Easy to customize and use. There's a sound field for all tastes. Take your time and follow the manual and it's a breeze. Any equipment, regardless of manufacturer, can be difficult at first to set up, but once you find your parameters, all you do is turn the receiver on and off anyway. There's plenty of power for my needs. In home theater mode, the sound never ceases to blow me away. It leaves me wanting a little in the music mode, but that is a weakness of my speakers. Coupled with great quality speakers, however, this receiver delivers great sound. Most sub/sat combos are sufficient at delivering outstanding home theater performance, however they are lacking for music enthusiasts. If you are using your receiver for music as well as home theater, get some decent front speakers and sub and stop complaining that your receiver is not "musical" enough.

Sony, in it's infinite wisdom, has assigned digital audio inputs. Coaxial input is only available for DVD/LD and not TV/SAT (optical only). Digital audio inputs of any type are not available for VIDEO 1,2, or 3. There's also no S-video inputs for TV/SAT or VIDEO 2. This whole combination has made for creative and aggravating hookups. My original satellite box wasn't as much of an issue, but now my cable box has only coaxial digital audio output and has to be plugged into the DVD/LD slot. That relegates the DVD player to the TV/SAT inputs with no S-video. Can't use VIDEO 1, because of assigned digital audio that doesn't include it. I use my receiver as the component switcher for my home theater, so the work-around was frustrating. I ended up having to use composite video instead of S-video and suffered with lower quality video for a while. Not a big issue with a smaller tv, but a recent upgrade to a 42" plasma and a need for component (R G B) input switching has me now searching for a new receiver.

I've owned this receiver since autumn of 1999. Although a few of the other components have changed in that time, I still use the Sony DB830 as the cornerstone of my home theater. Unlike experiences others have had, my receiver has performed flawlessly. I've had input gripes (see weaknesses below) from the beginning and more so since a recent monitor upgrade. I am now faced with replacing my receiver and it looks like it will not be Sony, because of these issues. However, I still have enjoyed this receiver and do not regret my purchase. Lots of bang for the buck.

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Onkyo, JVC, and two other Sony receivers.

Don't buy this unit. Most lower cost versions in the UK are illegal (no tax) imports from Dubai. That being said, who knows whether they are of inferior quality to the "officially imported" ones.

Just to follow up. Fixing the Protector error in London (at a qualified sony service center at Queens Park) cost about £100 ($150). It required replacing four £7 parts (as well as about 8 parts that were free) and about 1.5 hours of labour + tax. Not cheap, but maybe worth it if the fix actually lasts...

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Regards, Roland www.riskjobs.info

Awsome Digital Surround sound at a great value. Great build and quality.

Remote, no base volume control, no optical input for CD, no sub in 2 channel

This is my first time reviewing, I just found this site and wish I had known about it along time ago. I was pretty slow getting into the home theater seen, and was slowly collecting the pieces and parts I needed to make it happen. I was extremely happy with my 2 channel system I was running. I have a beautiful Luxman LV-105 I had hooked up to an old set of Phase Tech PC60 with a PC50 Passive Sub. I picked up a set of Phase Tech PC-3’s for the Mains and Power 10 subwoofer and used those with the Luxman for about a year. I tried in vain to find a matching Phase Tech center at the 50% off price I got the mains and sub for. After a year, I finally broke down and paid retail. During that year I picked up a 36” Wega XBR, so when I got the center it was time to go receiver shopping. I had originally had my eye set of an ES unit and went to my good friends shop, The Stereo Center in Flint MI. I didn’t do much research and relied on my friend to steer me in the right direction. My first gripe was that the showed me the 930’s remote when I looked at the 830. It was a major disappointment when I got it out of the box. More on the remote later. At the time he was an ES dealer, and said this DB series were called ES crossovers, that they had them on the bench opened up side by side and all the internal gut of the machine were exactly the same as it’s ES equivalent. The only real difference was that the ES carried a 5-year warranty and the DB series carried only one. That sold me. I brought it home paying $350 and hooked it up in 2 channel for a couple weeks. I had the sub hooked up to the mains with the internal crossover. When installing it I came across another annoyance, there is no optical input for a CD player, so I had to go through the Mini-disc/DAT input. After a few weeks I went back and got all new interconnects and speaker wire and it was time to get everything working. This ended up costing way more than I was planning because like the great friend that he is my buddy just happen to have 5 SL-7700 DVD players in stock that were recently closed out. I broke down and pick up this great player for $400. Hooking up the rear channels, using my old PC60/50 combo, I ran into the dreaded overprotection circuit. I had stapled the wire to keep it in place and had accidental hit the wire and shorted it. Now I ran across the problem with the Sub

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N/A first venture into home theater

i/o and switching capability, good auto-sensing of surround modes on DVD''s and multichannel audio CD''s, clean look w/ flip-down door, flexible setup. Plus that way-cool blue light in DTS/DOlby mode.

