solid performance while it works

occasional glitches with protection, durability, Sony customer support policy, remote control

Sony 555ES review thread reads like a battlefield - and I hate to say I changed side recently. I've listened to my music thru this receiver for 2 years and been quite happy! Powerful, clear, enough inputs and electronic tweaks, so I've been mostly happy with performance. OK, LCD remote is useless - I've programmed another universal remote to control Sony. "Protection" mode is fragile - shuts off at levels less than half of full power, had to turn it off, then turn it on (normal thing for people dealing with computers ;-) One day it went to "Fan Protection" mode and didn't come back even after reboot. Brought it to a service center -- and it spent there 3 months!! Not because of technicians or support personnel @ Sony - but because of general Sony policy: I've been told that "Sony cannot predict demand for parts" (I've suggested checking with Toyota, just-in-time manufacturing people figured that one out long time ago) and such fallacies as "our customers and reputation of our products are our biggest assets" at the same time as "we will not replace the receiver or refund your money no matter what". Most of the time was spent waiting for authorization for repair and waiting for parts. So, there - that's the meaning behind the ES pretty picture... realize that before buying into the ES "performance guarantee" marketing spiel. No more sony products in my house!

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon amps, various models (none broke ever!)

Bang for the buck, features, back panel is loaded

EQ set-up, remote (but not as bad as most people say)

I bought the 555 just before Christmas, after almost buying the 50ES earlier in the year (and being told it wouldn't be replaced in the fall...tisk tisk) to go along with my Sony DVP-7700 DVD player ( a beauty of a player!) So far, so good. Nothing has gone wrong with it, and I've had no major hassles setting it up. I think you people who buy mail-order are nuts. I bought from Sony's own retail outlet and I'm hoping that will count for something.

First, the remote. Such controversy, sheesh. It is a bit of a pain when you want to access something fast, and you have to whip the pen out and go through a bunch of screens before you finally find what you want. The backlight does go off fast, but I imagine that's to conserve battery power. As for the batteries, I've used the remote extensively for about 1 month now and they're still going strong. I can control all of my Sony and non-Sony componants, even my 6 year old Sony CD player and my cheap-ass JVC tv! But you know what? When it comes down to it, it's just a remote. I didn't pay $1500 (CDN) for the remote.

The unit itself is just amazing. The sound for DVD and CD is very good. Even videos sound great. I recently watched Jurassic Park (cuz there's no DVD yet!!! Hint, hint) There is so much rear info on that video, that I had to turn my surround way down because it was too distracting. But it sounded great! Digital sound is supurb, altho I've yet to try out DTS. I'm told it's unbelievable. You can do pretty much anything you want with this thing. Speaker set-up lets you tell the unit where all your speakers are. By the way, I'm playing through Paradigm's. Legend floor's with built-in subs, ADP-170 dipole surrounds and a CC-170 center. Setting up the EQ is a bit of a task, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Hey, if I wanted easy, I would have bought the cheapest receiver I could find. The EQ is very effective, although the sound is not too shabby without it. I have more features than I know what to do with. Some of the sound modes are a bit silly, but others are very cool.

For a couple hundred bucks more, I could have got the Nakamichi AV-10, but chose to go with the Sony because I like toys. The AV-10 may have a slight edge in sound quality, but not enough that I'm losing sleep over my decision. I've very happy with the 555 (so far). It was expensive, but for that price, I'm hoping it lasts for years. Considering it's as good or better than some of it's higher priced competition, the value is top-notch.

Power, Options, # of Connections, Remote

Speaker terminals, remote turns off too quick.

Ive had a Technics Dolby Pro-Logic reciever for about 4 years. As of last christmas (1998) i bought myself a pioneer dvd player. I had been running the DVD with my DPL reciever for a year and id say there was a definate improvment. But, the lack of dolby digital just wasnt cutting it. So, that's why im here.

I have a set of B & W DM 602 S2's for fronts, a CC6 S2 center, DS 6 rears and a ASW 1000 subwoofer. The fronts, center and rear's sound great with a little tweeking of the EQ, but the subwoofer was very overpowering. I had to turn it down from 3/4 with my old reciever to 1/4 power for this one. (why is i so much louder?) Well anyway, aside from a little tweeking here and there, peace and quite at my house is a thing of the past.

Overall, i think its a great reciever for the money. You get a ton of features and can customize the snot out of it. One thing i dont like is the speaker terminals. I prefer to use the monster cable pins but there is just no way that they will work. It also seems to run a little hot.

Similar Products Used:

First Sony Reciever

Cool remote, Plenty of features

Broken remote

I just wanted to write here for web shoppers. If you are planning to buy this piece from the net for as cheap as you can, you may want to think twice. Sony is pretty strict about its ES products and does not authorize its products for sale on the net. Which basicly means they will not honor any warranty or benifits of the unit. And since the remote is pretty much guarranteed to fail within the first 18 months, a 200 dollar remote by the way, many net buyers will be in bad shape. God forbid and amp blows on it.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV995, Denon AVR3300

Jury still out

remote, of course

I wondered about the EQ. It didn't seem to have any effect at any setting. The EQ light went on and off but that was all I got. Am returning it for service after a phone call to Sony tech support. The thing sounds awsome as is. I can't wait to get the EQ repaired. My gripe is, I shouldn't be needing a repair. Seems I'm not the only one.

