Reinhart

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $300.00

Summary:
I came across this unit when asked by the original owner if I would be interested in purchasing a fancy Sony receiver. I originally was not interested, being satisfied with my Technics SA-DA10. Then, I saw what kind of receiver it was. I knew right off the bat what kind of component this was, so I took no time in getting this magnificent piece of equipment. This component is typical Sony ES. In other words, high quality and heavily built. The heavy weight of the receiver suggests heavy metal construction coupled with a substantial power supply section and substantial heatsink elements for the output stages, and it most certainly shows. Two heatsink rows are used in this receiver in a horizontally opposing configuration to fight resonance, provide a level of isolation between the amp sections and other parts, and to eliminate the reliance of fans to cool the heatsinks. The entire chassis is built on a solid beam and frame design with an anodized aluminum front face. All interconnects and binding posts are substantial, with the RCA connections sporting gold plating. The binding posts are banana plug friendly, which was more than could be said of the Technics I used to have. My old Technics also had binding posts for all speakers, but they were too wide apart to allow banana plugs. Sonically, this receiver is marvelous. More powerful, more authoritative, more effortless, and more musical than my Technics SA-DA10. Very neutral, with perhaps a touch of lushness. Very easy to listen to without sacrificing accuracy. It matches sonically to my Optimus Mach Three speakers much better than my old receiver and the result is fantastic. Listening to Enya, for example, has become almost surreal with a very smooth and effortless quality that wasn't very prominent with the Technics when connected to the same Optimus Mach Three speakers. This may be due to the fact that the Technics employed ICs for the amplifier outputs (even though they were class H+) while the Sony employs discrete transistors for the amplifier outputs or whatever. Regardless, the point is that the Technics did have good amounts of power with substantial bandwidth on its output stages, but it's not as refined as the Sony's outputs are. Even with the Technics' VGCA mode engaged, the Sony still blows it out of the water in terms of sound quality and listenability. Surround performance was also highly respectable. Excellent Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic processing. Far and away superior to my old Technics. Plus, I am now able to enjoy Dolby EX, DTS ES, and Pro Logic II. While the Technics used standard tone controls, the Sony uses an extremely flexible EQ system, where you can adjust specific frequencies and their amplitudes in decibels in .5 dB ranges for each channel. This level of flexibility will allow you to custom taylor the sound for a uniform sound quality on all speakers as well as to account for the listening room acoustics. No other receiver or preamp costing several times this machine has this level of flexibility! The only exception are other Sony ES models of preamps and receivers. In addition to excellent digital processing, you can also engage the analogue direct mode to bypass all digital processing for sources connected to the receiver through analogue connections. Another fantastic feature which allows you to listen to analogue connected components without any intervention from the DSP sections. The only flaw in an otherwise flawless package is the remote. The remote is needlessly complex to use and the instructions supplied with it don't really do a good job of clarifying how to use it fully. Fortunately, I can still use the basic functions, such as the volume, so it's still usable to a degree. Overall, for $300 this machine was a steal, especially considering that this receiver easily costs more than twice this much used, much less new! Talk about great luck! But, even for $700, this receiver is a bargain. It's a bargain when you consider the quality and flexibility that this receiver offers over the competition. This is an example of another quality ES component from Sony.

Strengths:
Sound quality Construction quality Flexibility Power DSP processing power

Weaknesses:
Remote could be better

Similar Products Used:
Technics SA-DA10

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Genesis Audio

Summary:
Problems within 1st month of buying the unit overheated and would cut out until it cooled off. I have owned it less than a year, been in shop 3 times. Two weeks ago it went back into the shop after unit quit completely. Sound wise it's excellent, but when you pay that much you expect quality! Have spent about 3 hours on the phone with customer support(much to be desired there). Finally sounds like Sony might be sending me a new unit at the end of Oct.(Crossing fingers) What a dilemma.

Strengths:
Clear Sound

Weaknesses:
Very heavy Problems with overheating Takes hours to set up if you do it right

Similar Products Used:
1992 harman kardon avr25 Never a problem, still own it!

Price Paid:  $860.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
My first 5.1 digital receiver was the Sony STR-DE835 which I enjoyed very much for about 3 years. In April of 2003 I upgraded to Sony's ES line with the STR-DA2ES and what a difference in quality. The sound of the 2ES was so much better that I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. I loved the 2ES so much that I upgraded to the STR-DA4ES in July of 2003 which this review is about. I want to start off by saying that this receiver is simply awesome. For the money I believe you cant buy a better receiver period! I wondered if the 4ES would sound better than the 2ES due to its beefier build quality and design and the anwser was an astounding yes! The 2-channel analog direct mode is stunning. The sound is rich, powerful and full bodied with great seperation and excellent sonic detail and very revealing; in other words it makes its source material (music-movies) sound realistic. With movies the sound is incredible, dynamic range is awesome from big explosions to very subtle sounds it is all reproduced with breathtaking realism. Some people say that Sony receivers sound a little bright, I disagree. I think their recevivers are simply faithfuly producing their source material. Many people like the so called warm or smooth sound in a receiver which the 4ES is capable of producing, but if you really think about all the natural sounds in our environments, the sounds are neither warm or smooth, instead they are very pronounced, detailed and revealing and the 4ES produces those qualitys very well. I've listened to the Denon 2802, 4802 and the 5803 which are all great receivers but I truly like the sound of the STR-DA4ES better. This is also a very flexible receiver with lots of set-up options. I highly recomend the 4ES.

