. I think they are the only company that puts out junk and hire end (or cost) equipment that has not yet put out a unit with THX. Over all just disapointed with Sony not this unit. It has a lot of features that from my understanding even very expensive units don't have, but not impressed with the distortion it seems to put out either.

My system:
Scott tape deck
Sony DVD
Sony 5 disk (died)
Sony STR-DE725 (replacing with Pioneer thx)
RCA Hi Fi 4 head VCR
RCA 36'

Speakers Just in case you thought they might suck from the review. Its not the speakers that distort its this unit.
BIC CLR Center (amazing)
Infinity c3007 (great speakers)
Polk PWS350
JBL surround

Similar Products Used:

None

For the price, you can't go wrong with this unit. No, it does not have high current capability like the models that cost 4,5, and 600 dollars more, but for entry level into Dolby Digital home theater, it is well worth the $370 dollars I paid at Best Buy. I have had no problems whatsoever with this unit. It uses spring clips instead of binding posts, but again, look at the price. I am using Polk speakers all around, and I can rattle the neighbors teeth when playing Twister or Face/Off. Great entry level unit.

I just purchased the STR-DE725 to replace my 10 year old Fisher which was a grea system but it was a model made before center channels and pro-logic. I am very pleased with this s far for both music ad movies. I need to upgrade my speakers so I cn only imagine how well this receiver will sound with a fresh set of speakers all around! A DVD player is in my near future too so I will be very interested to hear the built in Dolby Digital! I think the STR-DE725 has a clean clear sound to it and I hardly changed any of the initial factory set ups! That was a big surprise! The separation and placement of sound to each speaker was something I really was looking for in this model!! The power it gives without the distortion ad clapping sounds was also a surprise considering my 10-12 year old speaker set up! I didnt expect that. Last the price is very reasonable! 10 years ago this system would have been 2 times the money it is today! I know I had to wait this long to get wat I wanted!!

i just bought the str-de725 3 days ago from circuit city for $250 after alot of haggling (new). the receiver is great especially for the money. lots of gadgets, but the remote blows big time. IT SUCKS!!!! i suggest upgrading or getting a new remote because this one doesn't even work like it's written (i can't turn on the reciever with the av button, i need to select the function button). also the remote doesn't control my panasonic vcr nor ff on my onkyo cd player. also the graphic eq can only adjust 3 frequencies at a time though it gives you large ranges when selecting (ie. 21 choices for bass, 21 for mid and 21 for treble). overall i'm happy with it though i only have 2 speakers (3 day old polk rt35 for $350). i need to buy a subwoofer, center and surrounds once i move to a bigger place. the receiver kicks ass!!!

I purchased my Sony STR-DE725 almost two months ago and I've never looked back. I had a Home Theater
setup that I put together with odds & ends (4 Bose
141 speakers, a NS-AC2 Yamaha center speaker, and
a KLH sub-woofer)and finally I got the Sony. My setup
suddenly had some feel to it. Than I got the old itch.
I've just puchased the ProCinema 100 from Definitive
Technology and the Sony just shines - it really sounds
great. I'm sure the sound will be even better after I
complete the speaker setup.

i upgraded from the 425 to the 525 ( 100wx5 vs. 100wx3 & 50wx2 ) and then 525 to the 725. the 725 offered 2 xtra video inputs ( nintendo 64 is pretty neat in 6 speakers ) , 4/8 ohm speaker switching ,extra soundfields ( probably won't use) and most important built in dolby digital. the total cost increase from the 425 to 725 was $ 70. due to model closeouts at BB. this unit offered the most features for my budget of $ 300. i know many say yamaha , onkyo , denon are better and some may be. but for $ 298. this machine sounds very good with my infinity surround set-up ( rs 5 , r 2000.2 , cc-2 ). the remote is o.k.- once you figure it out ( adjusting treble , bass , mids , hz took awhile ) it is not too bad. the one thing that i don't like with the 725 is the inability to use the powered sub in 2 channel music mode. the 425 & 525 allowed this but you have to use a sound stage to use it for the 725 - not too cool. i think this reciever is a great deal at $ 298. for all it offers. some will disagree , but sony's reliability is generally very good. this machine gets lost between the 625 and 825 because it offers just about everything the $ 125. more 825 has except for the lcd remote ( i'd just get more ticked off if/when it breaks ). just waiting until i can rent dvd's in my area before getting a dvd machine to complete my set-up. i'll give it a 4 due to the powered sub connection/use.

