This is to Archie:When coming to buying a Receiver you should be pickey about the sound. The Sound is what makes you choose the receiver. This receiver can be found for $449.95 and the Pioneer VSX-D606 can be found for also $449.95 which is also a better deal. Sony has alot of problems with their Low Class Receivers. First of listen to the Rock and you will here alot of distortion (not caused by the speaker but the amplifier)This Distortion can be elimanated if they took their time to extend the Dynamic Headroom but they are too cheap to.

Just recently my friend was looking for a Dolby Digital Receiver at a Fraction of the Price. So we went shopping and we came across the Sony STR-DE915 and the Pioneer VSX-606s both were available for $449 so i helped him choose. Both Receivers had major disadvantages but all in all the Sony had the Biggest. The Pioneer was the most difficult to change to DD though. It took us at least 3 min. to do so. The Sony Learning remote was not very good with controls and was to big and bulky. Both had ok DD Processing. but the Sony's DSP Settings were HORRIBLE. They changed NOTHING in the sound of the System. The Pioneer had good DSP Settings. The Main Disadvantage is that the STR-DE915 has NO COAXIAL only a Optical and a RF. That means that if you're on a budget for a Dolby Digital system and you want to buy a DVD Player you have to spend more on the DVD Player than the Receiver. You can NOT find a Budget player with a Optical but both Budget and Expensive Players have Coaxials.

I have owned the STR-DE915 for 7 months now with no complaints. It does it very HOT if you push the volume past 7, but I fixed this with a small cooling fan perched on top of the receiver that turns on when the receiver is powered. I have seen the price of this receiver at $408 on the net (plus no tax). That spells BIG VALUE and movie enjoyment of AC-3 until the A/V receivers with AC-3, DTS, MPEG3, and THX arrive at a lower price point. Besides no on-sceen programming and S-video support this is a real buy until you spend the $3000+for a receiver that has all the standards built in. The sound is a little bright (just the cheaper A/D's shinging through).

This is one of the Worst Receivers, it has too high of a THD Level and the noise level is way too high. This is not Bang for your bucks since the Kenwood VR-209 is the same price and it has a much lower THD level and Noise Level. My opinion is to save up about $200 more and get a Yamaha RX-V793 it is MUCH better. You can get the Yamaha RX-V793 from Uncle Stereo for $595 Shipped and if you really want the Sony you can get it for $399 plus $28 Shipping (2nd Day FedEx) from www.jandr.com

I bought this receiver as a test victim for my Home Theater. I have a Yamaha RX-V2092, a Sony STR-DA90ESG, a Pioneer VSX-07, a Denon AVR-3200, and a Harmon/Kardon AVR85. The STR-DE915 is one of the WORST receivers I have tested. I compared it's Dolby Digital Performance to the Kenwood VR-209 since both are priced at about $400. The Kenwood had something called lower THD and a lower noise level. When I cranked the Sony up to the 10:30 position there was an extremely high amount of distortion even without anything playing. I found it very annoying and when the Amplifier is in the 10:30 position (Reference Setting) there should be no audible distortion. All the things I complain about in the Sony aren't true in the Kenwood. I would understand if there was alot of distortion at the 5:00 position since no Amplifier is meant to go above 12:00. This is one of the worst Receivers. The AC-3 Decoding was ok but nothing compared to the Harmon/Kardon and Yamaha. I found the Remote very hard too. The learning capabilities is fake. It is almost impossible for it to learn the actual code. The Yamaha can at least turn off my TV, DVD Player, and Receiver all at once, but not the sony, it can only Control my TV, DVD Player, and Receiver. If I had a choice I would give it 0 stars. Please before anyone buys it actually listen to it at places other than Best Buy and Circuit City. Since it will be a long term investment you should actually listen to it. Compare it with another Receiver with the Same major features (such as Power, Surround Types, etc...) I personally would compare it with a Yamaha or Denon. They both have very little distortion and they both get their Dolby Digital processors from very big companies (Yamaha makes their own ASIC and Denon gets Motorola ASIC Sony just gets GPIC from NEC)

Let's be pragmatic about judging this unit. It wasn't intended as a high-end receiver, and it doesn't cost more than $450 these days anywhere. Despite these facts, this receiver has done it's job better than the competitions in the class. Let's face it, you'd be buying preamp, amp, decoder and all seperate gizmos if you're after audio/video sainthood. Considering all this, I give this product a big thumbs up.

When it comes to bang/buck ratio, you simply can't beat the Sony STR-DE915.The reciever comes equipped with a Dolby 5.1, AC3, and a host of video and
loads of optical digital inputs (perfect for CD, minidisc/DAT, and a DVD player!). This is a legitimate 100 watt per channel amp, with full control over front, rear and center channel in surround mode.

There are a plethora of DSP modes, but they need a lot of tweaking (adjust the front/rear speaker delays, tone down the reverb, equalization, etc) to sound
just right. There are a staggering number of features and options, as well as
a healthy (learning) remote control, that admittedly, handles Sony components
better than non-Sony components. If you have a Sony CD/MD/DVD/DSS/DAT,etc,
the remote is very handy indeed.

Another note: this receiver benefits greatly from a subwoofer.

This amplifier is definitely designed with the home theatre enthusiast in mind,
and is less "musical" than the comparable Harmon Kardon or Yamaha receivers,
but it's no slouch when it comes to playing music.

The difference here is the price - I picked mine up for $450, which is a tiny sum to pay for such an overwhelming amplifier. I don't think there's a
reciever value comparable to this anywhere.

I Purchased this product a few months ago. There are some drawbacks, and I should have done more "homework" before buying but at the time it seemed like a good buy. The 915 to me seems to play alright when playing DVD's the sound is great. I tell my friends that I would like to upgrade to the Yamaha 2092 or DSP-A1, and they say it couldn't get better than what it is now?? The different effect modes are pretty bad. Would a Yamaha really make a big difference?? What I really miss is not having S-Video inputs for both my DVD and DSS. All that I have is one, and I use that for my DSS, because that is what I use the most. Are there any ways to get around this?

The SONY STR-DE915 is an excellent reciever. I think the problem with everyone here is that they are not using it with the right equipment. I use my Sony STR-DE915 with Energy Pro 3.5s (L/R) EC-200 (C) and Pro .5 (LS/RS) and it sounds awsome. Perhaps those who complain about the distrotion, should note that good speakers always make a difference. I am not saying it is perfect, but it is an excellent reciever. You just have to use the right equipment with it.

I bought this reciever for $465 , brand new. I have a pair of NHT 1.5´s hooked up, and they sound amazing! I´m looking for a good subwoofer now for matching this. The DSP modes are nice, but not all that "real", but you can´t compare this reciever to Yamaha or Harman-Kardon, not in this price range.A very good piece of equipment.