clean and simple menu interface, range of video/audio outputs

tin can sound affect at times, slow menu loads on the hour, annoying "Searching for satellite" message

I have had this receiver for over a year. Although there are some shortcomings with it, it does the job.

The menu interface is probably the best out there. I like the fact that you can view the picture, read the show title/ description, and see the rest of the program line up...all at the same time.

This receiver also allows you to operate the remote from any room. I bought a second remote allowing me to use the receiver, which is in the living room, from the bedroom.

There are also some weaknesses that I mentioned above....but they do not happen all that often. I have been pleased with my DSS so far.....but I hope that Sony can correct some of the problems listed here for future models.

Dolby Digital Out, Great Remote Control, Menu System

Slow Menu loads on the hour, Audio Signal not Stable, Runns Very hot!

I purchased this Satalite box when I was working at The Good Guys! and love its menu system and remote control. I feel that it is a great decoder with a very respectable picture quality, but I have had some problems with this box as well. While watching Dolby Digital movie chanels (HBO 501, HBO2 504) the signal will cut out for a moment and then resume :-( Also while watching the Fox Sports West station (652) I am getting the "tinny" sound loss that others have writen about. I have to power cycle the SAT-A55 and then the sound returns to normal.

Overall: I love the picture and functionality of this box! It is a thousand times better than the RCA Dolby Digital SAT box. However, I have been very annoyed with the Sound problems and the very slow graphical menu loads. I have a Sony STR-DA555Es receiver (Great Dolby Digital Receiver) and am running the SAT-A55 audio to it with a Monster Cable 2 Optical Cable and still have some audio problems. I have tested the Amp and the Cable and have come to the conclusion that it is the SAT-A55 source that is the problem!

I am thinking of sending my box into Sony for service to see if they can clear up my audio problems.

Similar Products Used:

SAT-B50

Digital Cable versus (vs.) Satellite

Digital - Some Satellite - Many

Digital Cable vs. Satellite

For several years now, I have been a digital cable subscriber (Insight, Time Warner, and Americast). For the most part I’ve been pleased with the service but hearing and reading that satellite systems had even more to offer, I excitedly decided to jump on the bandwagon. As was advertised, I expected something far superior to digital cable - a 100% digital picture, true CD quality sound and immaculate reception. Unfortunately, these lofty boastings over digital cable turned out to be little more than advertising fluff.

Sound
The primary reason I decided to try satellite was because of the "cd-quality" sound. Satellite systems are supposed to be perfect for the home theater enthusiast and I was anxious to hear what it could do. The sound quality of my digital cable was ok on premium channels (HBO, Showtime) and better on Pay-per-view and MusicChoice (a group of cd-quality music channels). Surely, satellite would be that much better, right? Well, no. Satellite audio quality is not significantly better than digital cable audio. In fact, the differences between the two are, in my estimation, quite imperceivable. And neither formats deliver sound that is as robust and dynamic as a real CD or DVD. Although some satellite receivers and cable boxes feature Dolby Digital output, don’t expect this to sound anywhere near the thunderous blasts of Dolby Digital on a DVD. Don’t let the words "digital", "cd-quality", or "Dolby Digital" fool you when it comes to satellite or cable broadcasts. These are merely advertising buzz words designed to make you feel like your really getting something.

Picture Quality
If sound was not going to be as robust as I’d imagined, I would have been please if the picture quality was somewhat near what DVD’s have to offer. After all, it was a "100% digital quality picture" with 420 lines of resolution (almost equal to that of DVD). But once again I was sorely disappointed. Satellite does offer a "clean" picture, (devoid of visual noise) but in place of that you have a picture that is prone to pixelation, especially in visually intense scenes. As long as things were stationary the picture was good. But any kind of movement resulted in some noticeable pixelation and occasional aliasing. I also noticed some dithering in the picture. At first I thought my system was acting up but a quick trip to Best But and Circuit City confirmed what I’d feared. On close examination, their satellite feeds showed the exact same artifacts, even on different satellite receivers. I hadn’t noticed before because they used small monitors? I have a 36" Toshiba and it's quite apparent. I didn't suffer through this with my digital cable.

