Just received mine from JandR.com for a very good price ($369 plus shipping, upgraded from UPS ground to FedEX 2-day at no charge). Fabulous receiver for the money, particularly for home theater use. The virtual speaker DSP settings are actually pretty useful, making it sound like you have many more rear speakers than just one pair. My only gripe with the unit concerns the simple two channel mode. It only directs sound to the front left and right, but not the subwoofer, so the subwoofer cannot be used when listening to CDs in two channel mode. For my purposes, however, the Sony did not compare favorably to my existing B&K Pro 5 preamp, which I use in the passive mode, so I do not plan to use it for two channel music anyways. For most people, though, home theater use is the first priority, and for this the product rates a clear five stars.

Wow!This is an amazing piece of work from Sony. I can't believe that this is the same company that makes the STR-DE835/935 (shame on you Sony!).
For the money, this receiver simply cannot be beat. You get everything that you ever wanted:

S-video inputs (3 total - 1 front panel)
5.1 channel input
5.1 (6) channel pre-amp outputs
5 A/V inputs (1 front panel)
3 Audio inputs (CD, tape, and phono)
4 digital inputs (3 optical, 1 coax)
digital output (optical, for DAT or MD recording)
100 W x 5 power at only 0.09 % THD (compared to 0.9 % for the 835/935!)
240 W/ch dynamic power output into 4 Ohm speakers.
Full discrete amplifiers on all channels (SEPP - source-emitter push-pull)
Enormous power supply (heavy!) with high current output
Equaliser independantly adjustable for Front/Centre/Rear!
Digital dynamic range compression
Dolby Digital, DTS, Pro-Logic
Sony's Digital Cinema Sound (very cool!)
First-rate construction - "frame and beam" chassis, slanted PC board, beautiful aluminum front panel and a slick push-button flip-down door on the front to cover up most of the controls. Even the volume knob is machined Aluminum.
Full S-link connectivity with Sony Stuff - both Control-S and Control-A1 II.

Differences from the STR-DB930:

100 x 5 instead of 110 x 5
NO s-video input on TV/SAT input
one fewer Audio inputs
"standard" type remote, instead of the two-way remote.
No second room output.

The amplifier section of this thing really shines. This is the quietest receiver that I have ever heard. I don't mean to say that it isn't powerful - far from it. It has power to spare. By "quiet" I mean that the background noise level is extremely low. You can easily listen to music with a very high dynamic range (like classical) at very high volume levels without any noticable hiss or cracks or pops. I literally have to turn the volume up to 8 or 9 and put my ear to the speakers (very sensitive CV's BTW..) to hear even the slightest hiss. And that is while playing a "silent" track on a test CD. Amazing. It has an excess of power in my opinion, and is capable of driving 4 Ohm speakers. The amp sounds noticeably tighter than my old receiver - the bass is cleaner now.

The "Headphone Theatre" DCS mode is a neat trick. You can listen to a movie thru headphones and hear full 5.1-channel surround sound from phantom speakers all around you.

Great value (<$384 from www.onecall.com), excellent sound quality, sturdy and beautiful construction, expandabilty with 5.1 ins/outs. A definite Five all the way!

Inupts, output, power.

Great receiver. Just these 2 words!

Inputs, outputs, soundfields!

This baby is GREAT! It has so many ins and outs that you can plug anything you can imagine!

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just an update on my review, it happened to me i also got the fuzz in the right rear surround, its there for about the first 15 minutes its on, but for some reason not on the cinema sound dsps, just the music related dsps, this doesnt really change my impression or rating on it because when i called sony they said they found out about it last week and they already fixed the problem, they said it was some kind of production line problem. And they will fix it

Similar Products Used:

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Clean sound, plenty of power, good movie DSP modes, 20hz - 20khz on all channels, tons of setup options, good set of inputs and outputs.

Remote control BLOWS! what were you thinking sony? glow in the dark buttons with white writing? An onscreen display would have been very nice

I have been using the DB-830 without any problems for about a month now. Picked it up from www.buyingedge.com for $329 shipped.

Plenty of power for my acoustic research speakers, the 100x5 is almost beleiveable, compared to my old JVC 884VBK *Cough* shit.

my system is as follows

Sony DB-830 receiver
JVC XV511 DVD player, soon to be replaced

Acoustic Research AR308HO bookshelf fronts
Acoustic Research AR2C Center channel speaker
Acoustic Research AR15 bookshelf rears
Infinity BU-1 12" sub, soon to be replaced

Monster cable interconnects and speaker cable.

Sound, DSP modes, features, inputs/outputs.

Remote

I'm a happy owner of this great really unit and i can say that i'm simply going to vote for it. If you want to know more read below. There are so many reviews about this unit. The only letdown is the remote.

