Best sounding receiver I've owned yet.
Plenty of sound control
Lots of personal choice selection
Does Dolby Digital, DTS, etc

Needs a three prong AC plug.
No RF remote

Lots of jacks on the back for just about anything you'd want. This is my favorite unit... I have no intentions of
trading it for anything... All of us at home just love this
receiver... The sounds from DVD movies really come to life.
We are hearing sounds the other receiver wasn't picking
up. At least were not as pronounced.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, JVC, Sony

5.1 Level adjustments can be made to help control Bass Management for SACDs.

None at this time. No true 6 channel output.

Very pleased with the receiver. LOTS if power. No heat issues, No hissing. Very clean sound.

Power, clarity, versatility, DTS, Virtual 6.1

None yet.

So far, I am very happy with this receiver. I bought it as a second system for watching DTS movies upstairs in my house. My other system is all seperate components that I have over $18K invested. I am using the Infinity Interlude speaker system. All speakers are matched and the subwoofer is seperate. The sound for movies is incredible. The sound for music is very good, but not as good as my downstairs system of course. The downstairs system does not have 5.1 however, only Dolby pro-logic.

I'm a bit amused by all the people who think they should be getting an audiophile product for $1300. I think the bang for the buck on this receiver is great. I have had no problems and no complaints. The temperature of the unit barely gets warm, even when I'm pushing it on a hot day. No hisses, no clicks, no fires. Just thunderous explosions coming from the speakers (when they're supposed to). I work as an aerospace engineer so I do have a little technical apptitude and understanding. I don't work for for Sony. I recommend this receiver even for upper scale enthusiasts.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer.

virtual 6.1, enough power, DSP quality.

not able to choose for REAL 6.1, cheap frontpanel, remote control (Sony always seems to mess things up regarding remotes)

Yes, you're reading it right, virtual 6.1 one of it's strengths. Let's be fair, most of us aren't able to place a rear-center in the living room. The virtual 6.1 feature works very well, Sony did a good job with this. While saying this, Sony did no job at all for those who don't mind about that rear-center speaker in his living room. These people will be majorly disappointed, there's no option for real 6.1, you won't be able to connect that rear speaker. If this isn't too much of a problem for you, then I can recommend you this machine. For this pricetag it's arguably the best sounding receiver on the market. Ofcourse there are better sounding machines, but these will cost you much more (as always in life).

My setup:
Sony STR-V555ES Receiver
Kenwood DVF-9010 DVD-player
Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD-player
Infinity Kappa 90 front-speakers
JBL LX 7 rear-speakers
JBL LX center speaker (first item on my update-list)
MIT Terminator 4 (bi-wired) speaker cables
MIT Terminator 5 interlinks
Van den Hul Coaxial interlink


PS.
You guessed it right, no overheating or hissing problems at all with my Sony.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood

Clear, Strong Sound. Features found only in $3000+ Systems.

Remote is unresponsive, but not as bad as most say.

If anyone out there gets one of these recievers that have hissing or power failures, just destroy it. I'm begining to think that you are returning to whatever failure of an internet company you bought it from and they ship it back out. I've had my reciever for 6, months problem free. Sure, the thing gets hot. At the sony store in Chicago, the 555 downstairs wasn't that hot whereas the one upstairs was scorching. Mine gets pretty hot (not warm, hot!), but I've provided a few inches on each side to let it air out and it works fine. Hell, I've left it on for DAYS on end, I accedentally left it on while I was on vacation for a week. The remote isn't that great, but I haven't had to change the batteries yet after half a year! The sound is far above usual consumer products and the rest of its execution is flawless. There might be something out there that sounds better, but there will always be. I don't want to have to buy a new reciever every 3 months. This one is great until Dolby 12.2 DTS EX Logic XIII comes out!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer, other Sony recievers.

Soundquality when ther is no hissing ,LCD remote

A lot of hissing

I bought this product three months ago.But Iam very dissapointed.I was ver suprised when I heard the hissing even when I turn the volume down .During the silence parts in movies is the hissing very irritating.I used much cheaper Denons and Yamahas but there is now hissing at all.Ofcourse is there hissing when you turn your volume up.But I think you can not accept hissing when the volume is down.Maybe those others reviewers who give five stars are very lucky.But there are also some reviewers with hissing and other problems.So you can say when there is no hissing or other problems than you have a good receiver.But still I think the price is too high.The sound quality from the yamaha RV 1000 and Denon 3801 are better.And ofcourse no hissing!So Sony what are you doing about this problem?I think there is time for action!When you look at the reviewers from the STRV-444ES.You see also a lot hissing problem.And this is the same receiver but whitout the LCD-remote.When you planning to buy this product ,don't make the same mistake what I did,listen first very good if there is no hissing.And what about the sound quality that's personal.

Clarity (as far as my experience goes). Multi decoding ability, more connections on the back than I know what to do with, analog direct is fantastic for DVD-A and SACD. *drool*

Remote can be trying sometimes, no 6.1, no light on the volume knob. H-E-A-V-Y....

