When new, outstanding sound, great sound effects, great remote

When bad, it was really bad, many times the crossover would not work, no sound from rear speakers, then suddenly they would come on.

Unfortunately as with the prior peer reviews, this product leaves quite a bit to be desired. After having the unit for several years with occasional glitches (noisy click to start and ocassional no volume from rear speakers), the unit finally gave up the ghost Jan 1, 2003. The funny thing is that a fellow audiophile, whom be mere coincidence had purchased the same unit, a few months after I did was at my house for new years. He mentioned his unit had just done the same thing, something about an overload message, smoke, and then dead. He sent it to repair, they changed the fuses, then again dead, after over $150.00 in repairs, it is in the shop again. Boy talk about major catastophre, Sony really blew with this model. I gave up, and decided not to have it repaired, went out and purchased a Yamaha HTR 5550 Jan 1, 2003. Let's hope I am more fortunate with this one. By the way is there any credence in a viable class action law suit against Sony, I would be ready to go in on that.

Great sound when it's working Little confusing, but with all the controls it has, it probably is as simple to use as possible. You can connect just about anything to it.

Blows up periodically

I have owned the STR-DE915 for several years. Within the first month, the unit blew out several output transistors and would not work. Got it fixed on warranty with a very nasty note from the Sony factory. Just reconfured my basement system, reconnected the unit and it blew out again. Something like PROTECTION came up on the front panel, click then smoke. Cost me $125 to get repaired. After reading the information on this site, I am concerned that it will happen again. If so, it will probably go into the junk pile. The sound is very good but I cannot get the rear speakers to play loud enough no matter what setting I use. I even increased the loudness on the rear channels by 10 db and I can barely hear them. In addition, I can only hear the rear channels on "3D, enhanced rear shift" or something like that.

Great sound when working

Heat dissipation, Sony will not keep literature on their products that are over ~2 years old. I will change brand loyalty in the future.

Purchased the Sony STR-DE915 about 4 years ago for Christmas. I am a casual listener and use this receiver occasionally for DVD's (surround sound) and mostly use the CD input. I realized that the unit was getting hot and installed a 4" "muffin fan" to keep it cool. The unit is on the top shelf of the E-Center with the back cut out for ventilation. Long story short... I thought the sound was excellent and the power capability was great. I did not have to turn the volume up more than a few notches. The speakers were Sony and were each rated at 120W. As with many other reviews posted on this page, my front LR speakers stopped working. I called Sony today and they would be willing to take a look for a minimum charge of $126 + taxes. I read the posted article by "Straka" from Naperville re: repairing this unit. After searching the components on the net, I found the two components (I believe) that Straka recommended. The UN4111 transistor price was about 1.35 and the UPC2581V processor was about $23. IF I decide to repair this unit my self, I should replace both sets of components and add a heat-sink to each. The component on my board has a slightly different part number than Straka listed. My transistor part number is N1A4M (top) K382M (bottom). I hope that they are interchangable. By looking at my boards, both the transistor and the 2581V chip had discoloration on the board. I have several Sony components and am very disappointed with this unit. I asked the Sony rep. today if she had any literature on this unit, she replied she did not. A "senior tech. rep." is to call me in 48 hours to have the unit sent back. I'm not sure if I am going to bother (and spend $150) and then have the other processor die next week. When the unit was working, I was very happy with the sound it produced. Being an electrical engineer myself, I know that someone at Sony did not do their heat transfer calculations for this design. I hope that this person has been fired by now. Sony should have initiated a recall on this product. I agree that a class action law suit may be in order for this "lemon" design. Did anyone have one of their large power transistors fail (#MN2488 or MP1620)? I believe that one reader hinted at this. I would bet that the other componets are the culprits though. Thanks. Ra

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Anything but Sony

When it worked...it sounded great.

A major lemon. It should have been recalled within 60 days.

