Same as others in it range. But take that with a grain of salt.

Quality Control. Im writing this review.

Well, I have the sony str-315, has never given me a problem,
Now I finally upgrade to the ES line, and boom,I got a lemon
Dammit I hate when that happens, during watching a movie, the volume started flickering up and down?? Called sony, said its definitly a defective, ok no problem now what,take it to your local service center"only way to get it fixed" and wait about 3-4 weeks for repair, what the hell, sure everyone wants to plunk down $700-1000 just to send it in for an extra month "at your exspense" forget that, shipped it back, Lost $30, and went with the Denon 3801. I can't put into words what a difference it makes, sony has its up's if you can find a good unit, but the Denon with lower watts sounds louder and more filling, sony only lets you go to 10 feet distance on speaker settings, Denon lets you go up 40 feet, I kid you not, I had the sony db-940,444es,and Denon 3801 and bench tested them, Dvds,video games, really worked with the settings, I had 2 weeks on the DB&ES and 1 on the Denon, even got a second opinion just not to be biased, I am telling you people, spend the extra $150 and get the Denon 3801, better amps, better build, and better sound, but dont get me wrong, the sony kicks ass on video games, my friend kept yelling in my hear,its generic, its generic, you don't buy a Mid-High end reciever from someone that can sell you a blender. He was right. On a note if any you own Definitive Technology Speakers, Dont even think about getting any other reciever other than a denon, these 2 go hand in hand. It makes all the difference in the world when you can sit and really test these units with your own setup and speaker system. And now after 3 recievers two of which I had to be shipped back, the denon won.

Similar Products Used:

DB-940,Denon 3801

Alot of connection, digital input even for cd, preouts for hooking up amps, good clean sound, plenty of power and has a on screen display

I found the manual not to be to helpful and the volume knob doesn't have a light indicator

This receiver is great, my movies sound even better then before, my cd's sound like they have life in them, sure there are better receivers out there but your going to pay an arm and two legs for it and I know it is not perfect but for the price you can't go wrong with this one. This receiver has all the connections you need to start with and the beauty of it is that if you want more power all you to do is add an amp or two or three even upto five seperate amps. If you want to buy a good quality built receiver but don't want to be homeless, this is the one to get, I highly recomended.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DB830,STR-DE925,STR-DB940 and the ONKYO TX-DS777

Great Sound, Great Video

Gets very warm..... active external ventilation helped inmensely. the hoakie 6th channel! (or lack of it)

So far, the amp has been performing beautifully. for an all-in-one amp/receiver this unti performs great.

The sound is extremely clean.... i have all my A/V hooked up to the Monster HTS5000 power center... extremely happy with the unit.

If i would be inclined to use 6.1 this unit don't cut it.... you can either sacrifice the front center channel for the rear-center channel or use the 'phantom' rear-center decoding.... either way this is 5.1 with a phaton 6th channel... maybe should be called 5.1.0.0.1 since 'phantom' is trully weak compared to a real channel.

I use this mostly for HT in 5.1 in the prefered DTS and then use DD otherwise. Awesome performance.

multitude of features for the money. Numerous jacks. automatic decoding. Clear sound 120 watts per channel.

remote can be better particulary LCD light. Remote is not very ergonomic could fit in hand much better. manual need to be more expansive.

I am very pleased with my 444ES. I thought baout getting the 555ES but did not want to spend another $200 just for the touch screen remote, which is the only difference bewtween the two.
I have had my receiver for about 3 weeks now and hav enot problems ot report. The sound is clean and impressive in HT. I htought about getting the Pioneer VSX 39THX but although I am crazy about that model did not see myself paying $1700 for an high end with THX and DTS ES when at $700 the 444ES provides high end performance and sound. Maybe I will make a foray into that price stratosphere down the road. Certainly if I had the money I would have bought the pioneer.
I have palyed a variety of music from good old Miles Davis and John Coltrane Jazz,Kenny G, classical pieces and a good thumping Shaggy's CD and am plese with the way clarity of the sound. Of course your speakers have a lot to do with that and my Def Tech BP2006TL is unforgiving in reprodction of all recordings. Any thing about 11:00 on the volume is overwhelming.
Of course I wish it had THX and DTS ES but for the price you have to be pleased. I am concern about the defective pieces some buyers have experienced - from non functioning to overheating. From the get go my 444ES has performed to form. It gets hot and I have compared it to the Marantz top model and notice the same level of heat. If you ventilate it well enough, you shoudld be OK.
Overall, a great value for the money. It is amazing how much more expensive Denon, Onyko, Yamaha and others are with less features. I trust the Sony brand original items that I have bought that have not had a problem since day one of ownership. I expect hem to iron out any kinks in the system.

Similar Products Used:

my set up:

Sony DVP 660
SOny VCR
JVC 27" TV
Def Tech BP2006Tl L/R speakers

Strengths: Purchased system for my parents:Its really perfect for there needs. The system will be mainly for Home Theater-DVds and Satelite. I must say the sound was surprisingly much better than expected for home theater listening.