So-so remote and apparent propensity to sudden and inexplicable suicide.

Just to add my 2 cents'' worth to the previous review, as my unit has done the same thing, gone into "PROTECTOR" mode on a permanent basis. I know any remaining examples of this model are probably closeouts at fabulous prices, but I''d be a little concerned about longetivity of this model. Just for info of anyone else with the same problem, Sony''s FAQ''s say that "PROTECTOR" mode may be caused by a temporary or correctable short or overheating problem. They recommend (1) disconnecting all speaker connections and (2) unplugging the unit entirely from the wall outlet for 1-2 hours to allow it to "reset," then re-connecting speakers one at a time to see if the unit comes back to life. Didn''t work for me. There is no readily-apparent problem with the unit, and even with nothing hooked up whatsoever, it comes on for a couple seconds, the display dims, and then I get the dreaded "PROTECTOR" screen. The FAQs say that if the disconnect-and-pray steps don''t work, you should seek Sony service. After the warranty expires, a new receiver may be as cheap as Sony service. I have used this unit sparingly, never at more than half volume, in a well-ventilated cabinet, and it died in mid-song using the tuner at moderate volume, so there was no real event of abuse to cause the problem. I hae very much enjoyed the sound and input/output flexibility of this receiver, but I''m a little disappointed at its just-past-warranty-expiration failure. Five-star performance for 2 years. Zero-star performance after that. I''d average that to a "3".

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Kenwood 4010 (OK, but remote is even weirder), JVC 6008 (P.O.S., overloads, pops, hisses, even worse remote than the other 2), Sony DB1070 (to replace this one, too early to tell) and various separate

Clean power, multiple inputs, versatility

Okay, the remote is hard to read

This product replaces an older Sony Pro-Logic receiver-- a cheapie that worked OK but never excited me. The DB-830, however, does! Plenty of clean, house-rattling power. With a subwoofer, it rocks the house and the neighborhood.
Don't think I'll ever go past 5 or 6 on the volume (All right, maybe demonstrating for a friend...) Plenty of ins and outs. Primarily used for home theatre (Main music setup in basement), but sounds fine to me for music, too.
Das Boot is incredible on this. Highly recommended. Bought through Buyingedge.com from Electronicsworld, Wayne,
NJ for $369. Heard good things about them, too.

Plenty of hookups, nice smooth design

remote control is terrible.

I finally received my DB830 last week. I spent this weekend hooking it up, running wires, & playing with all the settings. One can spend a day or more just playing with all the surround setting on this unit. Everything is working great. I also checked the DTS sound with the Eagles Hell Freezes Over DVD & all I can say is "WOW"!!! It Sounded great.
One question is how do you control a DSS receiver with the remote? I would guess that you don't. In that case what is the best all in one that will control everything? I hate having to grab 3 or 4 remote controls to watch a movie....
Otherwise a great unit at a good price. Go get one.....

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JVC

Everything

Remote

Hey guys I cann't believe someone paid over $400.00 for this
unit.I got mine yesterday from a store called Victor's Orlando 407-345-5200 for $369.99 shipped.Factory sealed box as promised.I checked them out for authorize Sony dealership.
Good service got some cool installation advice too.
I love this unit...with optical cable w/my DVD beat the
h... out of pro-logic.
Check them out ,you might save some money..

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Hk Av50

Unbeilable amount of power, 100 watts in 5.1 surround and 120 in stereo, numerous digital inputs (3 opt, 1 coax). Easy to customize for your own preferences, and allows for alot of adjustability. Dolby Digital and DTS processing, which is always nice to have. S-Video ins for all the vedeo connections, along with front S-Video and a/v jacks. There more preset sound areas such as hall, jazz, etc, then you can shake a stick at. This is probably the best machine my dad has ever owned, and he has had some high quality stuff in the past, it blows my brothern laws yamaha out of the water.

To be quite honest this unit dosnt have any, when i first purchased the unit I was disapointed in the overall performance of the remote. I was expecting a remote similar to either the 333es or the 555es, being that this unit was in the same quality region as those peices. thos pieces both use two way remotes and one of them has a touch screen. It took some getting used to but after a while it grow on ya, everybody comes down very hard on the remote and to tell you the truth it isnt that bad. It does everything you need it to and a bit more, im more then satisfied.
Kevin McGill, Stereo Advatage, Audio-Williamsville NY

Bottom line is this piece rocks, you cant find anything in its price range (399.90) thatll compare to it. To buy anything else would be nuts, it'll knock your socks off guarenteed!!!

