Price Paid:  $175.00 from Richersounds - UK

Summary:
This is a great reciever, its very easy to set up, looks nice and sleek, and sounds great. One of the nice things about this reciever, is it tells you what signals you are actually listening to, and the remote control doesnt look like its from another planet. Its not the best amp in the world, but stick in a good film or a music release recorded in dts, and you will hear that your money was well spent. As for that guy that complained that its a rip off, Sony are certainly not the only ones to blame when it comes to optimism in the watts department, so i suggest you stick to selling your 85 grand speakers or whatever they were (more money than sense me thinks), and for the record, i have never met a guy that works in a hifi shop, that EVER and i mean EVER has known what he is talking about. I tell you people, do your research before you go, and give it a listen, if you like it, buy it, if not, dont. DONT listen to the guys in the shop, there hopeless (Waiting to be proved wrong)

Strengths:
Easy to use, nice to look at, sounds great.

Weaknesses:
lack of inputs and 4mm speaker connections

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Hardware.no bruktmar

Summary:
This is a very good receiver for a good price!

Strengths:
A very good receiver for that price! Dolby digital and DTS. Good round bass on my namco's with 12" bass, not so good on my surround speakers with 6,5" bass. Both optical and coaxial input. Analog 5.1 input's Overall clean sound

Weaknesses:
Few optical inputs..

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I bought this amp at best buy for a small room. It isnt that bad though for a mere 200 pieces of green cloth. Even though it was cheap, that dosnt mean that it didnt sound good. It works perfectly well with small rooms. The matter is, it works well with speakers in the same price range. Kids, dont go hooking up your 20,000 dollar studio monitors and expect the studo sound that they would offer. I work with a beutiful sylvania rq 3747 studio amplifier from the 70's, and it could woop this thing down the street. It does get the job done though. It it actually used as a preamplifer for my turntable. the problem is im using monoblock amps from granite audio. These use things called triodes, for all you newbies out there, not transistors, or capasitators. Anyways the problem is that with monoblocks, you need two of these sonys, for the most accurite sound. hey they work!!

Strengths:
The midrange has pretty good tonal range without distorting. Bass is ok (40Hz not bad for 200$)

Weaknesses:
It isnt the kind of amplifier that would win any other contest than price range.

Similar Products Used:
granite audio monoblocks sylvania rq 3747 quadraphonic hh scott midland 8 track stanton str8-100 sony tc-500a reel to reel bogen b61 turntable epos 1000 studio monitors jbl yamaha ohm mcin

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Bestbuy

Summary:
Before I start my actual review, let me explain my situation for all of you. First off I am a teenager, who lives in a simple 12 by 12 bedroom. I had owned a shelf system for a few years and decided that I wanted to upgrade to a component system. I went in on a limited budget and decided that the first step was that I need to get myself a reciver and a few speakers. I got the Sony STR-DE475 as well as a pair of KLH 911B speakers. When I got the reciver it was pointless for me to have, however over the following year I would continue to upgrade my system, adding a Zenith 5 Disk DVD changer, a new TV (Samsung Dynaflat TXM2790F),a KLH center channel, and a Sony SA-WM20 Subwoofer. I also moved my KLH 911B's back and made them my rear speakers and put a pair of Sony SS-MB100H speakers. Now that I own all of the above the reciver is finally being used to how I had hoped it would. While I love it I do have a couple of small issues with it. First off there are no S-Video (or component for that sake) jacks on it. Also there is a real lack of digital inputs. My one other problem is the lack of a AUX channel. Now for my setup I think what I have is more then good! Very few people have managed to get a full 5.1 setup in the bedroom. The Sony STR-DE475 can be used as a reciver in your living room, however if that is the case you will need better speakers then just your standard bookshelf. If there are other people like me out there, who are still in High School and want to throw a nice system in their bedroom, then this is a perfect fit.

Strengths:
-Cheep Price -Sony brandname -Good for small to medium systems, works great as a bedroom system.

Weaknesses:
-Lack of Digital Inputs -Somewhat poor remote (it's universal as long as you own all Sony products) -Lack of AUX input

Similar Products Used:
Several others including a some professional equipment.

Price Paid:  $169.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
I bought this receiver at Best Buy open box. I was having trouble decided between the Sony and the Aiwa receiver but apparently I made the right choice. This receiver ROCKS! It does great for movies and all right for music. I say all right because it distorts at loud levels. But then again it was only 169.99. I really like this unit for what it does and its power. I use it with 2 Cerwin Vega LS-12 towers and the LS-6C center channel. I use a JBL PB-12 powered sub with it as well and they all sound great with this receiver. Although I plan to upgrade to a Harman/Kardon or Onkyo in the future, this was definitely a GREAT start for my home theater.

Strengths:
Great sound at decent levels with good speakers! THE BLUE LIGHT!!!

Weaknesses:
Some distortion at high levels of volume.

Similar Products Used:
None so far.