I, too, purchased the Sony 915 and must say that I am very pleased with it. I am not the audio/videophile that some of you folks may be, but for those who enjoy a good movie with great sound this product gives me more than I could hope for its price.

Before ending up with this receiver, I had the Sony Str d 525, the str d715.. and finally this. There wasn't much noticable differnece between the 525(which is this years model) and the 715 which was last years model. anyways, I am lucky enough to live in a college town, and there happens to be a Crutchfield quite close to me, so exchanging is not a hassle, that is why I had the 525 715 and finally the 915. This receiver does alot better with soundfields than the other ones that I had, I can configure it more, which I like. from selecting what size speakers.. to their positioning.. you can program this receiver all those things. and considering that I onlky paid 305 dollars I am quite pleased. if you can get this receiver for around that price I wounldn't give it another thought. it is packed with goodies.. it has all the a/v and audio inputs that I could ever want, and it has a Dolby digital decoder.. so when I get a DVD player I will be set.. it even has optical outputs for cd and mini disk.. and dvd and laser disc of course.
Overall it is a very good receiver, it lacks s-video inputs.. but my tv doesn't have a s-video input so it is no loss to me.
I give it 4 ( of whatever those things are...) stars I think

I just purchased Sony STR-DE825 (on special for $399), and I must say I am pleased with it. The sound is clean (I have not experienced the high distortions that others were talking about), and controls are straight forward. Hooked up to my Panasonic DVD player, the sound is much more enjoyable than my last Dolby Pro Logic receiver. I like the fact that it has a ton of digital inputs (but doesn't have S-video out - damn!).People may try to convince others that certain receiver is so much better than others, but I think most of it is BS. Sure, Yamaha does have better surround modes, but most of the time you want straight DD or DPL. And if anyone can identify different DD processors on blind test, my congrats, but I don't think most people can.
A lot of what you like about a sound of a particular receiver is mostly subjective. It depends a lot on what size and type of speakers, shape and size of the room, and your acoustical preferences. What sounds good to one person may not sound all that good to others. So before listening to so called "experts" around here, do your own testing. Take different sets of receivers home and try them out and only buy after you are satisfied with how it sounds in YOUR home.
Sony does what is was designed for very well. It has a very good track records on maintenance and usually a good bargain.
I do however agree that the remote could have used one more round of testing. It would have been nice to shut TV and receiver off at the same time. But programming this thing has been a breeze (just scroll and click - instead of typing in codes). I only wish Sony DSS receivers allowed both RF and IR inputs at the same time.

A very nice find for the budget minded ! The Sony offers a number of featuresat an outstanding price ($350.00-425.00). I had a yamaha that did not like driving my 4 ohm speakers, the sony however seems to have no problem at all.
In some of the reviews I have read, people seem to want to use "specs" to complain about this budget receiver. This is all too often far from the truth. The truth is you or any other "audiophile" would have a tough time hearing the difference between this unit and any other up to $1000.00 ! It has most of the whistles and bells you may ever need, and the sound is very good. The only complaints I have found are in the ergonomics, and an owner's manual that is rather ambiguous. Some of the adjustments require a great deal of searching, but time and use will correct that problem. Overall I would give this receiver high marks and think that it is as much as one could ask for in the 'mid-fi" market. Oh and as far as paying extra for "specs" remember the speakers you choose will have far more impact than will your electronics.......

Just thought I would respond to some of the interesting specifications being offered by others in this page. The Sony is listed as having 0.09% THD, into 8 or 4 ohms, 20-20,000 Hz with 2 channels. In the surround mode, 5 channels, 0.8% THD into 8 ohms at 1,000 Hz. This can be verified in Sony's web page. The Yamaha R-V1103 is listed as 0.07% THD into 8 ohms at 1,000 Hz with 5 channels, once again verifed through their web page. The difference is the Sony using different transistors for the surround channels than used for the three front channels. Both units give good performance, but if you are only going to spend $100-150 more for the Yamaha it is money well spent. Once again, there is nothing wrong with the Sony, the Yamaha is just better. I also agree that specifications do not tell the whole story, listen and research the units before buying.

Just thought I would respond to some of the interesting specifications being offered by others in this page. The Sony is listed as having 0.09% THD, into 8 or 4 ohms, 20-20,000 Hz with 2 channels. In the surround mode, 5 channels, 0.8% THD into 8 ohms at 1,000 Hz. This can be verified in Sony's web page. The Yamaha R-V1103 is listed as 0.07% THD into 8 ohms at 1,000 Hz with 5 channels, once again verifed through their web page. The difference is the Sony using different transistors for the surround channels than used for the three front channels. Both units give good performance, but if you are only going to spend $100-150 more for the Yamaha it is money well spent. Once again, there is nothing wrong with the Sony, the Yamaha is just better. I also agree that specifications do not tell the whole story, listen and research the units before buying.

This review is actually about the Pioneer VSX-607S, but I am placing it here because I chose it over the Sony. My former receiver was a sony and I must agree that the DSP modes on a sony leave a lot to be desired. I also found that the sony had a lot of distortion on moderatly loud passages. So, since I was in the market for a new AC-3 capable unit I decided to give Pioneer a try. I love my Pioneer! The amp is clean an powerful with one-hundred watts over 5 channels, unlike the sony which is 100 over 4 (I guess that each surround speaker is only getting 50 watts. I am glad that I found that out!) It also comes with a learning remote. The down side is that the unit does not have s-video inputs, but neither does the sony and I think the Pioneer has pretty good surround fields for the money, certainly better than the sony.
Anyway, if you're in the market I strongly encourage you to check out the Pioneer VSX-607S

You all seem much more audio-intelligent than I, and I would like to know if buying the Sony STR-DE915 for $399 (Crutchfield) is a good buy. I'll be using Bose Accoustimass 10 speakers with it. Thanks.

To whom it concerns,while reading the reviews above I feel that the person who is looking for advice is getting bad advice from people who are to busy bitching with each other I have owned both the sony 915 and yamaha 902. You can not compare the this receiver to the yamaha 1103, the prices are two different. What you want to look for in a reciever is compatibility and sound quality. What I mean by compatibility is how well it will perform with the speakers that you have, or intend to buy. I sold the sony because I like to run my a and b channels with rear and yamaha allows you to do this; a feature that few companies offer. What I have for a system is the yamaha 902, two powered energy subs, front speakers- Boston Acoustic cr9's (2 pairs-a and b channels), and boston rears. I chose this receiver because the majority of dvd players are offer the ac-3 built in so there was no point for to buy a receiver with built in. My opinion on it would go towards the yamaha. I love my music loud and 902 is louder and cleaner. Mentioned before, the soundfields of the yamaha are a lot cleaner and produce more detailed highs. The yamaha does go down to 4 ohm and handles it awesome. When deciding what to buy a receiver notice that sony puts more money into their advertising than their equipment. (proven just bose) I am not saying that it is a bad receiver because it does offer some stuff, however the power that the sony has is a little bit overstated. If anybody has anymore questions feel free to ask because this is what I do for a living.....I love music and electronics so I give this reciever 3 stars.

For me the Sony STR-DE915 has been ok. I mainly use it for surround sound and cd playing. The sound seems ok to me. I don't care much for the soundfields though. Right now I'm having a problem connecting a PC-DVD encore kit (computer DVD) with a coaxial (SP/DIF) connection to my receiver. My problem is the receiver has a AC-3 RF connection and of course optical. Some say it takes a 75ohm cable to connect it and some say it won't work at all. Others say I need a coaxial to toslink converter. This will cost $95. What a headache. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing related to the receiver or not. Oh Well live and learn.