Price Paid:  $318.00 from Ideal Photo & Video

Summary:
I bought this as an upgrade to an old Sony Pro-Logic surround rack system. I've been replacing components for about 3 years now starting with the speakers (of course!) and have recently purchased the STR-DE985 and a Panasonic DVD-CD72 disk changer. After much web research, I choose this receiver for it's features, brand name, and price. The main things I was looking for were 1.) A quality amp to take advantage of my speaker investment. 2.)connectivity options for future Dolby Digital 5.1 TV broadcasting, HDTV and DVD-Audio. 3.) 6.1 surround capability for true "Theatre Sound". 4.) Phono input so I can play my record collection. In my single days, I had other nice "Mid-fi" systems (Yamaha, Infinity, Akai), but when I got married compromises were in order. The remote control won out over sound quality. I also have an old friend with a really hi-end system (Marantz tubes, bi-amped, with speakers that cost more than my car.)that I spent many happy hours listening to. Because of this, I feel I have developed a better than average "ear". My current speaker system includes Klipsch KSF 8.5 fronts, Klipsch SC-1 center, JBL 10" 150w sub, and Sony rack system towers for the rears. Scheduled upgrades are Klipsch SB-2 rears and another SC-1 for the rear center. I'm really sold on Klipsch speakers, give them a listen! So far, so good except for one problem, the fronts quit working after about a month. I connected them to the "B" speaker outputs and the system works fine. The warranty's good for a year so I'm putting off fixing this minor problem. I'm having too much fun! The Sony has really made my speakers come alive. It's a real chore to set up this receiver due to all the options, but your patience will be rewarded. Study the manual carefully. The info you need is all there, it's just not well organized. If you want plug & play, go elsewere. Modern electronics are a miracle. Even the old rack box sounded decent through good, efficent, speakers but the STR-DE985 is amazing for 300 bucks! My old vinyl sounds noticeably better than my CD's now. Not that the CD's sound bad, it's just that this puppy can expose the limitations of that technology. Audio DVD's are another matter. These take recorded music to a whole new level. I bought three of these to test the new tech, but two were disappointing. The third "Riding with the King" by BB King and Eric Clapton rivals the sound of a high-end system. The 6 channel discrete inputs allow you to hear these babies at the full sampling rate. Unreal! A warning: if you use a digital connection instead of the analog the DVD player will only give you the lower CD sampling rate. This is to prevent digital copying. Movies are not really my thing, but the Digital Dolby/DTS is very cool. One nice feature of this receiver is the "virtual" rear center. This completes the surround field without an extra speaker. Surround effects will seem to originate from anywhere in the room. You cannot discern individual speakers when, for example, "Stuart Little" is flying his toy airplane around the room. Battle scenes from Star Wars will shake the walls.

Strengths:
Value Options Sound Quality

Weaknesses:
No optical connection for the DVD selector (Choose another). Reliability (See Above) Will not pass thru dissimilar video connections (I.E. S-Video to Component) this is not uncommon at this price point, but annoying.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Marantz, Macintosh, Carver