tremendous sound.....phenomenal dts and dolby digital 5.1 sound.....in combination with a Sony dtsdd 5.1 , makes for an affordable and dynamic system

none that I can find so far

My only temptation is to play it so loud that the house shakes.

Similar Products Used:

previous sony, onkyo receivers;

Power, DD, DTS, sound, lots of features, price.

remote.

Using it more than 4 month. Very impressive sound with DD and DTS.
Only one weakness Ðremote, but no comments.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer-608

This is a terrific unit with sweet sound and great flexibility. I got mine from one call for $367.00 when they were out of the STR-DE's. I don't regret the switch. The unit has plenty of power, DTS & Dolby Digital and inputs/outputs for everything under the sun. Highly recommended.

I recently decided to upgrade to home theater, and my first choice was the STR-DE835. Unfortunately, OneCall was backordered and recommended this model instead. For under $400, this is a very good value. Sound is excellent, power is more than adequate, and it has a good selection of connections, except it only has one coaxial digital input, so if you have many components that only have a coaxial output, you may be in trouble.
Also, the remote control buttons can be a bit hard to read at times, they use glow-in-the-dark buttons, rather than true illumination.

Other than these and a few other minor quibbles, I love this unit. This is my first Sony component, and I am quite happy with it so far.

I purchased this receiver from onecall for $412.74 including shipping. I originally called to order the STR-de835, but they were out of stock. The salesperson recommended this model because it had a bigger power supply, cleaner amps, lower THD, etc. All I have to say is, "Wow!!" This receiver sounds crystal clear on movies and music. I upgraded from an old Yamaha pro-logic receiver, and even the difference on pro-logic is amazing.
I would definately recommend this receiver to anyone who is looking for best price/performance. It has BINDING POSTS FOR ALL SPEAKERS!! The only problem I have with it is that you have to adjust the soundfields from the unit (Remote is inadequate). But I plan to replace it with a SL-9000 home theater remote. I would suggest anyone considering the 835 or 935 to consider this model as well as the str-db930 (which has more inputs, and an audio out for a second source). I haven't seen these units from anywhere other than onecall.com (and these guys are the best! Have been loyal customer for years, and no problems!)

Overall, 5 stars for the receiver and 2 stars for the remote, but what can you expect for a receiver less than $500? Buy this and get a good universal remote.

I think my story is like many others who bought the 830. I was originally contemplating whether or not to buy the Sony STR-DE835, which is in the lower-end DE line. I was impressed by its features, but the reviews here were decidedly mixed. I had decided, however, that it was worth the chance because it still seemed to be the best Dolby Digital/DTS for under $400.
So I was about to order it when the OneCall rep suggested that I check out the DB830. I took a look at the Sony Web site and found nothing! I thought he was BS-ing me. So I then wandered over to Crutchfield.com and found a boat-load of information. (If you're considering the 830, definitely check Crutchfield out, its a great site for research, although their prices are terrible.)

I then took a trip to my local Hi-fi store (Tweeter) and checked this puppy out. Boy was it sweet! The dude at Tweeter told me that it was a brand-new model and that Sony usually takes a while to post new products on their Web site. He also said that only ES-certified retailers can sell the DB. That made me feel good about it!

So I ordered it from OneCall.com (for $382) last Thursday and received it the next day. (As a side note, OneCall rocks!)

Now that I have been using it for a week, I can honestly say the DB830 is amazing!

* The sound is crystal clear, with deep bass, and very powerful.
* It has all the inputs you could possibly want (almost--see below), and includes S-video switching.
* The sound fields and Digitial Cinema Sound processing really work!
* It looks good!
* It has a huge number of customization possibilites. It takes a while to set up, but is definitely worth it.
* I would say the nearest competitior to this is the Onkyo 575. IMHO, the Onkyo sounds the same, has less power, has far fewer features and costs more.

Complaints:
* Only one coaxial input. (Its for DVD.)
* No dedicated CD optical input. I have my Sony 535 CD changed hooked up optically to the MD input. The problem is that through the Control AII system, the receiver automatically switches to the CD (analog) input when I press PLAY on the CD changer. No biggie though!
* The remote's glow in the dark buttons for source switching are utterly impossible to read. What were they thinking?!?
* The equalizer is very difficult to use.

All in all these are minor quibbles.

The lesson here is this: if you are considering the DE835 or DE935, FORGET ABOUT THEM! Only a fool would purchase the DE line now that the DB line can be had for only a few $$$ more. (At OneCall the DE835 was $349 vs. $382 for the DB830.)

Buy this puppy, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Only 5 stars? I wish there were ten!

I'm trying to find good prices on the STR-DB830 or STR-DB930. OneCall.com NOW sells these at $499 and $599. What happen to the prices???

Cool looks, easy to setup, great sound !

remote

I just replaced my old Denon AVR-1400 (Pro Logic only) reciever with the DB830 (based on your reviews), and WAUW !! ...Someone said that you have to hear the difference between Pro Logic and Dolby Digital to know how huge it is - TRUE! It's amazing how The Matrix sounds now !
It's is not just a step up the ladder, but a world of a difference - Try it

I was a little worried about the music on this baby,, a few guys had complaned 'bout the 830s cd-audio quality. But all I can say is that ex. Spain hasn't sounded this clear before. No hiss at all (except at volume 8 or so, which is twice what I can play in my dormroom).

Thumbs up ! no BS

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-1400

100 Watts, Ton of Presets, Many sound fields. Awesome.
Number of inputs.

None

This reciever is awesome. The number of inputs blows my mind. The price was right too. I love this thing. The options are great as well. Chalk me up as another satisfied customer.

Lots of inputs/outputs

Speaker Binding Posts

This is more of a complaint/comment/request for help than a review.
After buying a bunch of new A/V gear (STR-DB830, MXD-D3, 32" XBR Vega), and having it sit around (except for the TV) for a couple of months due to a home remodel, I finally got around to trying to wire it up last night.

I got some Kimber Kable 4PRs for the front and center channels, and I got them with spades since I read that's the best connection type, and that the STR-DB830 has 'binding posts for all 5 speakers'. Well, that's true, but they aren't 5-way binding posts. The binding posts are surrounded by a plastic block with only two small slots which limit the usefulness of the binding posts to only bare wire and banana plugs. Pins _may_ work, but it seems unlikely that they would be secure.

I figured that maybe I just needed to unscrew the 'nut' of the binding post all the way, slip the spade onto it from the top, and screw the nut back on. However, the end of the threaded post appears to have been crimped so that the 'nut' won't come off.

So, now I've got a few options, none of which a particularly appealing:
1) Try to force the nut off all the way and hope I can get it back on for each post. Also, hope that the spade will fit on from the top of the post with the plastic block still there.
2) Cut the factory supplied spades off my Kimber Kables and attach them as bare wire, or get some banana plugs (though I read a review that the binding posts don't work well with those either).
3) Try to cut the plastic blocks from around the binding posts.

If anyone else has run into this problem and has a good solution, I'd be glad to hear it!

Thanks,

Robert