Value, Sound Quality, Features, remote, on screen display, ease of use

Inputs, lack of digital cd input, but just rename MD to CD and problem solved but sony should have put an optical in for cd,

I just got this receiver about a month ago and hooked it up (didn't even need to check the manual, thats how easy it was to hook up) to my old pioneers (i have a pair of JBL S310's on the way)and was impressed by how much better my speakers sound when hooked up to this unit. The power output is very good, and the clarity was improved also. I was impressed by the number of features i found. The remote is great, it controlls my VCR,DVD, and my cd player as well as my television, love the remote, had to teach it to run my DVD player but that took a whole 10 minutes. I strongly disagree with the reviews that said the remote was hard to use. The 2 way delay is hardly noticeable either, i like the fact that functions that you rename on the receiever also show up on the remote as well. The lack of a digital cd input is unforgiveable, especially since all sony cd players have a digital optical output, why they would neglect to put one on this mid level receiver is beyond me, but that is easily worked around by using the MD in as a cd input, but when i get my playstation 2 where will i put the digital in? hmmmm? don't know about that. Any suggestions, is it possible to use the optical in for the DVD somehow with another video source? doubt it but maybe i'll give it a shot. I wish it had at least one more svideo input as well, but for the price i bought it at i really can't complain, i'll make due with what i have. I'm not on a huge budget here, gotta scrap together what money i can to spend on my new system. I was nervous about going with a sony but i'm glad i did. If you can deal with the lack of inputs, then i strongly recommend this model to anyone who is looking for a great product at a really great price. I love sears' price matching policy, check out ecoustics.com for great prices to use for this.

Great Sound, OSD, number and variety of Analog/Digital connections

No volume knob light, spring clip C/LS/RS connections, The cool remote that could have been.

Originally got the 545 before reading the reviews. Generally liked it though after considering Sears figured I could get a lot more bang for the buck. Looked at getting the 845. After considering the programable nature of the 945's remote I figured I would drop another $50-100 on a good remote anyways so might as well get the other benefits of the 945 over the 845 for the same extra $$$. Well sprung for the 945 at Sears (dudes gave me a hard time about price match but I figured I would just go to another Sears to get the price further down to the actual internet price. (never did as I decided I really was gonna return it a few days after trying this out in my home.

Overall it is a nice receiever though I was disappointed (as I often am when simple things are not purely simple and when cool features stop short of being truely great) at the otherwise well intentioned remote.

Overall the usability of the remote is great except for a few nitpicky things. I would think that the cursor lever woudl have a default behavior, but nooooo, you have to press some other button FIRST for it to do ANYTHING (such as function, soundfield etc). I would expect the default behavior to be volume up/down and press for mute or something similarly intuitive. (I know there are buttons on the front to do this already but IMHO (ok IMNSHO) there should eb a default behavior)

The 2 way lag really annoyed me. It is not horrid but I still found it annoying.

It woudl have been realy nice to be able to delete/disable/whatever the inputs which I simply do not use. The only inputs I used were VIDEO1,TV/SAT, TAPE1 and DVD. It would have been nice to hide the unused functions so I simply scrolled amongst the onse I used rather than dealing with the huge list of inputs of which I used less than half. (I did mention I was picky right??)

The macro functions were virtually unusable. Unless I am a complete idiot (as some of you might suggest) only having 2 macros is stupid. The sub1,sub2,sub3,etc thing is stupid without being able to rename all of these to what they actually do. I would have liked to simply select DVD and have a macro run to do everything that would be required to watch a DVD. alas I could not see how this was possible without using MACRO1 or MACRO2 towards the bottom of the funtion list for the device.

In general the front panel of the remote was elegantly simple and easy to use. If it were simply more programmable and could assign any function/macro to ANY button (and not do the things I criticize above) then it would have been the best remote I have ever used.

As you can see, my biggest beef is with the remote (actually the main reason I bought the 945 over the 845 as stated above) therefore it was for this reason I bumped it back into the Sears inventory. I am back into the market but am not gonna buy a $3000 RCV just to get a great remote. From what I have seen (actual use will tell) I suspect Denon or especially Onkyo may have more flexible remotes. (though without the elegant simplicity of the front of the Sony remote).

One last note...When is someone gonna have the converters built into the receiver to allow ANY video input to be fed to the SVIDEO feed to the TV? If you have both composite and SVIDEO devices then the TV/monitor must be swithed between inputs. Converters are available but c'mon, build it into atleast the upper end models if not the mid range too.

P.S. for Receivers with multiroom outs, be able to redirect not only the AUDIO but video signals as well.

Anyone got a receiver witha truely intuitive and simple remote with great programability? lemme know.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DE545

Price and features

None

Just purchased at Sears with internet price matching. Still can't believe the price. Not only did the salesman match but also knocked off another $50!

Right now only Infinity RS-3 L/R speakers, VCR, and Dish but looking forward to building the complete system. This is my first purchase of audio equipment since 1981 replacing a great old JVC receiver. The magnitude of all the equipment and features available today is overwhelming.

Compared to Yamaha and Pioneer and the 945 is the best bang for the bucks. After looking for about three months, the Sony 945 is the best deal around, hands down.

Similar Products Used:

None

Great sound, lots of inputs/outputs

Digital coax does not work ( unlock on display )

Thias is a great reciver, i bought it becouse of your very helpful reviews and looks/sound options.

