Sony STR-DB930 Receiver

Rating:
Summary: Sony STR-DB930
Review: I concurr with most of what the others have written here. The STR-DB930 is very well built and a bargain for the price. The STR-DB830 also deserves consideration. The receiver's amp has low distortion across 5 channels at full audio bandwidth. The RCA connectors on the rear of the unit are gold plated (a nice and unexpected touch). I recommend that you investigate the price/value offered by this receiver if you are considering a home theater purchase.(www.oade.com) supports DTS (see www.dvdexpress.com for a selection of DTS audio-only disks) and Dolby Digital decoding.

Regarding the remote, I really like it. Of course I have all Sony components save for a tape deck so my system is pretty integrated. When you consider Sony's S-Link function this integration becomes really attractive. Imagine having one's non-technical spouse simply putting a DVD in the DVD Player and having the TV turn on automatically and switch to the proper input and also having the Receiver turn on by itself and switch to the correct DVD input and audio decode mode. You can't get more turn key than that and that is what Sony's S-Link is designed to deliver.

The remote is back lit, and the two-way feature is great because it actually can tell you what mode the Receiver is in when you manipulate the remote.

Build quality is great, you will need to make sure the unit has good ventilation as it does generate heat but I don't consider that to be unexpected given it's size and power capacity.

One thing I was dissapointed with was the analog recording of the digital feed. I was trying to make a cassette recording of a CD for use in my car. When you feed a digital source into the receiver you cannot make an analog recording of it (though you can make a digital -DAT- recording of a digital source). I thought this was a little silly since once out of the DAC it still has to propagate the signal to the pre-amp in the receiver. Still, I was able to make an analog recording of the analog signal put out by the DVD/CD player and it sounds great.

Another helpful feature was the multi-channel decoding indicator. This is a bright blue LED that lights up when the receiver is doing what you bought it for, producing that GREAT 5.1 sound put out by DVDs with a Dolby Digital audio track. When I first setup my DVD/Receiver combo the sound wasn't there. I needed to manually configure my DVD to ouput a digital Dolby Digital and DTS signal (maybe someday this will be the default mode). It took me a while to figure it out but when I did, wow, the sound was incredible and the blue indicator on the receiver was comforting visual feedback. Some DVD media is setup to automatically output a straight pro-logic signal unless you manually select the DD or DTS track. If I start playing a DVD and the blue light is not on I know that I need to make the selection manually. (Fortunately this is becomming less common as most DVD players will look to select the track with the most channels automatically but the DVD media needs to be made compatible with this process by the publisher)

If you are considering a top end STR-DE series receiver I would recommend you get one of the STR-DB units instead. They are far supperior and not much more $.

Rating:
Summary: It's an ES Receiver with at least $300.00 rebate in it....
Review: If you want it with multi room capability go with this one, otherwise the DB830 is a better buy. Looks and sounds a lot better than the DE series. I'm not a big fan of SONY(receivers) to be honest, but the sound,features,looks and the way this receiver was constructed is to good to pass up and it's an outstanding receiver for the money! I could'nt ask for more, i don't miss THX cert. at all. i just hope there are lots of DTS DVD's out there.

Rating:
Summary: Great receiver, but the two way remote could be better..
Review: Sony isn't known for their receivers, but the STR-DB series seem to be the exceptions. They are build extremely well (they weight a ton) and have very high quality components. I recently got this receiver to complete my home theator system and couldn't be more pleased. The power is extreme (I've never moved the power past 4, and that was incredibly loud, yet it doesn't go to 11!) but the sound is extremely clear to my Paradigm speakers. It has more inputs that you can shake a stick at, and automatically detects the sound mode when I play DVD movies. Movies are incredible when played from a DVD, and the sound is just like theators.

The only drawback to this system is the remote, which is a fancy two-way one. It comes programmed to work with most components, but this doesn't seem to include my Pioneer DV-05's menu or cursor buttons, which make it almost useless for it. Unfortunatly since it's a two way remote, if I wanted to replace it, I'd have to spend alot for one of the fancier remotes. If my components had been supported the remote would have been excellent however, so your results might vary.

Overall, this (and it's little brother the STR-DB830) is probably one of the best receivers you can get for the money.

Rating:
Summary: in dts this will rock your house
Review: This receiver has a little of everything. This receiver has the optical and s video input for your satellite dish. Matter of fact it has s video and optical audio inputs for dvd, satellite and md. After a while the remote becomes a thing you can't live without. And let me tell you the dts is absolutely awesome. If you don't want to mortgage the house but you want to enjoy dts this is the receiver for you.