Channel Guides
This is where satellite really took a hit. The system they use to let you view what’s on other channels is truly medieval when compared to digital cable. First, the type of channel guide you get depends on your satellite receiver and can’t be upgraded as technology improves like the digital cable boxes. So you are stuck with whatever box(s) you buy. I have the Sony SATB55 that is supposed to be one of the best. But its channel guide is simply atrocious. Although it offers the "special feature" of allowing you to watch TV while you browse other channels (by shrinking the your picture to 1/4 size and bringing up the guide around it), as soon as you begin browsing it tunes to the channel you are browsing. To get around this you can choose another guide (the "index" button) which shrinks the screen and brings up a channel guide that you can browse without it tuning to the channel being browsed. But unlike the other guide it lacks any sort of program descriptions and you can’t look ahead to see what’s coming on. I won’t spend time telling you all the things you can do with digital cable’s menus, but suffice it to say that their much, much more "surfer" friendly.

Other bummers
Other bummers include the fact that you have to have a phone line near each satellite receiver you install (to receive channel guide information). This meant I had to install a phone line in the one of my rooms. When trying to look a few hours ahead on the channel guide, you frequently get an annoying "retrieving guide info from satellite" while it loads another section of the guide. Changing channels is frustrating because it takes time for the receiver to tune the channel (sound first, then picture). Digital cable is much faster in these areas and doesn’t require a phone line. On most satellite receivers there is oddly no channel display.

Price and Channels.
I’d heard a lot about satellite’s cheaper prices but I found this to no longer be the case. By the time I’d added local channels to my service, the price was identical to my digital cable. As far a channels, cable offers some that satellite doesn’t and vice versa. But overall you’re going to get the same basic choices (CNN, HBO, Nickelodeon, etc.). On sports, I’d give satellite the edge with some good NFL and NBA packages (for a price) . But some digital cable systems (Insight) offer On-Demand movies. With these, you don’t wait until the movie starts, it starts the moments you order it (on-screen). And you can pause and fast forward these movies, or watch them again and again if you’d like (for two days). In addition, most cable systems offer high-speed Internet services that are "always on" and don’t use phone lines. Similar satellite setups DO use phone lines and cost a pretty penny for a special satellite disk and receiver.

In the overall scheme of things, I wish I wouldn't have bought a satellite. It was at best a lateral move, confering no significant benefits and numerous hassles. I've decided to can the whole digital thing altogether, for now that is. There is simply nothing is broadcast TV right now that compares to the DVD experience. I'll just continue renting movies from Netflix, enjoying them the way they were meant to be enjoyed and wait for the "digital revolution" to finally catch up.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jete@columbus.rr.com.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Sat-b55, Hughes

Brand (Sony) matches all of my other equipment.

Bug in timer / record feature. Very slow menu updates.

This review is for both the SAT-B55 and SAT-A55. Both have the same problems. There is a bug in the timer / record feature. Sometimes, it won't stop my VCR once the event is over. I found out that it works (most of the time) if I leave the receiver powered on the whole time I'm gone (very strange). In addition to this problem, the menu guide updates VERY SLOW. It takes about 5 minutes just to get to a show 24 hours in the future. This is the first time I am disappointed with Sony equipment. I just hope Sony will replace these Beta verions.

Good picture, easy menu

The incredibly annoying tinny sound problem

Update to my earlier review; Sony now has a fix for the A55 receivers that works. I sent mine in and they sent me a replacement (actually, they have a pretty good process available where they put a $300 or so hold on a credit card, and send you the replacement unit first; then, as long as your unit arrives within a certain period of time, they take the hold off your card. Very easy process).

Anyway, the replacement (refurbished) unit has worked perfectly for over a month now - no tinny sound at all.

I like the menu set up and being able to see 6 channels worth of information.

Slow to receive satellite signal when hitting the schedule. This is especially true when at the hour or half hour. It seems I have to wait minutes, which seems more like hours. Signal loss on many occasions. Extremely poor customer relations. Slow pickup of satellite signal for menu items. Sometimes hollow/tinny sound on select channels.

