Great decoding, lots of power, real nice display, great crankability

Not much bass, sub is necessary & only two speakers at a time for two channel.

Recently bought the 885 looking for a good and powerful surround amp that could still kick it in the two channel section. The amp has great and varied surround selections. The 100 watt X 5 is really heard when cranking it up. As always the nice sony feature of naming the inputs is very handy when you want to call your vcr something else than video 1. I use a sony cdp-cd275 cd changer connected to the 885 with optical cable and the sound is extremely superior. Connected to the amp are Bose 301's and Bose 100's. I have only two major dissapointments with it. They are A&B speakers cannot be engaged simultaneously which forces two speakers to be connected to one output which sacrifices power, and also like a lot of sony amps (I also have a str-335 that does the same), a subwoofer is required whether active or passive if you really like to rumble the floor. However, if you're looking for just plain clean sound, one isn't necessary.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE335