My SONY STR-DE925 Receiver was purchased to replace an older model SONY 915. I purchased the unit over a year ago for the following reasons; 1) To replace an older SONY 915 which did not have DTS decoding and unbelievably the new unit was $300 cheaper. 2) The receiver at the time was the cheapest model on the market with DTS (in fact it was cheaper than some brands without DTS).

To fully utilize the SONY STR-DE925 features I use the 925 receiver with complimenting SONY products e.g. SONY CD Jukebox CDP-CX55. The remote of the receiver allows you to download all the CD titles from the player, which you can then display on a small but legible LCD display on the remote and scroll/select discs to play. With Jukebox style CD players I cannot live without this feature. All features are displayed on the remote’s screen or accessed by the buttons.

I connect all my components with optical cables, which gives me the best quality and keeps the back of my receiver really neat and tidy. SONY uses S-LINK that connects all the components and allows full control of all components from the receiver/remote. By pressing one button with this feature you can power on and select multiple devices e.g. if you press the VCR option the receiver will power on and select the VCR inputs, the VCR will power on and the TV will power on and select the VCR video input.

I highly recommend this receiver for people looking for excellent quality in product, performance and integration with SONY products. I have been very happy with my receiver for over a year now and have had no technical problems. I use the 925 receiver to listen to CD music and for my home theatre to watch TV, videos and DVD movies.

My only complaints are that the receiver does not have S-Video switching and I don't like having to open the lid on the remote to get to a lot of the DVD controls.

I have had my STR-DE925 for a few months now and it has been absolutly incredible. The sound produced is very true and for a Home Theater it is without a doubt the best out there for the money. If your looking to setup a Home Theater and want to spend $500 -$600 then do yourself a favor and get this Sony STR-DE925.

I reviewed this unit back in January, but the old database seems to have disappeared (mine was #54, so it appears that this site has its own bugs). At the time, I gave the 925 only 1 star because of some serious bugs, and I had sent it to the service depot. After 102 days (exactly) in service, I got it back. One of the problems (bad phantom center on Dolby Pro-logic) has been fixed, but the other one wasn't. I will upgrade this unit to 4 starts, and out of sheer annoyance at Sony service, drop it back down to 3. Nice features, nice sound, but reliability problems and a service department from hell.

I purchased my Sony STRDE-925 about three weeks ago, and have no complaints. I was in a Sears and found a pricing error. My unit was a returned Item that was priced at $229.00. What a steal!!! I have seen complaints about the Sony remote, and I have had no complaints. I have since gone to the Marantz RC2000 due to overall performance. I am using this unit with a Polk speaker system with an Infinity subwoofer. Two RT-400's, Two RT-3's, and a CS225 center speaker, with an Infinity BU120 subwoofer. With this combination the 925 sings. The bass is strong and you can feel the rumble, and the highs are crystal clear. For the money (would have been $499.00 normally) it is hard to beat this unit. It has more features than I think I will ever use. If I had an extra $1000.00 I would buy a Nakamichi, but until then the Sony works.

After my Kenwood 2080 receiver blew up on me, I decided that I was finished with Kenwood and went to the Sony STR-DE925. Upon first hearing this receiver I wasshocked at how natural the sound was when compared to the Kenwood. The bass on music CD's and DVD's are much more punchier and just sounds overall better. I was really surprised at how well it drove my high-end speakers and sub with good clean sound. After owning two Kenwood receivers that were both faulty it is a blessing to have a brand name I can trust.

Well, I won't pretend to be an audiophile with all the detailed knowledge of stereo equipment...(because I don't have the time to research in something I'll invest in maybe once every 5-7 years) I save that time to bone up on computers since they go out of date every 6-12 months! My desktop I bought last year was on display at the Smithsonian Museum in the ancient artifact room. Anyway, if you want to know what I think about my new Sony STR-925, I can tell you... that Veronica Vaughn is one fine piece of ase... Yeah, it works that good for me; I wouldn't have any fantasies about it, but you can legally buy it with money without the fear of being arrested for solicitation. Added to the fact that it only cost me about $300, it's a great deal. Hey, it might be a little more expensive then the girl working the corner, but you can guarantee that you won't get venereal diseases from sticking your banana jack into her receiver plug. You'll probably get a lot more output out of your sony too; at a 110 watts per channel, you can drown out her nasal whining in short order. The sony is very expandable... it has several optical ins and outs, 3 video modes and cd, tape, md/dat... etc. Man, with all these different modes, it's got more holes to play with than you know who. The sony comes with 28 different DSP's, more than I know what to do with, but it's nice to have options. So, all in all, if you have the means to buy one, go to your nearest pimp... err, I mean dealer and get your self a helluva ride!
Keep it real y'all...

