Plenty of power despite 85w rating. 25 DSP modes (and some of them are actually useful). The DSP mode parameters can be tweaked. 3-band equalizer with changeable center frequency for the 3 speaker positions. Auto-detect of audio input type. Plenty of inputs including 5 S-Video inputs. The remote is a strength IF you have all SONY components.

Remote (if you are not all-SONY), digital audio input ports cannot be reassigned (but you can rename the inputs). Looks like subwoofer cross-over frequency is not adjustable. No on-screen display.

After being disatisfied with the consumer-grade HT receivers, I jumped 'way up to a Denon AVR3300 - which is very clean and powerful but it sounded too clean and antiseptic with my setup so I took it back and "downgraded" to a Sony 333ES (price drop - now $499 as of May 2000). I was debating between the 333 and the 555ES - all the 555ES has is more power plus a touch-screen remote. Based on the reviews here I went with the 333ES.

Despite being rated at 85W I have never needed to turn up the volume past halfway (I usually have the volume set to, oh - 4 out of 10). My room is 25x12x8. I don't notice any hiss from any speakers except when listening to some analog cable TV (but then there was also hiss from the Denon). I sit about 7 feet from the surrounds so I did turn up the gain going to the surrounds but putting it to +10db is overkill - I usually leave it at +7db (which is probably still too much for most people but I want to hear sound out of my surrounds even when watching the news). I have digital cable which has a digital coax audio output (but only ProLogic - they don't send DD down the cable yet) and the 333ES automatically switches to the coax input. Note that the coax input is actually assigned to DVD input - you cannot reassign the coax to another input. However, you can rename what appears on the display. So the little LED may be on DVD but what appears on my 333ES's display is CABLE. The DSP modes are more subtle than on some other receivers. I particularly like Virtual Rear and Virtual Multidimensional. Technically these particular modes (which simulate having more than 1 pair of surrounds) add some noise to the signal, but I haven't noticed it during normal listening. The tuner is OK and has 30 presets, plus you can name the presets. If you have a Sony CD player that has an AII link (not S-Link) you can pull CD titles from it.

The Remote: The remote has an LCD display and flip-top case. It takes some getting used to including actually reading the seperate manual for the remote. The cool thing about the remote is that it is 2-way. The remote receives a list of what settings you have on the receiver and can display them on the LCD panel. What's really nice is if you name your radio stations/CD's you can actually scroll through the names on the remote to select what you want to hear. The remote also has 2 programmable macro functions. Unfortunately it is not a learning remote. It also doesn't cover all of my equipment. For instance, my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 digital cable box really works like a DSS satellite box, not a cable box. But SciAtl only shows up under the Cable box selection. The Cable box selections on the remote do not use the Menu buttons so I cannot get the remote to bring up the on-screen cable guide. Fortunately, you can turn off the 2-way remote feature and use some other "universal" remote (I use the All-For-One Cinema 7 - a great programmable learning remote for under $30). Of course, if your TV/Satellite Box/DVD/VCR and CD are all Sony then this remote is just fine.

All in all this is a great receiver for the price. You should consider this receiver if you are on a budget and need a lot of inputs as well as decent power and sound. With the money you save you can upgrade your speakers (I used the money I saved by returning the $900 Denon to buy a sub-woofer. Very nice).

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Pioneer 509S, JVC 888K, Denon AVR3300

This receiver is very clean. I listen to a lot of music through this machine. I visited this site and read numerous reviews prior to purchasing this reciver. For the money you will be hard pressed to find a comparison. The reciver really pushes all of my DVD's to the limit! Try the South Park film on DVD!

My remote eats batterys up very quickly.

As I had previously stated I shopped for over eight months before purchasing this unit. I also purchsed a Sony 300 CD Changer and an entire Klipsch surround sound system L,R,C, Sub and in ceiling surround sound speakers. Combined with my DVD player, CD burner, VCR, Tape deck and Sega Dreamcast, I am very pleased with my system. I recomend this reciver to anyone that wants pure sound without dropping a lot of cash!

lots of clean power, cool design, futuristic remote

occassional loss of sound

This was my first reciever from Sony and it has impressed me greatly. Picked it up for $550 out the door from the Sony employee center. The power is real clean and the DSP modes are very useful. I have this hooked up with a Sony DVD player and the Sony SAVE705 sats. The only complaint is sometimes the reciever would have periods of no sound after chapter and fast forwarding. The remote was tricky to begin with but is very easy to operate once i got the hang of it. Its also a big plus since all of my components are Sony.

