AJCalhoun

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $595.00 from eBay

Summary:
First of all, it probably seems like I love everything I review here. Well I do. I do my homework carefully before I buy. But I DO like the notion of upward mobility and at the same time feel quality has been compromised in favor of bells and whistles over the past couple years, especially at Sony. Anway, I've finally weaseled my way up to The Legend: Sony's DA777ES. It's hard to top the other components I've scored so highly here in the past, most recently Sony's DA444ES, which was based on the 777 but built in "real world" terms and not like a Rolls. That's the main difference, overkill. But I love that. One of the reveiewers below remarked he'd keep his "til this thing dies." Don't count on that happening. Build quality is truly world-class. Sound quality eclipses that of the DA444/555ES (both are the same receiver, only the remotes are different) and that is saying something. This beast (and it really is a beast at somewhere around 56 actual pounds out of the box) sounds a lot like my Rotel RB980BX through my AudioSource Preamp/Tuner Two. That is to say, unbelieveable. SACDs and DVD-As are now putting me inside the studio. It's scary. And as someone else pointed out below, the number of soundfields is insane. Also there is the matter of upgradable firmware, which this one offers (as do all the post 2000 Sony ESs). This one has been upgraded to offer the same "virtual 6.1" feature that came with the V444/555 and it really does work. I don't know how, but it does. This one, however, can go them one further and actually, via some clever speaker wiring involving the "B" set, provide LITERAL 6.1. I'm studying this now, at the website devoted to this very machine. It's unfortunate that I can only give this thing 5s, because I've already done that with everything I've reveiwed in the past (because I liked them that much). BUT...there ain't no goin' backward here, and this is better than sex, so I'm giving it 5s and wishing I could double the number. If you can steal one of these for under $600 on eBay I highly recommend springing for it. They have been going for over $700 lately - except for the most recent offering, which used no photos of the actual unit. No matter. The rumor is true: This is the best receiver ever built. Fives all around!

Strengths:
Build quality, cosmetics, finesse, guts, sound quality both stereo and surround, number of available soundfields, ease of operation, pride of ownership.

Weaknesses:
Weight problem. Wear a back brace while handling the thing.

Similar Products Used:
Sony DA444ES,Rotel RB980BX,AudioSource Preamp/Tuner Two, Yamaha M-40 and C-60; B&W DM-17s, DM600s3s, ADS L1230's;

SirCharles73

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1500.00 from Stereo Shop

Summary:
Overall I'm quite pleased with this receiver. I use it to play sound from my satelite, DVD, CD's, etc. I've owned it for over 4 years and I'm still pleased. The sound is great. I upgraded from a GA8ES and I felt like it was well worth the upgrade. You could really feel the sound moving around the room. My first movie was The Mummy and this receiver gave it a theater quality sound. I was equally impressed with how it handled music. Plus, the unit has so many parameters you can adjust if you're unhappy with something I'm almost positive you can adjust it to you're liking. My favorite thing about Sony receivers (and what has kept me loyal to the ES line), is all the sound fields they provide and this unit really has them--everything from Opera Houses, Cinemas, Churches, Concert Halls etc. This is my favorite feature of Sony ES receivers because different music sounds better in different fields. I have bittersweet feelings about the remote. One hand, I like that you're able to adjust virtually anything about the sound. I've never seen this many options on a receiver--you can adjust everything from the "classic" wall type, distance, etc to your speaker type and placement. However, using this at night can be frustrating. The remote dims after a period of inactivity and I understand why it does. However, if you're experimenting with things it can get difficult to work with. Recently, I've considered upgrading because this unit doesn't have 7.1. However, I'm not pleased with the new crop of 7.1 ES receivers so I'll wait until either Sony releases better units or until this one dies.

Strengths:
Great sound, decent power and plenty of options. So far this is the best piece of audio equipment I've owned.

Weaknesses:
A small bug bothers me. Sometime when changing the source (like from DVD to CD), it automatically splits the channels so it looks for my CD audio source from a video source. The ONLY way I've found to fix it is to reset the receiver, which messes up all your levels and any custom settings you've made. The remote, which you can read about above. It was a bit pricy when I bought mine but that's probably because it was when it was first released.