Purchased the 725 a few weeks ago, and have not been disappointed. The remote is weak as stated before. The sound is good though, especially in Stereo Mode (i.e. soundfield turned off). I use Paradigm Mini Monitors, a Yamaha center channel, and an old set of Bose 201s for surround. It does a good job with Pro Logic. I rarely use any of the DSP soundfields though. I do not have a DVD player yet, so I can not comment on its Dolby Digital performance. A few details keep me from giving this reciever 5 stars. First, no S-Video in or out. I know this is a relatively inexpensive receiver, but how expensive can adding S-video be. Second, a sub-woofer can only be used with the digital soundfield turned on. The digital soundfield seems to introduce a bit more noise, which is acceptable for movies, but not for music (personal opinion). I suppose you could wire the sub into the main speaker terminals instead of the dedicated RCA mono output, but then you loose LFE when decoding movies (I think). Also the Sony does do some bass crossover to the main speakers depending on what you tell it about there size (i.e. large or small), and that may not work if the sub is not plugged into its dedicated output.
The upshot is that the Sony STR-DE725 does provide good value for the money if you can find one under $300.00. It has plenty of power (100x5), is quite 'tweekable', and sounds fine with good speakers. Only the few problems listed above hold it back. I'm keeping mine.

I purchased the STR-DE725 receiver for two reasons 1)My vintage 1970`s Kenwood receiver went tits up 2)I had just purchased a Sony KP-53S65 big screen T.V., and was eager to experiance surround sound. I was impressed by slick willie at the electronics store,but sorely disapointed in my living room,again for two reasons1)NO S-VIDEO JACKS.HELLO.....5-channle digital auido and composite video. I could not tell any differance between my five year old V.C.R and my new D.V.D.as far as picture quality went.So thanks to Sony I run the auido through the receiver and the video straight to the T.V.(S-Video equipted).This elimates all On Screen Display features,but gives me the greatly improved video the D.V.D. derservse.2)No tape moniter circut,so you true auidophiles can send your equalizers home with mama cause you ain't hooking up to this auido system.
You'll get two points out of me,that's if you can pry them out of my greatly dissapointed.(you fill in the blank)

For the money, this receiver seems hard to beat for an entry-level DDamp. It is now discontinued so can be had very cheap (mine was $150).
I got it as an upgrade for my old Sony prologic receiver after I got
a dvd player.

It's only got one AC3 input (optical), no coax or 6xRCA, but that's
fine for just a DVD player. And no s-vhs, which again is fine if you've only
got one s-vhs source direct to your tv.

It remembers soundfield settings for each input and radio station. A nice
convenience. For radio speech the soundfields make it sound like you're in
a cave; they're basically just reverb. But without the soundfields on, the
subwoofer preout is disabled. I've set all my radio stations to use a
soundfield but turned the reverb all the way down so I get L, R & Sub.

The remote is too clever for its own good: the cursor keys forget they're
supposed to be steering the dvd player cursor instead of the amp cursor
after the first press of enter, so dvd menu navigation requires a real
dvd remote. I've programmed my universal remote (from my earlier Sony
receiver) to steer the dvd menu, and mostly discarded the dvd and 725
remotes.

The one thing that worries me about this receiver is the label on top of it
(which Sony's service dept denies Sony would put on a product). The label
reads:

This SONY receiver uses the latest DSP (Digital Signal Processor) and
microcomputer technology and performs advanced digital signal processing.
Should this receiver begin to perform unusually, turn the power off and
wait at least 30 seconds before turning the power on again to reset the DSP.
0-887-875-01

If you've got a 725, please let me know whether you have this label, and
whether you've experienced any 'unusual' performance. Mine's worked fine
for the 3 weeks I've had it so far.

I loved this receiver the day I got it - great sound quality for a good price. Three weeks later the stupid machine broke. All of a sudden the display turned off and the sound stopped, and neither came back again. If you're going to buy this product, don't throw away your receipt or move away from your Sony dealer.