Strengths:
Great sound quality Great set-up options Very powerful Excellent build quality Eleagant design Full featured

Weaknesses:
None that are really weaknesses

Similar Products Used:
Denon,Onkyo,Pioneer

Price Paid:  $737.00

Summary:
I was agonizing over the decision to upgrade my home theatre hub - Should I purchase separates or replace my receiver? After a great deal of consideration, I chose to purchase the Sony Strda 4 es receiver. I am very pleased with my decision - What a powerhouse! This piece of art has all the processing power a person could ask for in home theatre and it has the muscle to present music in all its glory - jazz, classical, new age, rock and any other music you care to throw its way. It also has an extensive equalizer palate on board - I am very pleased that I have the ability to adjust the sound in each of its channels - talk about selectivity! As another reviewer stated, "if you can't get your speakers to sound great with this receiver, it's time to find a different hobby." Should I have gone with separates? Perhaps - but for my bucks, this was a great buy. I really can't imagine the separates sounding that much better, and certainly not for this price. I may never grace a movie theatre again! Hell, I have one in my living room. If you love movies and music and don't want to take out a second mortgage on your house to transform your living room into a theatre, please give this es receiver a listen. Ummmmmmm, please turn on my Sony- oh and pass me the popcorn please, The show is about to begin!

Strengths:
Built like a tank Powerful (Did I mention powerful) Fantastic choice of sounfields and tweakability with the onboard eq. Gorgeous,elegant design

Weaknesses:
Ummmmmmmmmmmm Nope!

Similar Products Used:
I listened to Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, and Rotel - I liked the Sony.

Price Paid:  $749.00 from local hifi shop

Summary:
They say that if you are a "movie" type person then buy brand X and if you are primarly a "music" type person then buy brand Z instead. Shouldn't several hundred dollars worth of AV receiver be able to do both?! Fact is that pretty much ALL the receivers I tried, including my old $100 Sherwood, do 5.1 surround quite well, provided you have the speakers! THX is a nice bell and whistle but rarely the best listening enviroment (IMHO). So what I needed was a receiver that would adequately supply my movie 5.1 decoding needs while meeting some of my more "music " specific requirements at the same time. These include NEO6, which can really do neat things with old 2 channel CDs, plenty of multichannel inputs (for future SACD upgrade), very crisp and pure sound in 2 channel stereo, and the ability to perform using 4 Ohm speakers at higher volumes for extended periods of time. The Sony DA4ES fulfilled these requirements better than any of the "similar products used" that I have listed below. Gear used: Fronts: 400w 4 Ohm Cerwin Vega DX-9 Rears: 200w 8 Ohm Cerwin Vega LS-10 Being able to match these speakers with the generic junk I currently have for center and subwoofer is a real plus. As others have said, the DA4ES (the DA2ES also has these adjustments) is the ultimate in tweakdom! Not only can you set seperate levels for *each* speaker but also bass frequency cutoff levels and you even get a three band parametric EQ... for EACH speaker! If you can't get this receiver to make your speakers sound good then it's time to give up and find another interest. Sound is simply incredible, even at the higher volumes that seemed to seperate it from the rest I tried. Not as bright as the Yamahas and not as cluttered sounding as the Onkyo. Easily comparable to the Denon and HK, surpassing them both, watt for watt, at higher volumes (ALL of the aforementioned recievers performed well at lower volumes). Tested with some of everything, from full orchestral to bluegrass to the heavy metal slambangs of the likes of Rammstein and Ministry, this receiver simply takes the gold for 2 channel enjoyment. Subtle woodwinds, acoustic strings, the warmest brass, all sound natural and alive. Of course the remote is relatively lacking and for a receiver that has adjustments for just about everything I was suprised to find it missing some deluxe details found in upper end Onkyo, for instance, such as variable "mute" level and on screen display of volume and other essential variables as they are made on the fly. While the Sony has plenty of optical ins I was somewhat suprised to see it lacking one on the front panel as well. 7.1/6.1 expandibility, 2 room capability, stylish (gold plated connectors everywhere), high build quality with massive caps, heatsinks and powersupply and STILL runs cooler than anything else I tried.

Strengths:
Very, very clean and natural sound, even at volumes bordering on the painful. The ability to tweak the sound of every channel independantly *exactly* the way you want it. Built like a brick and runs noticably cooler than any other unit I've tried while jumping through the same hoops. Superb warranty.

Weaknesses:
Remote is NOT learning! No optical IN on front panel.

Similar Products Used:
Onkyo SR800, 797, Yamaha 5560, Sherwood 6090R, also extensively demoed Denon, Kenwood and HK