Sony ES Construction, High Current Amplifier,Binding Posts for all 5 speakers. Produces an exceptional sound with no distortion at high volume levels. The number of features is unmatched as well for any product near this price point.

The remote. You're unable to read any of the device selection buttons in light or dark!

It's been a long road, but I'm finally happy!

I first purchased the STR-DE935 only to find that Sony
cheapened the Amplifier and provided only 0.8% THD while in surround mode. At high volumes this produced very noticeable distortion. Plus, Sony's 2-way remote is absolutely unusable (which is why I avoided the DB930).
Nothing like a 5 second delay before you can use your remote while it tries to "link" with the receiver. Plus the 935 has the style of a Drag Queen. So this receiver went
back to the store.

Reading several good reviews on the Onkyo TS-575, I decided
to give it a try. I was very impressed with the remote. Full learning capability allowed this device to actually replace all 6 of my remote's.. However the 575 sounded very underpowered. There was little or no bass being driven to my Velodyne CT120 sub, and the overall sonic response was rather flat. Coupled with the fact that this receiver had a pathetic "old world" set of features not worthy of being anyone's AV center piece. The user configuration interface was pathetic and designed by Engineers with very little digital expertise (although their analog design skills appeared competent). So this receiver went back to the store.

Later that week, I received a Crutchfield catalog (terrible Circuit City like prices though.. If your going to get ripped off, at least go to a local store so you can easily return the thing.) They had a special Sony Center section
that gave a 2 page introduction to the new Sony DB line. I went down to the local Good Guys store (apparently the only local dealer that carries this Model) to test drive it. On-line I had found the 830 for as low as $332 from the buyingedge.com .. I took the quote with me to the store.
I was very impressed with the sound and construction of this unit. Coupled with the famous Sony Feature sweet (Sony's Engineer's understand the digital aspects of design VERY well) I had found the ideal AV receiver that combined Quality Sound (.09% THD in 5.1 Mode, High Current technology), features, and construction (Identical to the High end ES line). Good Guy's would not match $332 (it costs them $320!!) but eventually sold be the unit for $399.
(Buying something at the Good Guys is like buying a used car from a pathetic salesman paid only on commission. But at least you can get a good deal.).

I've had the DB830 for over a month and I love it... I'm extremely picky about the hardware I own (I'm a Hardware Engineer by trade, so the little quirks and bugs eat away at me quickly...) This receiver sounds identical to the Sony 333ES for much less money and an Analog bypass switch.

Avoid the DE product line (635,835,935) like the plague... Unless you don't care about quality, and only want the great Sony feature set..

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE935,Onkyo 575

Great sound, low thd. Supports DTS wonderfully, looks good and feels solid (binding posts for speakers) lots of sound modes, inputs, and options. Best deal for money around.

Remote is not set up very well. Rear speakers do not get 100 watts each.

Wow, I'm really glad I ditched the crappy American Sony line. This reciever has .08 thd with all five speakers running, .05 with only the front two. Has two subwoofer outs, although they are a little noisier than I would like. Still, this cost only 500 bucks and is about ten times better than the rest of the sony line, with the exception of the es products which is comprable to.
I feel as though I'm getting more power that is just as clean with this product as compared to yamaha or onyx. The denon products I've used have been better, though not enough to warrant the five hundred to thousand bucks I'd have to pay to get these features.
DTS is awesome, as well as music played in bypass or the hall modes. Most of the modes aren't that great, but how many does one really need? Looks really good with a solid front panel that swings out to reveal the controls. The remote is kind of clunky, it only works with certain product lines (thankfully my vcr and cd player are compatible, no such luck with the dvd) and it makes you skip through sound modes and cd's without having any way to go directly to the one you want. The hinged door is obnoxious in the dark.
It sounds great, and is so loud I can't turn it up in the apartment building I live. The rear speakers aren't as loud as I would though. Most importantly it's clean sound, you still get the dynamic range.
Great deal. Avoid garbage like thte 835 stuff, they sound like crap and have cheap amplifiers.

lots of features and very affordable

no 5 channel stereo mode

Great receiver , vary affordable , lots of flexability , 25 or so dsp modes , includes 3 optical and 1 coaxial digital inputs + an optical out ,not found on many other more expensive receivers + it sound wonderful , I was amazed the first time i heard it decode a dolby digital dvd, it sounded very real . I look forward to playing a dvd with dts. bottom line you can't get a receiver with more features or better sound for $499 . I got this one after first buying the yamaha 595a , but i took it back becease it didn't have much base although it did sound really good. I got the str-db830 and was so glad i took the yamaha 595a back.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha 595a digital home theatre receiver