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SNY-STRDA333ES and STRDA555ES

Excellent features. Fairly inexpensive. Sound too good to be true? (keep reading)

Sounds TERRIBLE, especially in 2 channel mode. Other people have said the remote. Don't let that factor into your decision. Check out the reviews of every other receiver in this price range. EVERY remote sucks.

I just posted this review on the Yamaha board. I'll try to make it more of a Sony review:

I was fully prepared to buy the Sony DB830 and the sales person at Home Entertainment (affiliated with Tweeter up in the northeast) urged me not to get it. In fact, he said take them both home and return the one you don't like.

So I bought both and the Sony DVD player (330 I think?) took them both home and hooked the Sony up.

The Sony sounded OK in prologic mode. A little hissy and grainy sounding.

Put in a CD and the Sony sounded WORSE THAN A BOOMBOX! Trust me, that thing was CRAP! I was fiddling around with the EQ and I realized that it wasn't doing much. Sure I was boosting the pathetic bass as much as I could and I was cutting down on the digital distortion sounding treble, but it still sounded terrible! I didn't even try to use it on Dolby Digital. Maybe that was premature, but if it sounded that bad on music I wasn't going to keep it.

So I hooked up the Yamaha. Wow did it sound a lot better. Obviously it's still a compromise. I think if you have anything BESIDES separates, you're compromising. But this was head and shoulders above the the Sony. Good bass, maybe a little lacking in the midrange. You think the treble is bad on this one (it might be a little thin sounding) check out the sony! I then tried it with the DVD and it sounded great. Don't worry about it being under 100 watts/channel. This thing can pump out enough (BTW, it takes 4x the amount of wattage to double volume; something to think about).

All I can compare it to is guitar amps, because that's what I know. There are a ton of lower priced solid state amps that have all these effects and toys that IN THEORY sound like a good idea, but the thing still sounds terrible. So everyone gets a Marshall. Sure it's more expensive and it doesn't have any bells and whistles, but it's a tube amp and it sounds gorgeous. And isn't that what LISTENING is all about? So the Sony is that pretty looking thing that is too good to be true (it is) and the Yamaha is the simple but great sounding alternative.

So I'll conclude by not so much recommending the Yamaha as blasting the Sony. Who CARES about bells and whistles if the thing sounds like crap? I was completely convinced by all the reviews on this board that the STR-DB830 was the way to go and I was prepared to buy it mail order through J&R. But I went to Home Entertainment to check it out anyways.

All of you that are buying this online without listening to how it sounds with your speakers in your room are making a terrible mistake. I implore you to NOT buy online or mail order at some bargain dealer or WORSE at an unauthorized dealer. Small stores that focus on customer service are failing due to the mass selling of electronics. Actually everything. Call it the "wal-marting" of America. Spend the extra few bucks and support customer service. I paid probably about $100 more than the cheapest I've seen on this review board and it was the best money I've ever spent.

As a final word on the Sony, maybe it just sounded bad with my speakers. Maybe my speakers stink. I built the mains myself from a kit 10 years ago and the center is an Infinity. Obviously these aren't going to be matched. But why did the Yamaha sound so damn good? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check these out with the speakers that you own before you decide to just buy it mail order and assume it will work the same for everyone.

It is a fair value. If you're features driven instead of quality driven, this may be for you. It definitely was not for me.

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Yamaha VX 595a

amount in inputs/outputs, value, good sound

its a sony-not a highend piece

i havnt had this for to long, but so far i am fairly pleased with this reciever. it sounds good (not awesome) but good sound. if you want yamaha or harmon kardon sound you better buy one of them. the sony has warm sound and plays nice and loud. i only have 2 floorstanding speakers hooked up, but no unusual hissing. yes if you turn in to 12 with nothing playing there is a hiss, but 12 would be mind blowing 10-11 is all i dare to go up to with 90 db speakers, its loud as hell. and anyway do you really hear small hiss when you have music playing that loud? this has all of the inputs you will ever need and also even has preamp outputs for ALL channels.
DD, DTS and 5.1 inputs insure long term compatibility. all in all its a nice piece and drives my speakers well. i am happy.
remote isnt all that bad, as good as anything else i would expect from a major manufactorer. but the white keys/green writing suck ass!
5 for value, 4 over all because for close to the same price you can probably find slightly better sounding yamaha's or onkyo's.
very nice reciever.