Well, as I said before, I am a casual listener only, so all you freaky audiophile's, don't go apoplectic when you read this. I have never exeperienced Denon or stuff like that. I upgraded to the 555 from a Sony STR-835 about 2 months ago. My roommate had a Yamaha that I didn't like so I bought this thing and hooked it up. I must say that I was very, very impressed with the sound difference between this unit and his yamaha and my old sony. Everything is much more clear and articulate and the sound fields sound "oh so good." Ample power to suit me and my 2 bedroom house and the neighbors too. :) The 2nd AV is very, very helpful given that we do have 2 people in the house at once. I absolutely am in LOVE with the Digital inputs on the back, they make everything sound so much better. This review isn't going to be very comprehensive yet, expect a "War and Peace" sized update in a few months. So far as of yet though, I have not noticed any, and I repeat ANY of the aforementioned overheating issues, in fact, my reciever runs relatively cool. I just gave it about 1 1/2 inches of breathing room from the top of the entertainment center to encourage airflow. Also, I have not a trace of the "hiss at low volumes" like some people are complaining about. Also for the the Wood guy who posted before me, check out www.crazyeddie.com Maybe you should check your sources before you go opening your mouth.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing similiar, this is my first foray into the 1000+ category.

sound quality, power, features, remote

firmware, remote

Just got this baby a month ago, and it rocks! The unit runs very hot, but no overheating. I was told this was because the fan only turns on if ABSOLUTELY necessary, to preserve sound quality. As long as it doesn't burst into flames, I'll be happy.

I have noticed a few flitches with the firmware on startup - occasionally, the unit won't produce any sound, but following another reviewer's advice, cycling the power on / off a few time solves this. I think the problem may lie with the unit's 2-way remote, but this is just speculation. It seems that the problems have occurred after performing actions on the remote when the unit is off. It may be that the remote gets "confused" when it doesn't get a response from the unit, and stores remote signals to be sent when the unit is turned on. Then, when the unit is powered on, it gets bombarded with IR signals, causing it to bail. Again, I'm just guessing, but it seems as logincal as anything else.

Anyway, thet's why I said the remote was a strength and a weakness - it's very powerful, but maybe too powerful. I'm still looking into getting a more user-friendly universal remote, like a pronto.

And I'm not a die-hard Sony fan, either. My system will be all Sony, but that's simply because I don't want to mix-and-match brands for ease of use.

I do recommend this unit, even with its firmware flaws, especially if you can get it close to the price I paid ($1,122 CND). It blows away anything else in this price range.

My Current System:
SONY STR-V555ES
SONY DVP-S360
SONY SLV-999HF
KLIPSCH RF3 (mains)
KLIPSCH RS3 (surround)

Soon to be added:
SONY 32" XBR
KLIPSCH RC3 (center)

Great Sound and loads of features !

Haven't had it long enough to determine if there is any.

My fiance just purchased this product. I realize there isn't that many female reviewers on this site. Why is that ?

I really enjoy my fiances home theater. I don't think that I would personally have one this elaborate, But after listening to it, I would never settle for anything less now.

Even though he handles the remote, I really like the sound quality of this unit. He dragged me into several stores while auditioning several models from competitors. I must say, for the money, this thing is loaded with features. My ears could not distinguish any major differences that would sway me to purchase a different brand.


Let's see some more female reviewers here !

Let me start by saying that I have Sony everything. (Receiver, TV, DVD, CD, VCR, hell even my phone is Sony) I have been a Sony fan for a long time, but am starting to wonder about them. After owning the horrible Sony DE915 and having it blow up on me,(read the reviews), I decided to step up to the best all-in-one Sony offers. I was going to write a 5 star review until the receiver acted up for the second time last night. The volume will just start flickering for no reason. The first time this happened was just a couple days out of the box. Now, a month and a half later, it has done it again. The first time I thought perhaps the remote was sending some kind of signal, but this time no one had even used the remote for at least one half hour. They were both sitting on the coffee table. When this problem occurs, the display on the receiver flickers from the format decode information to volume and then the db flickers up and down, then the display returns to the format decoding information. It will keep doing this until you adjust the volume and then it will stop. This has happened both while watching DVD's and watching TV. Very strange. I called Sony today and the first question they asked was if it had gone into protect mode. I said no. He sounded concerned that it could. He said that I should try unplugging all wires and connections and replug them in one at a time, turning the unit on and off after each thing is plugged in. I asked him how this could help the problem. He said it helps the unit "not get overwhelmed" by plugging in all things at once and turning the unit on. What is up with that?!! I have never heard of such a thing. Has anyone else? I also asked if this problem had reported by others. He said that they don't give out that information. He also gave me the address of the Sony Service Center to send the unit to so that I would not have to call back in when his little remedy does not work. I think he knows that is not going to solve the problem. I did look to see if anyone else had posted something about this kind of problem and it looks as if one person has experienced the same thing with the V444. Just for reference. Just for reference, I don't know if it means anything, but my unit has a serial number in the millions (88#####). I am just disappointed that I would have this happened after paying up for Sony's top of the line receiver. Overall I like Sony, but it seems from reading reviews of various brands of receivers and other electronics, Sony product owners encounter more problems. I guess I will give this receiver a good value rating, but an "undecided" overall rating because I am not sure how this problem will turn out or what others will crop up. I will say that this unit has NOTICABLEY MUCH better sound than my previous model. The sound is cleaner and clearer. I am also able to hear a lot more sound from the surrounds. It DEFINITELY drives my big Klipsch KLF30s much better also. I do feel good about these benefits from buying this receiver.