AC-3/DTS Decoding, 100w per channel, Price.

Still has same heat issues as the 930

I have only had this reciever for about a week and I was very hesitant on purchasing it after hearing the reviews on last years model the 930 and all its problems with heat and burnt out circuits. I still decided to give it a shot. So I bought it and hooked it up and let it run for a good while playing an audio cd. From what I could tell there was abosolutely no heat issues so I moved on. I decided to throw in a good dvd and let it play it for a good 45 to 60 minutes. Anyhow right off the back it started getting hot, real hot so I checked the fan in the back and noticed it wasnt even on so I reaised the volume to about 10 o'clock and still nothing. So I decided to start playing the audio cd again in order to have the fan come on and suck the heat out and then I would turn it off.
I found it really strange that the only time the fan would come on while playing a movie was when there was something going on that had alot of bass then when the bass stoped so would the fan. This was a big problem considering that most of a movie is people talking, which doesnt have alot of base to it and I thought if I tried to watch a whole movie my reciever would proabaly fry out.
So what I decided to do was get a hold of an extra 80x80x20mm computer case fan and snip off the power connector and then find a 12V DC adapter that gave out the same amps or at least as close to the fan as possible and snip the end of of that. Then I went to radio shack and pick up some but connectors (which cost me about 2 bucks) and then join the 4 sniped wires and crip them together and then plug them into a wall socket and test them out. Once I saw the fan turn on I went and got a drill and where the screws are supposed to go I drilled in to there to make the whole bigger to accomidate the end of the screws that where attached to the fan that came already mounted on the back of the reciever then making sure the fan was facing the right direction (meaning that it would be blowing air out of the reciever). I mounted it right on top of the first fan then secured it with just a few small drops of crazy glue so that it would hold good enough but also would allow me to take it back off if need be. Now all that was left to do was plug the DC adapter to the back of the reciever so that the second fan would come on when the reciever powered up and would run full time.
And now I got both fans and when I am playing music both fans come on 1 when it needs to because of lots of current going through the amp becuase of loud volumes or loud bass or whatever ( I am not an engineer haha Like you couldnt guess)and the other fan just stays on full time which is definitely necessary when playing movies at all or playing music at very low volumes.
Now my reciever stays absolutely cool whenever I use it and for the price ($199.00) and with all the features on it you cant beat it. And all you have to do is take like an hour out of your day if even that and spend about 15 bucks for butt joints, a case fan and an adpater and that's if you dont have that stuff lying around your casa like I did and you have a real quality piece to add to your HT ensamble.

Value definetly a 5*****
Overall I give it a 4**** cause you have to make a couple of little modifications yourself (not a very big deal if you have half a brain and a little time to spare.)

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Kenwood vr357

Features, easy to setup out of the box, gobs of power

Speaker wiring posts flimsy, chassis feels cheap

I purchased this receiver as part of a total Techniques package including their SB-T200 speakers, graphics equalizer, RS-TR272 dual cassette deck, and SL-MC4 60+1 cd
juke box, and the SB-CSC135 suuround speakers. I've only had it a week and I have had the oppertunity to test it in stereo mode. I had a scare last night when I listened to the "Tea-Party's 1st cd at 75% volume. It sounded crappy, the symbols were spitting instead of a clean crash, vocals were muddied, just general distortion. (I've played classical music CDs not quite at that volume level and the sound was very clean and defined. ) I then
put on "telegraph road" from the Love Over Gold Album by Dire Straits. This was vinyl I was using. I was very relieved to hear the sounds as being very clean at the previous volume level. Lots of power and dynamic reserve.
Like most people who own this receiver, I noticed that this unit runs very hot at lower volume levels. I noticed that it ran considerably cooler when I bi-amped my speakers (something that can be done with SB-T200's).

Price, DTS, Dolby Digital

Heat

Excellent product. My only concern was the heat, but for less than $20 I bought a fan in Radio Shack, put it in the back A/C connection and the problem was gone.

Good bass response... Nice style..

Can't play loud, bad surround in pro logic, If my TV is on, and I have chosen another channel on the receiver i still can hear the TV..

I tried this receiver for one week, and then decied to take it back to the store.

It has pretty bad quality in stereo, and worser in Prolog mode! It had hiss in prologic mode, even at low volumes. The receiver has pretty good bass. (If you want to know, I have a pair of Genexxa gx-1000 speakers, pretty old, but I like them.) You can NOT play at high volumes, it really doesn't like that! If my TV is on and I have another channel, e.g. the DVD channel on the receiver, I still could hear the the TV!

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Hmm... I had a mini-hif stereo before, but i must admit that I liked that better than this... I had no problem with that stereo, but with this I had many problems.....

3 Optical Inputs/Power/Great Sound

No Digital Coaxial Inputs

I've got 2 DVD players & 1 Laserdisk player, and the 3 optical inputs worked out just fine! In the CD optical in, I have my Sony 530, in the DVD optical input, I've got my Toshiba 3109, and in the TV input I've got my Pioneer Laserdisk player.

For the Price I paid, & the 3 inputs, I just gotta love this one.

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--

Power, dynamic headroom, ease of use(once it's set-up), clear and simple display.

Heat, complex set-up

Once you are all set-up this unit is very simple to use. You set each source individually and all those settings stay with that source, ie. if you set the DVD to optical in, DD and each speaker at a certian level and CD to line level jacks, SPC, LIVE and completely different speaker level settings, all those setting return when you select that source.
Here lies part of the problem, with 6 or 7 possible sources you spend a couple of hours just getting set up. Also, set-up its self is a pain, some adjustments can only be done on the unit and some only on the remote.
Personally I like having the specific control, but new home theater users may be overwhelmed with this model.
As far as the heat issue goes, my old Technics ran very hot as well and it's 7 or 8 years old and still works fine.

