Solid if unspactactular amp, good selection of inputs and outputs (sony is best for the price in this catagory), nice dsp modes for listening to 2 channel, no trouble driving 4 ohm 3 ways at 60%

bad remote, two many small buttons on the front, clearer sounding amps available for the same price

Bought this receiver as my first dolby digital receiver. Has worked great with most speakers I''ve used but have found that using 4 or 6 ohm speakers seems to keep the amp cooler for some reason. Never have had any overheat problems but it will get hot if you drive two sets of 8 ohm speekers, but it starts to sound like crap when you do that anyway. One problem I did have was that the first one I brought home didnt work and I didnt find that out until spending 2 hours installing it in my audio cabinet.

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yahmaha receivers mostly

This puppy has lots of power and bells and whistles

If you can call getting a little hot a weakness then thats ok...I have seen Carver and Sunfire get hot.

After reading the bad things about this unit I thought about taking it back to the place of purchase but after giving it a chance, its a wonderful reciever that does what I want in a good HT package...I guess there are lemons in just about anything you can buy, after all these things are made by humans and not all things we humans make are perfect...I just happen to get a good used AV reciever at a good price...blessed I guess but this reciever will be with me for a while until I can buy a better one.

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Sony STR-D1090

DTS & DD decoder, great sound, excellent bang for the buck

Buttons on remote

I've had this unit for 3 years now and am very happy with it. I primarily use it for home theater duty and occassionally for CD and radio. Does run a bit hot but have never had the problems others have reported (and the first two years of ownership I did have it in an enclosed entertainment rack. Rarely turn the volume above 40% never above 50%, as it just gets too LOUD.

Sound is always crisp and clean, DTS and DD processing give a great theater feel. Many times watching movies I've been fooled into thinking I hear things outside or behind me, and it's just the movie.

Only real complement is the unreadable white/green buttons with pale green labels on the remote, but a little nail polish seems to have fixed that...

Maybe someday I'll have the money to consider a more expensive brand, but I'm darn happy with this model and never hesitate to recommend Sony as an affordable choice for an A/V receiver.

Many features and Sound Modes. Good Power to drive main speakers.

Remote (nuff said)

The receiver has many great features. It had DVD and DTS capability. However, this can be a drawback for the person who wants to hear great sound the day he gets the system. The setup is quite cumbersome and complicated. The EQ is great once you have a tuned properly. It took me over a month to get it to sound just right. There are no overheating problems that I am aware of. However, even if there were, my Rack is open and so it is quite well ventilated. The only complaint is that there seems to be a hiss coming from the rear speakers. It is noticeable at very low volumes only, but the main speakers don't have any hiss at all.

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Pioneer, Fisher, Marantz

AFFORDABILITY,COOL BLUE LIGHT

HUMMING NOISE IN REAR SPEAKERS

CAN'T WAIT TO GO HOME TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO A NEW MOVIE.
LOVE THE 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL EFFECTS.YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SUB W/ THIS RECIEVER.

DD,DTS

A tad hot, pop up remote top

I've upgraded to this reciever from the Aiwa AV75. There is a huge sound difference between the two, especially in DD. The Sony sound so much better. When I bought the Sony home, I was shocked at how small and compact it is compared to the Aiwa and it has so much more features. It size more than likely contributes to the heat problems. I don't turn the volume up over 5 because in my small house that is real loud, but it is still gets a tad hot at 5 while playing DD movies. I wonder have people been frying their recievers by having the volume at 10. The speakers I have are Infinity CC-3 center channel, Infinity RS-3 for fronts, Infinity BU-120 subwoofer, and Infinity QPS-1 for surrounds. This set up sounds great but I have had to turn the volume up for the surrounds to even things out. This set up sounds really great after setting up the EQ eventhough the manual does not do a good job of explaining this feature. I'm the type of guy who likes a lot of adjustments to play with on a reciever so I really like the sound adjustments that could be made on this reciever. I also like the remote. The pop up feature of the top of the remote is bad a will probably degrade the life of this remote after normal wear, but I can control everything on my home entertainment center by this remote! My RCA sat. reciever, Phillips DVD player, Sony CD player, NEC vcr, and Toshiba 36 inch tv., which is shocking because none of the multi remotes that I've ever owned would be capable of controlling every product I own such as this remote. Great reciever for the money.