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first receiver

Plenty A/V Inputs. Sounds Great with just 80Wx5.
EASY to setup, even a dumb can do it.

GUI. I like Graphics Unit Interfase, it is much user
friendly but display provided is ok.
"According my need" I have found no weakness to it.

Prety much had been already sayd about this Jewell.
So I just want mention about Remote Control. Yes at
very first time, RC is hard to handle, but is just to
say, that after few year (10) as an engineer, I used
to skip some part of user's guides, because I take it
for granted.

Well this RC user's guide is the one that you must
read it all. It is not difficult it is different to
use.

Soon after RC User's Guide was fully readed, I
started to use as it was meant to, and now I
found it easy to use and it is very handy if
you are Sony lover!, like me.

Main HT:

TV: Sony 43T70
DVD: Sony 500D (It's ooold one, but I found it great)
Receiver: Sony 333ES
Speakers: Sony SA-V105 this bundle comes with Active Sony Subwoofer

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Sony STR-1015G

incredibly clean sound among many other things - see below.

Remote, Heat, Crossover point on subwoofer out.

I purchased the Sony STR-DA333ES receiver in June '99 and wanted to use it for awhile before posting a review. It is now July '00

There are only three negative things worth noting. And they are:

1) Fixed crossover frequency for the subwoofer output.
The audio program coming from the subwoofer output sounds to be around ~300Hz on down, which is too high of a crossover point for my taste. I would have preferred a crossover point around 90Hz. It would have been great if Sony would have installed a sweepable crossover point from 50Hz-300Hz where the user could set his/her own crossover point. Thus satisfying individual tastes or circumstances.
I've gotten around the subwoofer problem by inserting an external EQ between the subwoofer out on the receiver and the amplifier input. I can then attenuate the lower-midrange frequencies that are coming from the subwoofer to my satisfaction.

2) The remote has delayed response time problems.
After the remote has been sitting untouched for awhile and you go to make any adjustments, (change stations, channels or inputs -for example) it at first reacts immediately. THEN, it takes 3 seconds before the remote responds to any further commands. This is very annoying! I assume this is because the remote goes into a "sleep" or "standby" mode to save battery life. It then takes a few seconds to awake and respond. Sony should have made it possible to turn this feature on or off. (However, the volume "up" and "down" works at ALL times.) If you turn off the "Back Light" feature on the remote, batteries last for an extremely long time.

3) This unit generates tremendous heat and needs alot of ventilation.
Do not plan on placing this receiver in any enclosed cabinet without placing a fan on the unit. After I placed a fan on the unit it seemed to take care of the problem. A quiet fan with an external dust filter would be a nice addition to future models.

Of course adding any additional features like those listed above would have increased the cost of the receiver.


The amazing things this unit CAN do certainly outweigh any negatives. It's the best receiver I've ever seen or heard. One of the many features it contains is an internal 3-band sweepable EQ and level control parameters on the front L & R, rear L & R, and center ch. speakers giving you great control over the soundstage. Regarding power output; 80W X 5 sounds conservative. With the volume HALF way up it generates VERY loud, VERY clean, thunderous audio. The unit itself is extremely aesthetically pleasing as well. It's a receiver that's poised for the future and I can't imagine that you'd ever run out of inputs in the near future.

You will be very happy if you purchase this receiver.

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Many

Onecall has these for $ 386.00 + 26.00 delivery. I just got one ; call Brian at 1-800-340-4770. I just purchased one and wanted to pass the deal on.

Clean sound - features

remote

Well I am satisfied with this unit. Sounds more neutral
than the Yamaha. I liked the Yamaha but everything sounded like it was through a magnifying glass - the Sony sounds more natural. The features that this unit provides are above and beyond the competition.

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Yamaha HTR-5150, Harman Kardon AVR-5

Awesome 5.1 with power to spare. Lots of DSP selections. Lots of inputs. Remote displays info from the receiver. (radio station, DSP mode, etc)

Im not real fond of the remote but it WILL grow on you.