I hope this will be my only problem. If so, I know I will love it. It doesen't have a tape monitor selection, so I plan to drive the outboard EQ for my music speakers using the preamp outputs and then on to a TAN-9000ES.

DVDs sound great through my satelite/sub system if I use bigger speakers for the satelites. I wonder if connecting the sats through the sub instead of connecting them directly to the reciever will help. When connected seperatly, the sub produces only LFE channel(using 5.1 decoding) leaving the sats sounding thin. With the same connection using pro logic the sat/sub system sounds fine.
I will experiment when I get it back from the doctor.

I am notorious for not doing enough research before buying something. It is breaking my heart to hear of the 777. Oh well, If I had spent the extra bucks I might not have been able to get the TAN9000. Would be nice to have the better remote. The one that comes with will control everything but my cable box, but my cable and DVD remotes will control the volume on the reciever so not a big issue. Seems I am doomed to a table full of remotes.

For the money, this box seems to have plenty, but I am dissapointed as this is the first product I have needed to return for service. Can't give 5 stars as that would imply perfection. If it hadn't already needed service I would give it 4.

Power, sound quality

Build quality

When I chose the Sony receiver, I thought back to the Sony camcorder that cost me $180 to fix four months after I bought it. After that fiasco, I thought I'd never buy another Sony unit, but the ads, the reviews, and the good reviews persuaded me to try Sony one more time.

Well friends, I've been had once again. After 32 days, I noticed that the receiver wouldn't stay in one sound mode when a DVD was playing. It would switch among modes, causing a disconcerting break in the action each time. When I tried a different DVD, the same phenomenon occurred.

The mail order company agreed to take back the unit after some begging.

Consider yourself warned.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Marantz

I know that most people loathe the remote but I really like it! It is nice not to have to turn on the TV to make an adjustment. I also enjoy the Dolby Digital decoding. Volume is not an issue with this unit, there is plenty of power to listen to my 5 channel speaker system. The 5 year waranty is also nice. 5 stars

Sound fields are overkill. Remote is dim during the day. No S-link to other Sony components. No AC-3 input (for Laser Disc) Power button on remote is easy to push when holding remote, also remote should have channel changing buttons should be accesable without using touchscreen.

This is a very nice unit after living with it for 3 months I still believe that I made the right choice with this receiver. 5 stars

PRX OF YAMAHA 2095 IS ABOUT 20% EXPENSIVE THAN SONY 555ES.
H/E QLTY OF 2095 IS SURE 200% BETTER THAN 555ES

MY SYSTEM:
DVD: TOSHIBA SD-3110
F SPKR: B&W MATRIX 804
C SPKR: (4 SPKR SYS ONLY)
R SPKR: JBL CONTROL WAVE
S WOFR: YST-SW200
TV: PHILIPS 48"

Similar Products Used:

YAMAHA 2095

Excellent Sound. Multiple a/v input/outputs. Audio Auto select format, indepenent audio and video sources

Remote is awful. Audio delay in switching from Analog to Digital

Excellent piece of equipment. CD's, DVD's, and DSS audio sources all sound great. In addition, the numerous Surround Sound options and fine tuning settings goes along way to getting the sound you want. The remote is horrible, but I have a Pronto so its a non-issue for me. There's some heat generated by this unit, but I've seen worse. My cabinet is well ventilated, so again not an issue. It also weighs a ton, but that is to be expected with a unit like this. And make sure you have the speakers to take advantage of this unit. I have Infinity RS10's with matching surrounds, CC, SubW and as mentioned the sound is great. If you're unsure about this model given the many reviews in here buy it from someplace you can return it without any questions asked. I bought mine from Crutchfields, yeah you pay full price, but the service is great,the shipping is cheap, and they have a 30 day, no questions asked return policy - plus they pay for the return shipping. Value = 4 star (just because of that STUPID remote. Overall 4.5 - 5.0

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo

Well-made (except for plastic door on front), excellent sound, slick user interface

Lacks bass management and EQ features that the 777ES has. Firmware is not upgradable like on the 777ES. *** Takes up to 5 seconds to lock onto a digital signal! ***

I recently compared the 555ES and 777ES. The 555ES really sounded quite good-- better than the AVR-3300 in my opinion, and just barely below the sound quality of the 777ES. The 555ES' console user interface is much friendlier than the Denon's. I can't comment on the remote because at the store I visited, someone had made off with it.

I would have bought the 555ES except for one super-annoying feature-- there is a 5-second delay when locking onto a digital signal after previously playing from the analog inputs. The 777ES doesn't have this delay-- it locks onto the digital inputs immediately. Since the 777's other features would be useful to me, I went with the 777 instead.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-3300