Now I've just bought a Creek OBH11SE headphone amp and this feature has turned out quite useful. As the Creek is connected to the tape loop, I just put the Listen to mute and select the source from the Record selector. This amp is about music. That's what it should always be. Medford Towing Company

None . .

Easy of use. Perfect sound. Two antenna connections. 30 stations.

Difficult station naming.

Perfect Tuner, better than Revox. Two Antenna's makes cable competing with wire aerial. I brought this Tuner to complete my Sony ES-set. Then I wanted to check how this tuner was competing to the famous Revox Tuners (B-760). And it is a draw. It is an outstanding tuner. Similar sounding as an Revox and that is a complement!

Similar Products Used:

Revox 760, Quad 44, Quad 33, Sony TX-520, Tandberg 2075, Yamaha st-2

dual antenna inputs, build quality

no remote - had to buy pronto for codes

The SONY ST-SA5ES is one of the few tuners which can wring every last decibel of performance from FM broadcasts. This is/was the best tuner which Sony made in the last 15 years or so and was replaced by a cheaper version - the SA50ES which compromises on construction quality and power supplies.

Very well made by Sony in Japan. Lots of usefull features. Hard to imagine better for the price range.

Not the capabilities of a fanfare or Magnum Dynalab

I would start the review by confirming as most people have noted, the build quality is outstanding. The tuner is made by Sony in Japan. I live in San Francisco, and even under the best of conditions FM reception here is an absolute disaster. To make matters worse, my home is ina valley so the main signals travel several hundred feet over my head. The tuner does a good job of pulling in weak signals and an okay job with multipath interference (the real problem here). It is loaded with usefull features. I find the most usefull to be that you have a choice between not just stereo or mono, but a "blend" feature. On many tuners, if your signal is a little noisy, you have to choose the mono option. But this takes away all of the channel separation and much of the fidelity of the music--the music is not worth hearing. With the Sony''s blend feature, most of the fidelity is preserved while most of the noise is eliminated. Very usefull. The multitude of features can also be individually chosen and programed for each station and preset. This tuner is an extremely good choice for tuners under $1,000. However, I tried a friends Magnum Dynalab, and the Dynalab is magical. The Dynalab pulls in stations perfectly that I have no right receiving. The sound quality is also superior. You get what you pay for. If you live in an area where reception is pretty good, I think you will be very pleased with the Sony. If you live in a problem area and want to listen to the low power college jazz station you may want to get a Fanfare or Dynalab. Also, as other people have mentioned not providing a remote is silly. Ultimately considering the price, I think there is noway the unit gets anything but a 5 rating considering the price. Do an internet search, because the unit shows up new at some of the buying services for $419. PS--I rotate a Magnum Dynalab antenna on my roof.

great tuner, pulls in distant stations well, local stations sound great

no remote - any Sony audio remote will work, however

This tuner - Sony STR-SA50ES - does a nice job complimenting the rest of my gear. Radio reception sounds like music, not like a receiver. It does well with distant stations. Quiet music passages sound good. The Rotel 940 revealed static and interference in these same passages for almost the same price.

One caveat is that while the tuner is remote compatible, it doesn't come with a remote. I'm using a really old remote that I used with a Sony reciever years ago. It works fine.

Some station programming functions are a bit erratic. The ANT ATT switch can't be programed out of a station profile, despite the manual's suggestion that it not be used unless needed. The curse of lame software programming comes to home audio.

The manual doesn't address all of the functions.

my gear:
Dynaudio 1.8 mk II speakers
Rotel RB-1080 200 w/c
Rotel RC-995 pre
Sony STR-SA50ES
Sony SCD-C333ES SACD
Rotel RR-969 (great programmable remote)
Synergistic / Alpha interconects

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 940

Exceptional build quality, rotary tuning knob, bandwidth selector, informative display

Stand alone remote, AM performance

An exceptional tuner in its price class. Very natural and open sound with outstanding performance for broadcast (live) classical music. Puts to shame the $1000 tuners which come with a host of problems such as knobs falling off etc!

Similar Products Used:

STS-730 ST-S707ES Nakamichi ST-7, JVC FX-1010, Denon TU-800

This is one of the best tuners around. With FM sensitivity of 90dB,plenty of features, and great build quality it is hardly matched by
any competitor. By listening to it you can almost guess what kind
of equipment radio brodcasters use.

Built,sound,look

not found jet

Everything the best to this tuner.It sounds like very good cd player or analog.It needs good arial for the best, but which don`t. If you are a tuner lover, you do not need better.

Similar Products Used:

non for this price

Built like a tank,sounds not like a tuner,can hear every detail that is broadcast,superb soundstaging,clever features,two antenna inputs,very satisfying sound,can hear anouncer licking his lips.Way recommended.

Built like a tank,sounds not like a tuner,can hear every detail that is broadcast,superb soundstaging,clever features,two antenna inputs,very satisfying sound,can hear anouncer licking his lips.Way recommended.