Price Paid:  $349.00 from Camp Butler Okinawa

Summary:
My early 80's era Yamaha compnents gave up the ghost after 20 years and I needed a replacement. Not wanting to spend a lot of money I settled for a unit that had plenty of power, a circuit I can run a pair of Bose 901s through, and would fit into my cabinet easily. The Sony STR DE- 875 has done a very nice job for me over the last 4 years. It's been extremely reliable - even after a couple power hits over the winter. The Sony's internal equalizer fine tunes the 901s for my room and there are more features than I can possibly use. Perhaps one of these days I may move the Sony to the TV where it probably belongs and purchase an integrated amp for my 901s and music enjoyment. All in all, for the budget concious audio listener I think you'll find the Sony STR - DE875 a great deal with great sound.

Strengths:
Great value for the number of features and quality.

Looks great in the cabinet.

Excellent power for hungry speakers.

Excellent sound range.

Weaknesses:
Complicated to operate for old guys like me. There are lots of buttons to push but no knobs to twist.

Similar Products Used:
Replaced my Yamaha equipment with this unit.

Price Paid:  $260.00 from Carefur

Summary:
I've this receiver for about two years and use it mainly for movies. I am completely satisfied, especially given the price that I paid. I 've installed Magnat Motion speakers and a 12 inch subwoofer by Magnat as well. I usually watch movies at around 30. I 've never raised the volume above 35, it's really loud and it goes until 50... I'm not a specialist or an audiophile but I never had a single problem or complaint about it so I do not regret buying it, and I urge you to do the same if you find one cheap.

Price Paid:  $125.00 from EBay

Summary:
Well, after reading some of the former reviews I just had to put in my two cents. First, This is an excellent reciever. I have not experienced any of the negative problems with the volume control or lack of bass. I attribute this to having high quality interconnects, speaker cables and of course quality speakers. I have been a 2 channel guy for years so perhaps my knowledge on Home Theater is limited, but I really don't think that is the case here. Prior to the purchase I have owned Arcam, NAD, & some of the old 70's Marantz & "tank Like' Yamaha Equipment. I have a pretty good ear for music and this piece does not dissapoint me in the least. No it is not as wide and dynamic as my old British & Japanese Hi-Fi, but they did not offer any of the Sony's DSP funtions so it has been to this point a good trade off. Hell, I still have my Marantz 2030 and have not felt the need to plug it in. In short for $125.00 this was an outstanding purchase. To those having any of these "so called" issues don't blame the reciever; upgrade the interconnects, cables, speakers & digitals sources & you shoud see a huge difference in performance

Strengths:
Plenty of power, deep base, Ooodles of tweaks

Weaknesses:
None to report

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Gallery Furniture

Summary:
Overall, a pretty good receiver if you are just starting out. Of course, now the DE-885 is out and has the 2nd room option and is $50 less! Go figure. The sound is good for a low-to-mid A/V receiver. I am using Wharfedale separates up front and Klipsch surrounds with an AR 12inch powered sub. The bass adjustments +/- 6db is pretty good, and is convenient to adjust the bass output. There are several different soundfields to choose from, but the majority time I leave it on Auto. Good options for the money. Setup takes some time and figuring.

Strengths:
Bang for the buck. Could have had a better remote.

Weaknesses:
Confusing set up.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer AV receiver.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Friends Hi-Fi Store

Summary:
Have had this amp at least 6 months now and pretty happy with the sound. Bass notes have a habit of sounding "boomy" though but this is more to do with the cheap speakers and the wide range of music than the amp. Only problem I've had is dead pixels on the display, the retailer fixed this and to be honest was probably my fault for leaving the amp on 24/7. Other criticisms are only one RCA input; both the DVD player and PC use this type of connector so I had to build a Y splitter to enable them to be connected at the same time. The volume issue that some people have commented about is something of a double edged sword, the amp does sound quiet until it reaches 25 on the dial (max 50) but once its there every number higher sounds massively louder – suspect this to be more of a miss calibration of the volume control than a weakness in the amp. Either way there is more than enough power to rattle the windows in my bungalow before reaching this maximum.

Strengths:
Easy to set up and over all flexibility, the amp can handle speaker impedance between 4-8 ohms. Proper speaker connecters using either binding posts or banana plugs, no messing around with spring clips that won't accept thick cables. Remote is cable of operating some Sony DVD players, VCR’s and TV’s.

Weaknesses:
Possible problem with the display and dead pixels. Only one RCA input. Remote looks cluttered until you realise it is multifunction of sort’s. Can’t record from digital source to analogue - very annoying for dubbing cd player connected though digital to cassette etc. No tape monitor for connection of external graphic equaliser but to be fair the internal EQ is more than good enough.

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-D511 Pro-Logic receiver.