Sony STR-DE995 7.1 Channels Receiver

Pros: Great sound, great looks, great ergonomics
Cons: A few minor points

Introduction


The STR-DE995 is the current flagship of the Sony DE home receiver line. At this point Sony still manufactures 2 distinct product lines with the DE series representing the low line and ES as their premium offering. As...

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.

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 ...

Pros: Price, Quality Construction, Sound, Features
Cons: None!

The Sony STR-DE995 is probably one of the finest values that you can get in the home theater market today. The Sony STR-DE995 is the flagship model of this specific model line. Unlike many receivers in this price range, this Sony offers 7.1 ...

Pros: tons of video and audio inputs including phono
Cons: no 5.1 audio output or illuminated remote

Though I am not an audiophile, I can appreciate a good sounding receiver. This receiver sounds good. Currently it is part of my home theatre set-up. : Television: Toshiba 57H83 (rear projection 57" HDTV) DVD: Pioneer DV563AS (Progressive ...

Pros: Many, many, options.
Cons: Many, many, options.

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 ...

Pros: Great sounds and movies, nice front panel layout, fairly easy setup
Cons: Remote a learning a little difficult

The STR-DE995/S is a very good looking receiver (the silver color is nice), the layout of the front ...

Pros: Lots of I/O, large Display, expandability
Cons: Missing critical inputs, poorly designed remote

The 995 seems to be an excellent choice for someone stepping up into his first Dolby Digital receiver, plenty of inputs and room to grow your system from 5.1 to 7.1 setups. A bright display that is easily readable from across the room, and a half decent ...

Pros: Links to other SONY products
Cons: Poor customer service Older SONY products were produced better

I purchased the STR-DE995 7.1 "Home theater" receiver last September. After less than one year, it deteriorated into an overpriced stereo receiver. For your amusement, I attached the letter I sent to SONY of America's CEO. Mr. Howard Stringer, I ...

Pros: You get so many features for the money it is AWESOME!
Cons: Sound leaves a little something to be desired overall, though not that bad.

I have bought Sony's products for years and have recently upgraded from an STRDE835B model which was a DTS 5.1 receiver. I was very happy with the product after lots of manual reading and button pushing which seems to be the same for the STRDE995S that I recently purchased. Don't get me wrong, after some trial and error the receiver works wonderfully. After that, it seems very easy to use. My only minor quibble is that the sound overall could be somewhat improved as compared to the Harmon Kardon line (if you have lots of money) or even the Kenwood. I am very happy overall with this product and will continue to purchase Sony products in the future.

Pros: design, audio quality, features
Cons: video picture quality

I've owned this receiver for three years now. I bought it to use as both an audio receiver and a video switcher. At first it was great, but after about 6 months I noticed some serious degradation in the picture quality - dark picture with serious horizontal waves. At first I thought it was poor cable reception or a problem with the television or cable connections, however I've traced the problem to the internal receiver. The sound quality is still fine. I've wired a work around that's acceptable, but defeats the purpose of buying a home theater receiver to handle all of the source selection. I'm sure Sony can come up with a better quality video switcher for a high end product.

Pros: Sound quality, 7.1, Multiple room and multiple units
Cons: Remote remote, sound area customization and remote

I had the model before this and the remote (although big and chunky) worked seamlessly. The new remote is to small for my big hand, and to many buttons are required to numerically change channels. The learning on this remote is also somewhat quirky, somethings learn easily and others do not. Maybe an update to the codes should be made available. I love the 7.1 and only wish there was a better adjustment for speaker distance. The rear can only be set as far as the front, my living area is not set up to accomplish this perfectly so a little time space continuum is necessary to get it right. Still i love what Sony does with the possibility.

Pros: Many features, 7.1 output, plenty of inputs, On-screen menu (see Cons)
Cons: Equalizer, On-screen menu does not come through on Component Output

First off, I just want to clear this up...
The SONY STR-DE995 IS Dolby Digital EX (THX EX)...
"...as of November 2001, Dolby Laboratories has begun to license what is THX Surround EX under its own name, Dolby Digital EX™, for consumer home theater equipment."
http://www.timefordvd.com/tutorial/SurroundSound.shtml

I've had this receiver for a few weeks now and it has lived up to my expectation and more! I route all of my A/V devices trough it now: DVD (of course), TV/Cable, Computer, etc... At first I had difficulty with Dolby Digital decoding, but found that my DVD player was the culprit (audio was set to PCM, instead of bitstream on DVD).
I've tested Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, DTS-ES and all come through perfectly.

As for power output, I believe this is 100 watts RMS per channel (atleast according to the manual specs). But then again I've never fully cranked the sound up. Power seems to be more than sufficient.

This a great buy! Plenty of bang for the buck at $350 or even less. (Remember to shop around, some places such as Circuit City and Best Buy may over-charge you)

Pros: Phono input and (OSD)
Cons: piece of junk doesn't work or sound good even when it worked.

Bought this receiver at circuit city had it for a week. Work for a week. then when into overload protect mode. Lack on Low's and Mid's, sounded like crap at high volume, and used polk audio 3-way floor standing speakers!no preouts for amp's had to use tape out to hooked up amp. and power on this receiver is overrates have to be 100 watts+CH PEAK POWER NOT RMS. Took it back to the store and when with the Pioneer VSX-D912K, very good reciever sound very close to my THX EX 2 Harmon Kardon receiver. plus have preouts for AMP'S for each 6 channel. And does a very good job for Mid's and Low's love the pioneer. The Sony Goes the Pioneer Stay. (BY THE WAY THE SONY STR-DE995 7.1 IS NOT THX SELECT OR EX)