Big Sound, Little Price
Written: Dec 31 '03
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Pros: Excellent OSD and video switching, Amazing DSP cinema modes, great value.
Cons: OSD doesn't work through component video cable, reassigning digital inputs is not very thorough.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended as the center-piece for mid-budget home theater applications because it has most of the high-dollar features in a moderately-priced package.
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| Jacknife's Full Review: Sony STR-DE995 7.1 Channels Receiver |
I've always been a budget-concious consumer with expensive tastes. Prior to the STR-DE995, I owned a couple versions of Aiwa receivers, primarily because they were inexpensive, had a solid feature set and had plenty of power.
I purchased the STR-DE995 at a discount online retailer for two reasons:
- I wanted DTS and Pro Logic II support
- I wanted to standardize the major components of my home theater on Sony, since I had a Sony big-screen television.
That said, I unpacked the DE995 and started hooking things up.
Initial Setup
I found the terminals on the back for the STR-DR995 to be clearly labeled and easy to connect. By default, the DVD player connection uses coaxial digital input instead of optical digital input. These are remappable to "Video 1/2/3" but I could not find a way to allow me to set the reciever on "DVD" and use an optical input.
In their defense, I am not aware that there's an auditory difference between coaxial and optical, but I liked optical input. This was the first (and biggest) negative about the receiver thus far.
First Power-up / Configuration
The STR-DE995 has on-screen menus (OSD) and configurations, making it an absolute breeze to configure. It's especially important to set the size of the speakers used and their distance (in feet) from the primary listening area. The size tells the DE995 how much bass it can effectively send to those speakers, and can be set to LARGE or SMALL. The distances are used for digital signal processing to simulate different listening environments, which we'll discuss later.
The STR-DE995 supports 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 channel audio, but I was able to easily disable the extra 6.1/7.1 speakers, as I did not have any hooked up at the time. It's digital signal processor is smart enough to try to "make do" with as few or as many speakers as you indicate it should use. This was especially handy when my JBL Subwoofer's power supply died. I just told it I no longer had a subwoofer, and it did its best to route the bass to the speakers that could handle it based on which ones I said were large or small.
I am still very pleased with the on-screen display (OSD) and configuration, though it's only used for the "Main Menu" items, and it cannot be used if the television is connected via component video connections. I switched to S-Video connection to avoid this caveat.
The Sound
We all buy the receiver for the sound, so that's where I was most focused.
The DE995 has many settings for surround-sound decoding.
In the native digital realm, for Dolby Digital and DTS, we have Cinema A/B/C. These three modes take the incoming signal and process it, adding slight reverb and audio delays to simulate specific reference theaters in use by Sony Studios. Generally, A is for dramatic movies, B is for action/sci-fi/special effect and C is for musicals or musical performances. I have found that B is a good catch-all. It provides excellent ambience and imaging on my 5.1 setup, and I like a strong sound from the rear speakers. Listening to it, I can definately hear a difference between the three cinema modes and they do help liven up the movie performance.
In the non-digital realm, we have Dolby ProLogic, ProLogic II and DTS Neo:6. All three of these modes take a stereo signal, as commonly broadcast for television, and attempt to interpolate what should be coming out of the rear channels and the subwoofer. Neo:6 was intended for 6.1 speaker setups. I've found that on my 5.1 setup, the Neo:6 setting is the most lively, though I can honestly say ProLogic II and Neo:6 are amazing for their ability to give good performances out of the rear channels.
It should be noted that Neo:6 and ProLogic II have both "Music" and "Movie" modes in the DE995, though I really haven't had too much use for the Music modes. I leave it on Movie virtually all the time.
I should also note that you can force a Dolby Digital or DTS recording from a DVD to be processed through ProLogic/Neo:6 with the press of a button. I have no idea why you'd do it, but you certainly can. Likewise, you can turn off the Cinema A/B/C effects and just hear the naked digital sound if you'd like. You'll probably do that all of once before turning it back on.
I am not quite enough of an audiophile to really compare sound quality, other than to say I've been very pleased with the Sony's clarity. Using the DSP, the sound is very full and satisfying, which I don't get from comparable receivers of other brands that I have heard. If there's a con, it's that there is no equalizer - only treble and bass controls, though they're available through the OSD, so they are easy to adjust.
Video Switching
I use the STR-DE995 as the hub of my home entertainment system. It's juggling a digital cable DVR box, a Sony 300+1 DVD changer and a combo DVD/VCR. It's sending all that through an SVideo connection to a Sony 61" big-screen TV. It has been positively invaluable in that regard!
Most importantly, the DE995 will convert standard "yellow plug" composite video signal to SVideo and I believe it will convert it to component (three cable) as well. This has been invaluable for temporarily hooking up video game consoles, VCRs and other items.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the STR-DE995. It's not the highest-end "EX" line Sony has to offer, but it has many of the same features at a fraction of the price and I've not yet met an audiophile who doesn't think this is a fantastic receiver that puts out far better sound than its price would warrant.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 375
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Epinions.com ID:
Jacknife
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Member: Jeff Graber
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 1 member
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