I've owned many Sony products over the years from A/Vs to VCRs and have for the most part always been pleased with their performance and value. For 20 months the A50 worked fine, with the exception of the slow signal for menu items. Occasional tinny sound on some channels was irritating, but sometimes would change back to full sound if I changed channels and went back to it. Then it just went dead.
I sent off my receiver 3 weeks ago to Sony. It seems my local dealer isn't allowed to repair it. Sony requires them to have a service technician attend their training, but then won't even give them the schematics or parts to repair. All they can do is send it in. The problem was it wouldn't power up. I pulled the case and the two fuses were fine. Sony didn't acknowledge receipt of it until 10 days after it was sent off. When I took it in I found out another guy had a similar problem with his A50 and had sent it in for repair last May. It's now the middle of August and he still hasn't gotten it back. I'm still awaiting notification of an estimate, but am thinking I'm not willing to go through football season without one and I won't. But it definitely won't be a Sony receiver!

Similar Products Used:

None

Menu

Poor Design and Poor quality

This unit is garbage. I bought my first unit Jan 2000 and it totally failed in Nov 2000. I thought that I had a bad unit since I have a history of buying defective units. Since I liked the Sony menu I decided to get another one. Here are the list of problems that have shown up on my second unit after only 4 months
- runs red hot. Warped my access card. I tried extra ventalation and it still warped my new access card in 2 days.
- sound every once in a while will get very hollow sounding. I have to recycle the unit to get normal sound back.
- forever accessing the satellite on the menu guide.
- picture quality with the Sony WEGA 27" is horrible. Not sure if this is the TV or the RCVR box

I called Sony and the labor warrenty is only 90 days. The were totally unsympathic to the problems but more than willing to charge me fix it. Being an engineer working for the company who built the DTV satellites, I believe that the box has a poor thermal design. I notice several others who have had the same experience with this box. Sony's product is crap and the warrenty suggest they know it.

I have bought my last Sony product period.

I have bought my last

Small.

Just about everything else.

Just bout the Sony Sat A55. What a POS. Major audio problems. If I switch my receiver from DVD to Sat, I get major echos. This happens almost every time too. NOT an intermitten problem. The sound goes mute often too. Also, when using the guide, it constantly searches for Satellite.

Don't buy this one.

Similar Products Used:

A50

Extremely hot receiver doubles as a hotplate.

Audio problems. Sony tech support.

This review is for SAT-A55.

I bought my first SAT-A55 in October 1999. I was generally happy with the unit for the first 10 months or so. About the time I subscribed to local stations, the audio problem that so many of you have written about (tinny) cropped up. I called Sony and flat out asked them if this is a known problem and I was told "no". Needless to say, after reading several reviews here today, I'm not very happy with Sony tech support!

To keep a long story short, my SAT-A55 was in for repair at the Sony center three times over 2-3 months before they finally replaced it with a receiver that had the same audio problem!

I would not recommend the A55 receiver. The B55 receiver in the bedroom, on the other hand, has worked flawlessly for over one year. I learned that I can live without Dolby Digital, thank you very much. I'll rent a DVD when I want outstanding sound quality. For all-around viewing, Dolby Surround is fine for me.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SAT-B55, Sony T60 DirecTivo

Optical Digital Out, Great Guides/Favorites

Picture Quality, Guide Refresh Speed, etc.

I purchased this unit after having a great 1+ year experience with my B3. I wanted to get optical audio, and I was hooked on the Sony guide and menu system (transparent guide screen, favorites, etc.). However, I have been quite disappointed with my A50 ever since I got it. I had to spend 30+ minutes on tech support when I initially hooked it up trying to get it to tune in channels. My signal strength was 85-90, but it seemed like it was much less. I ended up having to unplug the power on the receiver three times to get it to work. Also, the picture quality is quite grainy, the picture digitizes on fast action, and it takes entirely too long (5 sec.) to refresh the guide every ten minutes. Bottom line, the receiver acts like the signal is very week, even though the readings are around 90.

I can't remember having any of these problems with my B3, which only had between 60-70 signal strength. I am running video over good RCA cables, and I can't see how the problems that I am having can be anything but the receiver. I am planning on replacing the unit in the next couple of months, and I am in a quandary as to what I want. The upcoming combination Tivo-based Digital Recorder/DSS Receiver from Sony sounds interesting, but only if the video is significantly better. I haven't seen any other receivers with guides that I like, but the picture quality issues are driving me up the wall. I am not ready to write off Sony DSS receivers (I still have too many fond memories of my B3), so hopefully the unit I have is just a lemon.

Similar Products Used:

Sony B3