The only problem i'm having is trying to connect a directv decoder into the reciver (the decoder has not an optical out). I plug the coax out of the directv into my 945 digital coax input and there is this UNLOCK word in my display when i select digital coax on input mode, somebody here had the same problem but i emailed him without an answer. Please, if somebody knows what's wrong please email me, i'm going crazy about this.
Everything else is working great, very good buy.
BTW, the new models (975, 1075)are coming out soon so you may be able to get a great deal on this.

Similar Products Used:

Technichs 940

Great sound at high volumes, good bass response, POWER!

gets damn hot after a while

I bought this reciever after the DA-777. That reciever was too much for me. So I looked through a lot of brands before deciding on this one. I chose it because of the great sound, and it's power output. You have to love all the inputs and options that it gives you. I would say that anyone out there who wants to start somewhere in the upper middle with their reciever this would be the one to go with.

It doesn't get hot like the Yamaha I had previously and it is more powerful for the price than what I had expected.

Haven't seen any yet.

I have had the Sony STR-DE945 now for just over a month now and it was one of my best buys ever ! I paid half the price that I would have paid if I had bought it from a retail chain. This was my first time buying online too, so this was a big deal for me.

Lots of inputs, all selectable. Good Gui.

No banana plugs, poor quality amplifier

My first real impression was - where are my banana plugs? No s-video on the front? Yes, yes, but looking in a store/online and hooking it up at home are different.

This receiver is a very good consumer unit. It has a good gui and lots of inputs and outpus.

However, it faired poorly in my "Brother in Arms" test. I have a Pioneer 906s with NHT Super Zeros and SB2 sub in my game room. In the my family room I put Definitive Technologies Pro 80 Cinema with sub. And a new receiver. These are not top of line system, but good a/v enthusiast systems.

I was very disappointed with the sound quality of the 945. New room, new speakers, new receiver. It was much more boomy in the mid and high end than my game room system, with little bass unless cranked up.

I sent the Sony 945 back and bought a Pioneer 710s. It lost the GUI, but the sound is SO much better, and it has component switching.

I did not decide if I liked the Sony remote. Very nice, but there were a lot of presses to switch from SAT to DVD.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer

Sound Quality and Neighbor crushing wattage

Super Nova heat output
Volume Control indicator

I bought this unit to complement my Sony 53" RPT. I have hooked up the Yamaha Surround sound speaker package CLS-150, which included a 100W Powered Amp. I will probably NEVER see anything past 1/2 volume with this system unless my wife & neighbors are all at least 500 yards away from my living room. The sound is crisp even at high volume. I have two complaints, though....
1) If you are looking at this unit be prepared to make some provision to cool it.....I don't care what ANYONE here says, this unit gets hot enough to fry an egg on it. In my case an external fan wil be the solution. I plan to plug it in to the power outlet on the back so the fan will turn on and off automatically with the unit.
2) How is it possible that Sony's lower end receivers have a volume indicator light but this one doesn't? Operationally, it is my only complaint.

$ = VALUE
Excellent

HOT????? heck no....it's just as warm as your body temp!
And for the people new to Home theatre, the manual does suck but hey.....the internet's here...right?
No Coaxial for Sat. TV.

This receiver rocks....the remote is really not that hard to use...i'm actually also using this remote for my ps2!(This remote learns/gets the signal from other remotes then Voila) ETC.......
I'm using sony save815 speakers with this receiver....man.....perfect match....(If you have the best receiver but your speakers suck...then of course quality is not that good...Common sense!)
I love it when that blue light lights up....try watchin Top Gun, Gladiator, The Martix and MI2 in DVD Dolby or DTS....thank you Sony!!!!!!

Always plan..and check for compatibility with your other A/V components..like I did..look at the back (outputs/inputs) of your TV, VCR, DVD, PS1or2,etc...before buying one....that's why you'll see some complaints and make sure you have good quality wires/cables....they're very important....

This receiver is a Home Theatre receiver!
(If your planning to have decibels that will shatter your eardrum.......this is it...but don't get Sony save815 speakers if you're planning to shake the furniture...doesn't handle max volume bass...but good enough for the house and if you want to see complaining neighbors)

good luck!

Similar Products Used:

onkyo, harm-kar

$ = VALUE
Excellent

HOT????? heck no....it's just as warm as your body temp!
And for the people new to Home theatre, the manual does suck but hey.....the internet's here...right?

This receiver rocks....the remote is really not that hard to use...i'm actually also using this remote for my ps2!(This remote learns/gets the signal from other remotes then Voila) ETC.......
I'm using sony save815 speakers with this receiver....man.....perfect match....(If you have the best receiver but your speakers suck...then of course quality is not that good...Common sense!)
I love it when that blue light lights up....try watchin Top Gun, Gladiator, The Martix and MI2 in DVD Dolby or DTS....thank you Sony!!!!!!

Always plan..and check for compatibility with your other A/V components..like I did..look at the back (outputs/inputs) of your TV, VCR, DVD, PS1or2,etc...before buying one and make sure you have good quality wires/cables....they're very important....

This receiver is a Home Theatre receiver!
(If your planning to have decibels that will shatter your eardrum.......this is it...but don't get Sony save815 speakers if you're planning to shake the furniture...doesn't handle max volume bass...but good enough for the house and if you want to see complaining neighbors)

good luck!

Similar Products Used:

onkyo, harm-kar