I replaced most of my components. My receiver came before my new speakers....Holy S&*#...my old Yamaha speakers rocked. I couldnt belive how good my old speakers sounded with this new receiver. DTS is incredible...My new Klipsch 12" sub rattles my entire house. (not really a feature of the receiver) A+B speakers together makes a seemless transition from my livingroom to the back porch where my outdoor speakers reside. All in all its a very good receiver.

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Kenwood 1070...

Build quality, clean sound, warranty, 5.1 inputs, can be used as pre amp.

Remote and receiver setup could be better.

Used to have a Sony DE-925 Dolby Digital receiver 100 Watts per channel.

I got the Sony 333ES 80 Watts per channel w/ Dolby Digital and DTS.
Speakers - Energy e:XL-16 Front and Rear, e:XL-C center and e:XL-S10 Sub

First impressions...
Came double boxed, on time from Onecall.com.
The receiver is heavier than I expected - weighs in slightly over 30 lbs.
Build quality is excellent - just feels solid with no rattles at all.

The speaker connectors were a bit odd - not true 5 way binding posts -
They will take bare wire or longer banana plugs.

I am using bare wire now - it was a little tight back there around the speaker terminals
but all went in nice and snug. Will change over to banana plugs eventually, just because
I move stuff around alot and it's easier to disconnect / connect them.

Powered it up and turned on the radio - at least I had sound - that's a start.

Went on to calibrate the sound level using the AVIA DVD. The setup of the receiver
can be a bit confusing, but since my previous Sony had almost the same confusing setup
options I had no problems. The manual does suck though... Nothing new - my TV's
manual (also a Sony) is also horrible. Don't let the set up discourage you - I can easily walk
you through the major pieces...

The remote is nice if you have all Sony equipment. It works my Toshiba DVD player well though.
Once again this remote is identical to the one I had with my old receiver so I am used to it.
It does take a little getting used to though...

Now on to the real tests... how it sounded. I started with some DTS DVD's. Since I never
heard DTS I did not know what to expect. I did have a little problem getting the DTS to work
at first. Turns out that the auto detect between the Toslink and Coax connections doesn't
work too well with DTS - says so in the manual (actually had some useful info). So I had to tell the
receiver that I had the Coax connection. After that all was fine...

First up Eagles - HFO. Great sound, the bonus audio only track of Seven Bridges Road is
definitely demo material. Overall - sounded amazing.

Next up - Saving Private Ryan Omaha Beach scene in DTS. This has been talked about as
being THE DTS demo scene. I have the DD version so I knew what that sounded like.
The biggest difference was a "fuller" sound and more defined and louder bass. In the DD version
all explosions sounded the same to me - all BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! In the DTS version I could
here each BOOM more distinctly - more like BOOM! BANG! POW!... or something like that.

I then put in the Matrix at the lobby scene... I must of seen this scene at least 50 times before with my
old receiver. I was amazed at the clarity I heard. I actually heard things that I had never heard before.
Even the wife agreed that there were things she never noticed before. Even the explosions were more distinct.
I could pick out pieces of debris flying through the air.

The Matrix scene was what really made me feel good about getting this receiver. The better amps and
cleaner power are what made the biggest difference. The 80 watts per channel is plenty of power.
At most, I had the receiver up 1/2 way - way too loud for everyday listening. I could play it loud
and the sound was always clear and undistorted. My old receiver would get loud but the sound would
get muddy...

Over all the jump to DTS was nice - I think that the mixing done of the DTS soundtracks is what may make the
biggest difference. I do not think it blows away DD at all - so far anyway. The biggest difference by far was
going to higher quality, lower distortion Amps and better DACs. Plus the overall better build quality of the ES line.

I paid about $320 for my old DE925 receiver as an open box item at Best Buy. I got the 333ES brand new for $386.
I would of paid up to $600 for this receiver and would of been satisfied, but at under $400 (MSRP is $800!) I am
beyond happy at the performance of this receiver.

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SONY DE925

Optical Inputs, Sound clarity and Warranty

Remote is somewhat unique

Debated between this and Onkyo 575X and this clearly sounded better at the store. Both are priced around the same, but the better sound and warranty convinced me to go with the Sony.

Used the folks at One Call as recommended by others and they were great. Would highly recommend them.

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Onkyo