John Pendleton

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
We've had our STR-DB940 for about nine years now and are just about to retire it for a 7.1 Denon unit. Like some of the other reviews, we've found this to be an amazing-sounding receiver for the price range ($600 in 2000), giving us great stereo CD listening through our Bose fronts and fabulous DTS thought the added Boston Acoustics and Bose speakers.
We only tripped the internal breaker once, playing Pirates of the Caribbean/Black Pearl at 11 o'clock on the volume pot. The first cannon battle shut the speakers right off, although the same thing didn't happen with Master and Commander or the other two Pirates movies. Go figure.
So the unit is starting to give us intermittent drop-outs in the treble frequencies, as experienced by other reviewers here, although the full sound eventually comes back. Also, the sub-bass mix is getting a bit out of control, especially for well-separated HDTV channels. Every picture and mirror hanging in the house starts rattling. It's time for the old warhorse to go, we're afraid, and Sony just ain't makin' 'em like they used to.
The remote, however, was nice to work with over the years, and Denon is famous for lousy remotes, so that's one thing we'll miss.

Price Paid:  $800.00 from Internet mail order

Summary:
I've used my STR-DB940 for around 7 years now - being used nearly everyday as I run my TV, CD, and DVD with it - also powering a 5.1 set-up. I now want an AV amp with HDMI inputs and so am considering upgrading to a newer system, however I just thought I would post a message saying how impressed I have been with it. Indeed I can't bring myself to part with it completely so I will just move it upstairs to run a system up there rather than my system in the lounge!

I am no audiophile in terms of knowing the technicalities, but I have a good quality set-up and know what sounds good - this produces a lovely rich and deep sound which is particularly good for home cinema (DTS especially is fantastic). And as you would exppect from the Sony QS range, the build quality is exceptional and, for me, visually it still easily looks the part.

Strengths:
Excellent build quality and good looks
Deep rich sound for movies
Available very cheaply nowadays - even at the original price, it has proved great value.

Weaknesses:
"Learning remote" not that great

RadialElite

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
3.63 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Tweeter (formerly ho

Summary:
The Str-db940 has been through alot with me and it is still living to tell the tale.
It was my first 5.1 digital receiver and appears to still be on top.
I have to say that I love this piece of metal and plastic.
The sound quality is nice but not outstanding. I use it 95% for movies and that also is where the problem comes from. I am going to upgrade to a 7.1 and I might shed a tear when I do. I have to say that this receiver has excellent build qualities and it looks stunning. My buddy had a newer 7.1 sony but it felt like a piece of junk, all plastic and no class. Also, I use the pre-outs to power my big amps and that is something that the newer sony's don't have until you go up in price.

ok the bad news- I was playing it in my apartment in july of 2002 and it all of a sudden my buddy says that it made a weird noise then it just stopped playing. I turned it off and then on and it took the display about 10 seconds to come on and the familiar click of the relays clicking on was not there. The two year warranty was going to expire in two weeks! what luck. I spent about 80 dollars shipping it and Sony sent it back working again. It worked for 3 more years then a similar problem happened. the sound would randomly cut off on certain channels and then randomly come back on! It took the authorized repair agent almost two months to see it happen (of course it didn't do it for him) finally they fixed it and it has been running about a year and has developed a few ticks but it is still going.

I recently read a review from a guy in Sugarland (suburb of houston where I bought mine from tweeter) where he got his from tweeter also and it just died on him. Perhaps that tweeter got a bad shipment?

I am only thankful because it is forcing me to get a new receiver. But I have to say that I absolutely love the setup and menus it offers. They are very straight forward if you take the time to read the manual and tune in your equipment.

Strengths:
Excellent processing for the time!
Excellent features for a sub ES unit
Excellent setup and configuration options
Excellent chassis build

It lasted (kinda but had to be repaired) playing hard everyday for 7 years.

Weaknesses:
Not great for pure audio
Perhaps mine had a bug that kept hurting it?

had to be repaired twice - same type of problem!

Price Paid:  $300.00 from poole.

Summary:
a very good piece of hardware str db 490 i have connected all my hardware like dvd player,video recorder,sky,pc,television,sat,and,md/cd.and a ant got no trouble, with it ive even connected a monitor so i can view all one by one or all together on the projection screen...

Strengths:
all

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
few nothing good

Price Paid:  $350.00 from tweeter's

Summary:
My Sony died after two years of light duty!!!!!!!

Strengths:
Sounds good when it worked

Weaknesses:
Died!