BIG LEARNING CURVE !
Written: Oct 10 '03 (Updated Oct 14 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Many, many, options.
Cons: Many, many, options.
The Bottom Line: If you need the seven channels and all the optional plug ins, by all means GET THIS UNIT. If not get a lower Sony unit.
|
|
|
| pr0230's Full Review: Sony STR-DE995 7.1 Channels Receiver |
UPDATE TO REVIEW 10/14/03:
As I get my associates degree from Im-a-Dweeb university, I have stumbled onto a connectivity issue with this unit. Apparently the DVD industry has created three standards for connecting the DVD to a receiver. The first is the standard, video (yellow) with the two channel Left and right RCA jacks for audio. The second is thru Co/Ax cable and the third is optical for the audio. Unfortunately for me my new Pioneere F85 DVD player offers the standard and optical. The Sony DE995 takes the standard and the coax. DUHHH! (Homer simpson)...
Althought the receiver sounds great, and offers a scad of optical hookups for your sattelite, cd, and others 4 in total. IT DOES NOT ACCEPT optical signals for the DVD...
Make sure your DVD player has a coax output for the digital signal, if you buy this receiver...
ORIGINAL REVIEW -
I’m upgrading from an OLD Sony unit that had Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The old model just let you play Dolby , Hall , or Stadium. Treble, Base, and Balance were accessible with dials on the front of the unit…. The old model played 5 speakers.
I bought the new unit to get DTS playback and a sub woofer, which the older unit does not have.
This new unit is MUCH more complex… Treble, Base and Balance are controlled within a menu system (no dials). Treble and base are only active in certain play back modes, or so it seems at this point. This unit plays seven speakers. 2 Front, 1 Center, 2 side, and 2 rear. It also plays a sub woofer (8). So far I have found it very hard to get the system to play the speakers “I want” . There is a display on the console that indicates what speakers are activated with the method of play back. AND There are a gazillion (or so it seems) playback options. Dolby prologic, Neo 6.0, theater this, theater that, etc… And with all the options for plugging your unitS in, it makes for a dizzying amount of choices…
If you are upgrading from a “Stereo” , you are in for a BIG learning curve. If you are a sophisticated , theater surround sound major from I-ma-dweeb university, this unit is for you. You will not run out of options. At this point I would have rather bought a 5 channel (speaker) unit, with a sub woofer, than this unit with 7 channels.
Of course I am a guy, that buys and doesn’t do his homework first. And 7 channels is always better than 5. More plugs to plug the ga-zin-ta in, has got to be better.
A minor point: when using volume, I have to crank it up to 65 to get some decent sound out of the unit. Not a problem as the unit, will play louder than I would have it at higher number, but I would have expected the volume to be sufficient at 20 or 30… For me there is No appreciable volume from 1 to 20… Either I have it hooked up wrong or you would have to be in a QUITE, sound room to hear the low gradations… Maybe I have it hooked up wrong.
Would I recommend the unit... YES.... It has more horse power than I need and I eventually will figure it out.
BTW- having the sub woofer (mentioned above) is awsome... JBL PB12.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
pr0230
|
|
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.