Worth every penny, great for a smaller room.
Written: Dec 24 '01
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Pros: Sounds great, price is right, DTS decoding.
Cons: Could use more digital inputs.
The Bottom Line: This is a great entry-level/smaller room/second room receiver. The features belie the low price point.
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| Shiroth's Full Review: Sony STR-DE475 5.1 Channels Receiver |
As I sit here in my bedroom, I cast a warm glance at my STR-DE475 Receiver. I realize that for the money, it's the best receiver I have ever bought. Dolby Digital, DTS, auto-switching, sound fields, and quality, for only $160? Sound impossible? Not any more.
When I walked into my local electronics store looking for a receiver, I knew I wanted to spend less than $200. I knew I wanted Dolby Digital and DTS decoding. I knew that I didn't need 100 watts per channel, because my room is rather small, and 100 watts per channel would be overkill. I was expecting that the only receivers that would be in the ballpark would be generic OEM types, the ones where one has never even heard of the company before one steps into the store, and Epinions doesn't even list the brand, much less the product.
Much to my surprise, I found this gem. It has 80 watts per channel, which is more than enough to drive my Audiosource matched speakers; it decodes Dolby Digital and DTS, which was one of my requirements; it sounds terrific, especially with my Sony SW-40 subwoofer; and it was only $160. So I bought it.
What I didn't realize is how lucky I'd feel after I bought it. My parents just bought a Technics receiver that has some better features than mine, but it has one annoying problem. In order to get the receiver to use a digital input, you have to push a "digital input" button on the receiver. On DVD players, this isn't a big deal, because it's always digital. On digital cable, however, this is a major annoyance. The basic cable channels, the one that any TV can get, use analog signals, whereas the digital cable channels use both analog and digital signals. Therefore, in order to hear basic cable, one has to have the digital input button off, but when one wants to hear the Dolby Digital signal on digital channels, one has to get up, walk over to the receiver, push a button, and sit back down, then repeat the whole process when switching to an analog station. The Sony, on the other hand, has no such problem. It senses when there is a digital signal, and naturally uses the digital signal over the analog one, thus insuring quality sound no matter what channel one is watching. The only problem I could see is that I wish the receiver would have come with at least one more optical input, so I could plug a CD changer into it and enjoy clearer digital sound.
All in all, this receiver sounds great, has all the features one would need for a smaller room, and is priced very reasonably. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one if I needed one in another room.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160
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Epinions.com ID:
Shiroth
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Member: Tristan Clayton
Location: Saratoga Springs, NY, USA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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