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-D1011, STR-GA8ES

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
this is one great receiver. i also have a 9000 es amp running the fronts at 200 watts each. i just use the receiver for the rears and center. but i was wondering if anyone can tell me how teh strda777es receiver can run 200 watts times 2. there is nothing in the manual at all about this. please let me know. thanks

Strengths:
one of the best built heavy 5 channel receiver you can get. now most 7 or 8 channel receivers barely weigh what this monster does

Weaknesses:
just one weakness sony never built another that compares to this one. so very hard to upgrade if you like sony.

Similar Products Used:
sony 1011, strg3, g80es

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Audio King

Summary:
I purchased this receiver after using a Sony GA7ES for the last few years. I liked the GA7 but since it's just a "DD Ready" receiver and lacks bass management, I decided it was time for an upgrade. I read every spec on every reciever in this price range that I could find, but as I found out, listening to each unit is very important! The Specs on the DA2ES are incredible. Separate EQ for fronts, center and surrounds, separate crossover points for each, two sub outs, etc. Everything I wanted in a reciever. After getting it home and hooking it up I noticed that this receiver was much brighter sounding than my old GA7ES. After a while this began to really get on my nerves so I started adjusting the EQ on my center and mains. I played and played with it but could not get it to sound "warm" to my ears. It was brittle on the high end and the center sounded "boxy" on the mids. So I ended up returning this unit and going back to my old reciever for now. The build quality was excellent and the features astounding. However, to me. the sound was not pleasing. It sounded a bit better on music and this high end brittleness was more noticable on movies.(I'm using B&W 601S3 speakers all around.) I finally did some side by side comparison at my dealer between this amp, the Denon 2803, and the Yamaha 1300. Side by side, the DA2ES is very bright compared to the Denon. The Yamah is also bright but a bit more natural sounding than the Sony. While I feel that this is probably a great receiver for some listeners, it just wasn't right for my ears.

Strengths:
Build quality, feature set

Weaknesses:
a bit boxy and bright sounding

Similar Products Used:
Sherwood, Sony GA7ES

Price Paid:  $1300.00 from DVD City

Summary:
What can I possibly say about this beast that hasn't already been said... I have been privileged to own one of these monsters for about 2 years or so now-- it's the center-piece in a HT system I started crafting at that time. It is true that compared to today's units it's missing a bit in the way of features here and there (lacking full 96/24 processing in the audio chain, no DTS-ES, etc)- but to me, this unit stands out as a *true* flagship HT receiver (even today) for the following reasons: - Top of the line at the time, in an already elite Sony ES line - Includes many features found in the high-end Sony ES separates (i.e. parallel push-pull amps/dual-pellet output transistors, 32-bit DSP processing, etc) - Over-built nature of the *entire* unit (inside and out) - Feature laden, w/many inputs and operating modes - Upgradable firmware (via RS-232) Sony might've broken the mold after the 777ES... until I find another ES designed and built like this one (i.e. a no holds barred *beast* of a unit), this is it for me for some time to come. Equipment I'm currently running: DA777ES on point (2.02 firmware) S9000ES DVD/SACD (stereo SACD only) NHT VT-2.4 mains (bi-amped using 2 x NHT SA-3 250W amps) NHT VS-2.4 center/surrounds Velodyne HGS-15 Series II sub (w/1250W RMS amp) Monster Reference cable throughout (Z-Series, etc) Finally- thanks to everyone at this site who helped me make the right choice 2 years ago. Regards, Mike

Strengths:
- First rate build quality (inside AND out) - Firmware upgradability - Features (decode modes, analog direct, etc) - Adjustability (EQ, sub, etc) - Flagship model in an already elite ES line - Learning/macro remote (using TP504 now...)

Weaknesses:
- Lacking features somewhat by today's standards, but that's to be expected... pretty hard for me to fault anything else

Similar Products Used:
No previous HT setup...