This is a follow-up to my post on July 19,2002. I finally figured out that in order to stop the hum and loud buzz coming from the subwoofer due to a fault subwoofer jack, I literally used a rubber band to brace the defective jack by applying pressure on it......this seemed to work for about 3 months. Yesterday, I was listening to the TV which I had running through the receiver and BOOM! the receiver blew....no display, no sound, just a click when I turned it off/on. I could smell it burning also. So, what did I do? I took it outside and literally smashed it to bits with a hammer. Sony produced a lemon, refused to acknowledge the problem and as a result convinced virtually every person who bought this garbage to never again buy another Sony audio product.

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Yamaha and Pioneer

Ease of use. Style and functionallity and power.

Wish it had a Dolby Digital hookup for my DSS receiver and Video 3.

I have owned this receiver for over 4 years now and have never had a problem. I agree with most that there are many nice features and they are easy to use. The remote is also very nice, however, I do not use it because I have a Harmon Kardon/Microsoft remote. It does run hot, but with proper ventilation I have had no problems...even at higher volumes. It is a solid receiver and well built as far as I am concerned.

Works really well for a short period of time under highly controlled conditions (maybe)

Quality. Life expectancy.

Came across this site looking for repair options. Yes, have lost front/rear speaker channels like many others here. Liked this unit when it worked (though I agree with some of the other design complaints). This equipment has had an easy life: have kept an external fan on this unit, set to come on with the unit, and have never cranked it up past 40% (and that was maybe twice). If it can't survive that it never had a chance. So ever though I liked it, I'm giving it a low rating (If the first half of your burger is really good, but the last half rotten, you'll rate the whole thing rotten). After reading info here, I don't think I will have it repaired. And I will be shopping a different brand. I think I paid for a full burger here, and only got half a burger, so sony has gotten all my money they are going to see for awhile. Had I known what I was buying I would have passed. Thanks for the valuable info shared on this site.

lots of strenghs, see above

In the final analysis sound is how one judges ones sound system. with only one out of five channels working properly, i have to give it a 1 out of 5 rating. It's too bad companies like sony have so little integretty. If it loosing the front and rear channels was just bad luck, no problem. When it happens to nearly every owner i consider it NOTHING LESS THAN FRAUDULANT. How long do you suppose Sony kept selling this product after discoving it was defective? They surely realized it was flawed early on. I wonder how much other equipment and property was damaged as a direct result of Sony's negligence.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. This was my first A/V receiver and I must say I am very impressed with all of the features that this receiver was meant to provide. I love the learning remote, the two channel music/acoustic field, the A/B speaker switch (note: I think the A+B is a dangerous choice). The options for custom setting up of your speakers was simple and powerful. Allowing things such as background functioning of components while viewing/listening to others gives tremendous flexibility. Unit looks nice and has generous controls directly on the unit making it easy to control with or without the remote. Customization of dsp effects on/off for dsp effects and equalizer...i could go on..BUT, AND THIS IS A MAJOR DETAIL!!! YOU GUESSED IT: LIKE VIRTUALLY EVERYONE WHO HAS EVEN LOOKED AT THEIR SONY STR-DE915 CROSSEYED, MY REAR SPEAKERS BLEW, now i am relegated to 3-speaker dolby...well, really 2 1/3 speakers because my right front speaker only whispers. my digital rf outputs does not work - either do to failure, or maybe it cannot "see" the surround speakers, therefore removes digital input from its internal choices...who knows?

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Aiwa (really great sound)

Never buy sony again

should have never bought sony

I am another Victim! Sony will have to pay! I can not believe this! The unit never worked right in the first place, But now it is just sitting there collecting dust because my speakers don't make sound unless I want to listen to it thru the center speaker, just like every one else here who thought they were spending all the extra money for a superior product! No more sony!

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nothing like this Sony SH-1-t

Price, sound, looks & features.

Crappy internal design. Runs hot which causes speaker outputs to be blown.

When it worked it sounded great. Now the rear channels are blown. What a lemon. It's, unintentionally, designed to break. Do not buy this product unless your into electronic repairs.

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Onkyo

Looks nice. Adequate Power Amplifier.

Poor circuit protection

My friend gave me this reciever for free because it had the same problem everyone else seems to be having. When i opened it i found the finals for the right and left channels to be blown and have come to the conclusion that SONY's protection(or should i say lack of protection) is what causes these problems.

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JBL Philips