Great Value for the Money, Built in Equalizer w/ tons of settings, 27 Preset Sound Fields, Plenty of Connections

Poor Remote Design, can't use my passive subwoofer w/o another amp

I spent a long time debating between the Pioneer 608 & this Sony. For the money, they both pack the best bang for the buck. I finally went with the Sony and I'm satisfied with my decision. I was limited by space and the Sony was a little smaller. However, I was concerned about the heat issue. I have run it for hours each day and haven't felt any extreme heat. I think you'd need to run at ear shattering levels to really have a big problem here.

It would have cost me $200 more to get similar features in some other product lines. Maybe the other line's components are of a higher quality but only time will tell. All I can say now is that the sound is excellent and the Equalizer settings really help me get the most out of my inexpensive speakers. I chose the Sony over the Pioneer because I knew I'd have to live with my speakers awhile longer and wanted to be able to adjust the sound settings as much as possible. One problem I had was getting my passive subwoofer to work with the Subwoofer Outputs. I work around it by feeding the Subwoofer Out to my little ole' Dolby Pro Logic Amp and powering my passive sub with that little amp. This works fine until I hunker down some cash for better speakers.

The Remote works every component I have (Toshiba TV, Pioneer Laserdisc, Pioneer 525 DVD, Proscan VCR) so I can't complain too much about the remote. The green on white glow in the dark lettering is a joke however. It's unreadable in light or dark conditions. I plan on pulling out my permanent fine line ink pens to make the lettering black.

I've gotta give it 5 stars because for around $300, it packs better sound & features than many other over-priced competitors.

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None

Price

reliablity

I purchased the Sony receiver at the end of July and by December it popped the circuit board. It took three months to repair (not Sony's fault, but the authorized dealer). When I took it home from the shop and plugged it in, I saw a bright white flash and out it went again. That night I went out and bought a Pioneer Elite VSX-21 and not only does it work, but the sound is much crisper.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VSX-21

Good price, paid $329 at Costco. DSPs, digital inputs, DTS lots and lots of adjustments

Remote, athough it's not as bad as some would say. I agree with most however that the green lettering on the "almost" glow in the dark buttons is all but unreadable in the light or the dark, I sure would like to meet the genius that came up with that design. Aside from that the only other complaint about the remote is that you cant adjust the sub or LFE from it. You can adjust the center and rears but not the sub, strange. It does get hot, but so did the 40 watt/channel Proton amp it replaced, I just open the doors to the cabinet when I crank up the volume, usually when watching movies. DSPs do not work with digital signals. This isn't spelled out very clearly in the manual. Currently I do not have a center or rear speakers and wanted to use the DSPs with the digital sounds until I get the rest of my speakers.

I was gong to buy either the Sony DB830 ($450 from Crutchfield) or the Yamaha RV 595 ($450 from the local dealer) but needed to scale back when the wife wanted to get the house painted. So I started cutting and trimming the home theater budget, first with the Audio Source SW15 (great sub) and then with this reciever. It has all the power and features that I wanted in a reciever except the ability to enhance/alter digital (AC-3, DTS) signals. My listening area is not the greatest of designs. The ability to enhance digital signals is why I really wanted the Yamaha. I haven't got my center and rear speakers yet (should be a week or so) so I can't say for sure how the full blown digital movie experience wil be, but the AC-3 movie I watched (in 2 channel) had all the volume and LFE that I could use in my room (20 x 24 with an open beam ceiling, 12' at the peak). I've seen some that have mentioned the THD ratings when used in the 5.1 channel mode as being high. Compared to other (more expensive) receivers it is, although it is no different then the Kenwood VR 309 and I didn't read too many complaints on the model. I think all but the pickiest audiophiles should be satisfied with this receiver, especially those like myself that are putting together a system on a budget.

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None, just upgraded from a 40 watt Proton amp as I am just buliding my entry level home theater.

Lot of bang for the buck. The sound when used with Optimus LX5II's is incredible. Lots of EQ settings. Digital Jacks!!

Gets hot when used at extreme volumes. (Recommend using a fan.) The remote is unsatisfactory.

I ordered this from Sears and was sorry to read some of these reviews about the heat issue, but I am not surprised because alot of recievers get hot during normal usage. I recommend putting in a computer fan in back of the entertainment center and that seems to work great in keeping everything cool. The sound is great and I would recommend this to a person starting out in home theater! Alot of people are bashing this reciever need to give it a second look for the money you won't even come close the features that you will on this one! The other companies receivers with Dolby Digital or DTS with cost you over $500.00. So far I am very happy and I am gonna make sure that I recommend this to all my friends! When this is used with the 530D DVD player incredible sound is the result and your hear with just have to hear it! A subwoofer is must and don't forget that fan I would recommend that for any reciever especially being cramped up behind a piece of glass in an entertainment center. Well I hope you enjoy!!!!