Sombody somewhere here on audioreview.com called this the "most often broken down receiver there is" ... or something to that effect. I'd have to agree based on my experiences, though let me say up front that I now have a 925 that is working properly and it sounds great. I have it hooked to five NHT SuperOne speakers, which perhaps doesn't make for the best center channel, but as I said, it does sound good to me, which is the most essential thing. I have a small living room, so large speakers weren't practical for me.
Anyay, I first bought a 925 from Sears at a reduced price because it was an "open box." The sales person flat out LIED to me, saying the receiver was new, but the remote had been stolen. It was even wrapped in plastic, which was taped shut, to make it look like it had just been taken out of the box recently. Well, I got home and started going through the paperwork that came with it and I found a work order for service that had been done on that receiver more than three months earlier. It was purchased by someone else in December, taken in for service about two weeks after that and then, obviously returned. Needless to say, once I found this work order, I took it back as well.

Ordered another one from Uncles -- the salesman was pushy, but what do you want from New Yorkers who are selling you a Sony cheap? They shipped it double boxed and it seemed in good shape when I got it. But the first time I tried to use it, it went dead on me. I had to take it to the nearest Sony repair center (an hour away) to have them replace fuses. It was covered under the warranty. They tried to tell me that I must have had speaker wires touching to cause this, but I was very careful when I connected the speakers. Of course, something could have slipped out of place back there, but with this receiver's reputation for breaking down (see many other reviews, though some very telling ones have been deleted) leads me to believe it may not have been my fault.

As I said, the receiver sounds very good. It's extremely powerful, especially if you live in an apartment and have neighbors. The remote is complicated, but you get used to it after a while. I'm not too concerned about having S-Video. Maybe I should be? I don't know. The audio is my primary concern with a home theater. Plenty of inputs for everything. Now that my 925 is working I look forward to building my home theater around it.

Four stars for the trouble I went through.

The STR DE-925 is and interesting receiver. I have had the unit since October of 1998 and it did work well for a time. On the 5th week (one week after I would have been able to return the unit to my local Circuit City) I had a problem with it. I turned it on and I had no sound. I E-mailed Sony and they reffered me to a repair center in Bristol, Pennsylvania. This was not posible, so I used it a bit longer and still have occasional problems like the aformentioned. Now, just two weeks ago I turned the unit up to volume number "6" and all cut-off as far as sound goes. The following day I turned it on and their was no sound again and just today after reading a review on STR DE-825 last night I found that the unit gets extremley hot (just like the writer of the reveiw had mentioned was wrong with their unit). How hot did it get? How about 120 degrees ferinheight at only 2 3/4 volume. Hot enough for you? Well it gets worse, I called Sony again and once again they wanted me to send it to Bristol, Pennsylvania agin not a very practical solution for me. So, if you were thinking of getting one of these I highly do not recommend it. The features are nice, but the overheating could pose a possible hazard. I advise you to look at other brands with better reputations like Kenwood, Pioneer, Technics, and Yamaha. As for me I still have the unit and avoid using it, but will not sell it because of the problem. I am plainning to get one of the new THX Ultra certifeid Pioneer Elite receivers. If anyone has any advice for me please E-mail me.

At first was not sure about the sound but after a few tweaks the sound was good.Can not compare to receivers that are twice as expensive so why try? One complaint, it does seem to get hot. It hasn't shut down on me yet but it seems Sony could have enclosed a silent fan within the chassis. For this reason I give it 4 speakers instead of 5.

Guys there is something called amp fan you can buy one at R/S or at a Flea market. The receiver will run at its temp. Had an Onkyo 919 with Decoder 901 but they were totally damaged by a lightingvolt. Bought the 925 about three weeks ago, the break in its gone and let me tell you this piece really moves my SM155, SMVideo, SM185 and the active SSW212. Just a few things, channel separation and smooth center dialogue can't compare with the 919, the dialogue its to bright needs to lower the treble so it don't bother your ears. However in this category I don't think that any other Rec can step ahead. P.S. So remember to calibrate or level the channels with R/S sound level and you'll hear the difference. For now I stick to this one. As to the DD sound great. Remote control its okay.