The set-up took me a while to get correct. The remote could use improvement.

Purchased At: www.acousticsounddesign.com
Review Summary: The System I purchased:
Energy Encore $1095
Sony ES STRV444ES $739
Denon DVD-1000 $339
The Sony and Denon came in one box double boxed. Mike from acoustic sound included a DVD kit at no charge. For entry level home theater speakers this set updoes the job well.

Adjustable crossovers!, good power, nice design, 5 year warranty

HISS!

Good features, and power - however, the hissing is unacceptable! I bought this to replace my Kenwood VR-407 in my bedroom. I hooked it up, turned it on, and HISS from the rears! I do have them ear-level and about 3-4 feet away from my listening position, but hiss with the volume completely down is wrong. My cheap Kenwood doesn't hiss!

Apparently, this is a known problem... however Sony denies it and says it's within spec! I even went out and bought another one after people at www.hometheaterforum.com suggested that it might be a bad batch from J&R - bought one from my local dealer, and had the SAME problem.

Alot of people deny that theirs hisses. They MUST have more room in their room, and have their surrounds in the back farther from the listening position. STILL, this is not acceptable and I don't know how Sony can refuse to acknowledge that they have a problem. This is their ES top of the line. Not DE!

I bought a Denon 2801 instead and absoletely love it. Slightly better sounds, and NO HISS whatsoever. And I saved $100 too!

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-407, Denon 2801

good clean sound

comlex controls if not use to...

sony elite is one of the best sound in the market, reliable. Complex controls, but when you get use to the controls it is very easy to operate, even my wife have no trouble using the av reciever.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer elite vsx24,

Digital decoding for 5.1, DTS and CD. More than enough power. Excellent remote.

None that I have encountered yet

I thought that I would never part with my Denon AVR3000. I even upgraded it with a Vantas Dolby Digital decoder. The sound was good, but not great. I next borrowed a new Sony 444ES receiver that has turned out to be one of the best I have ever used. I had tried Sony before, and although the Digital sound was okay, my CD's had no punch even when using an optical cable. The Sony DB940 changed my mind, even though I was dissapointed with two features. The 'autobetical' function that was supposed to tune in stations did not work in my area (New York!!) and there was no digital input for a CD, unless you used one of the MD/DAT inputs and changed the name on the front panel. You still had to select MD/DAT as the input. I found out later that these DB models are meant for sale in England. Getting back to the 444, it is the best receiver that I have heard in a long time. It is very easy to operate and set up. The remote can do everything, and can download CD info if you have a Sony multichanger. All in all a well developed unit at an affordable price.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DB940- Denon 3600- Denon AVR95- Sony DA30ES- Pioneer VSX24TX

Features

Fires

I thought the feature on this usit were great, and that the price was pretty reasonable. The problem is with the HEAT.

The sales rep noted that the unit has had one of the production runs recalled due to overheating and starting fires.

I had the unit installed for about 4 hours and was watching American Beauty on very low volume, when the unit dropped the audio, went into a "PROTECTOR" mode, and requested that I turn off the system. Before I could even get to the system to turn it off, a spark flash and smoke came out of the top. I hope that his is not a more widespread issue, but I could not bring myself to get another. I converted to the Denon AVR-3300.

Check with you sales rep to make sure you do not have a fire-starter.

Similar Products Used:

Dennon AVR-3300

Versatile, 2 coaxial digital inputs, 2 component inputs and 1 out, good sound in all modes, phono input.

Price? Some DSP modes may be noisy for audiophiles. Digital volume control.

I upgraded my Sony STR-DB940 for this baby, and like the other reviewer am somewhat disappointed. The build quality on the outside is almost identical to the DB940 with a slight improvement overall, not a high end ES but very acceptable. The inside of the unit reveals that this is more of an ES unit (compared to the 940). The circuit board seems more robust and the layout is alot cleaner, components used, like capacitors are a finer grade and the transformer is larger with the ES logo on top. The rear of the reciver is well layed out, clean looking and has many analog and digital inputs and outputs. I'm glad to say this unit has 2 component ins and 1 out, 2 coaxial inputs (no outs) and plenty of optical ins and 1 out. Because the unit has all these capabilities it's very versatile and I'm sure can be used in an unlimited amount of ways. The electronics are good, clean sounding except for some white noise in certain DSP modes at higher levels, although less than the DB series. There are many DSP presets and all speaker parameters are adjustable for every channel, this includes EQ for bass, midrange and treble with adjustable slopes and center frequencies, as well as cross-over frequecies for every channel. All surround modes sound good including analog sources. The unit seems to have plenty of power, rated at 120W x 5, to drive most speakers. The unit has too many features to list here, but I can say it will do almost anything except wash clothes! Although the unit is very versatile and can do much in a nice package, you just can't get the sound quality as with seperates, so audiophiles should look elsewhere, but to the music and H/T lover, this unit performs very well, clean and powerful, give it a listen, you might like it. Any specific questions, email me.

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR300, Sony STR-DB940, Sony ES TAE2000ESD.