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Early 90s Technics Pro-Logic, Yamaha w/outboard surround

Great sound (with a good set of speakers), features, Price

None so far

I can't understand why all the gripes about this receiver. I've shopped around for a receiver for some time now, and feel that I got the best bang for the buck!

Here are the things I considered before I bought this guy.
1) People say it runs HOT!
OK, it does. I'm sure that the engineers who designed this thing, know exactly how hot it gets. If heat was an issue, the reciever would not have been released for sale. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm willing to bet that I'm not. Technics have always made good quality products!

2) People say its noisey.
I never got a speck of noise out of mine. If I did, I would have returned it, but, not before checking all my other components attached to it.

3) I needed Dolby 5.1 and DTS decoders for my HT. I got this and optical outputs to boot.

4) I wanted 100W/ch. I play my music loud. This thing more than meets this requirement. It actually has more power than I need to fill a large living room!

5) I didn't want to spend a fortune!

I'm not wrong here. People who have listened to my systm claim that it has the best sound they've ever heard. It really kicks butt!

Mind you, I have a Paradigm PW2200 sub, and Paradigm Monitor III speakers, and Technics Center, and surrounds.

I simply can't ask for more!

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Have had Technics reveivers/components for the last 10 years

Outstanding power and features for the money. Easy to use
and ergonomically friendly. 3 optical inputs!

Bananna plugs on the mains only. Flimsy remote. Chassis could be beefier.

As an avid A/V fan and audiophile having experience with much higher priced components, I was really skeptical at first concerning this purchase. Not necessarily because of the low price or the fact it was not high end but because of the trouble associated with this models previous incarnation, the SA-DX930. Having owned quite a bit of other Technics products (I still have my SU-V85A integrated amp, a very rare bird.), I expected quality at a good price. And being married and a father of three dictated that I should listen to my in house accountant, my wife. Well, as per my previous experiences, I came away quite pleased. I began my round of tests using a Rotel test CD and a Radio Shack digital SPL meter. My speakers are Infinity SM120 Monitors. I first tested the stereo channels cycling through all modes of the built in soundfield compressing modes, checking for accuracy and balance. Well, to say the least I was blown away. Such accuracy at such a low price should be a crime. After this I played a various selection of Dixieland Jazz, Urban, Classical, and Classic 70's Rock. Clean, and undisturbed (unless my infants ran in screaming), I was left with an eargasm. In the Dolby modes and DTS I was also impressed (inspired?). Using the same fronts, my surrounds are Infinity SM60 monitors and a Pioneer CM4x center. I also ran through all modes and came away impressed. The test CD revealed a possible area of weakness in the stereo surround area (coloration from the rears, but that should be expected). For my movie selections I used Twister (The F5 scene at the drive in), Gladiator (DVD), and Star Wars (modified). The reciver performed flawlessly and made my wife jump, kids look for mice, or anything that they thought may be moving aroung the listening room. The transitions were smooth and clean and objects that should sound like they were moving around my head did. Overall an excellent bang for buck value. I would recommend though, that the video in/outs be bypassed if possible as they do add some coloration to the picture, it's slight and most may not notice but it's there. And by all means, take the money you saved and get the optical cables. My wife moaned abouth the cost but she always has (24k connectors, Esoterica and Monster cables,etc.). You'll notice the difference. The remote is the most obvious area that they saved money, but it is easy to use (Just don't point it at the same area when you want to change the functions, I wanted to change the TV channel and it switched to TV from VCR). Plenty of power and ergonomically friendly (Call me old fashioned, I'm 32 and I like knobs, teeny buttons are annoying). Key to remeber,
this reciever has a low impendance function and I used it
with it on and off. The difference...Cold and Hot. Do your math when selecting your speakers and know the load.
8ohms front and rear = 4ohms = LOW IMPENDANCE. If you don't change the setting you will get heat and the funny smell. The fan serves it's purpose. And I think that
anyone turning it up at the 10 O'clock mark is trying to go deaf. It's not a party amp. Overall an outstanding product and kudos to Technics.

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Denon AVR1000, Onkyo TSX 930.

Looks, price

hissing from the speakers, heat

I purchased this Technics SA-DX940 at BestBuy about two months ago only to return it after few weeks. I went ahead with the purchase of this product for the low price and the amount of inputs available.
Upon hooking up this unit with to a PS2 and played a few CDs, I noticed some significant improvements in sound over my old Teac pro-logic receiver. But I noticed that there was reconizable hiss coming through the speakers when no music was played. There was also that heat problem. This receiver got pretty hot, just by having it turned on.
I did not feel any lack of power from the 100X5 amplifier, but the speakes I was using had efficient output.
The real downfall came when I hooked up my Kenwood Mega CD changer. The sound was extremely distorted. This is when I decided that I will return it and bought a Denon AVR-1601 for $375. This Denon sounds excellent. I came to realize that my initial impression of the Technics' sound quality was good only because my previous receiver was just really bad.
My conclusion is that it will be worth it to invest an extra $100 and buy an Onkyo or Denon.

My system consists of:
Front - Infinity SM-65
Center - Infinity Entra Center
Surround - Had a KLH, but returned it with the receiver.
(thank god)

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Denon AVR-1601, Denon AVR-1801

every thing!!!

HOT HOT HOT!!!

man this has got to be the best reciever i ever had ... except the heat part but i just bolted a dif. fan on the back and voila! it works fine, sounds gret, and well over all its just a good reciever and i HIGHLY recommend it to beginners and to every body

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