Price. (£170 in UK) Good selection of features. Sound quality in Dolby Digital. Audio sound acceptable, better than some reviewers would have us believe, but use decent interconnects & speaker cables. FM tuner reception excellent. Goes louder that I will ever need.
I am using it with MS 20i Pearl fronts, Genexxa LX5-Pros as rears, an Acoustic Precision 50w active sub and an old Goodmans speaker as a temporary centre. Ixos 105 digital interconnect, QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable.
No hiss experienced at all!

Spring clip speaker sockets.

Excellent value entry level av receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Goodmans AV Prologic amp.

Great value for the money.

Can't find any

I was really worried when I read some of the previous revies AFTER I had ordered the unit. So you can imagine that I strained my ears to detect any hisses.

I haven't found anything spectacular. If there is anything at all, it certainly doesn't spoil the fun unless you are a real audio enthusiast. But, then, you would probably spend a little more anyway.

To sum it up: I love the thing! Sound is great and I haven't regretted buying it.

Chris

great d.s.p good bass exc,digatal,dts

not many inputs,outputs

you wont get cheated on this product.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo474

Inexpensive home theatre component.

Lack of inputs and outputs, no universal remote, muddy sound quality, only 80 watts per channel.

Good deal if this is all you can afford. Sound is less than stellar. I feel like the lows are weak. I was really disappointed that the remote didn't do more! I couldn't control my T.V. because it wasn't a SONY. I'm returning this tomorrow to Best Buy. I'm not happy with the power delivery to my Polk speakers. I compared the sound of this receiver to my old Carver TFM-15 amp, with Carver preamp and single CD unit and it blew this Sony unit away!!! I'm going to wait until I can afford a better unit. I used a Digital Optical Audio connection from my Playstation 2 to this receiver and I wasn't too impressed with it. Otherwise, a decent receiver for someone who wouldn't know the difference in sound quality.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer vsxd-409

great d.s.p good bass exc,digatal,dts

not many inputs,outputs

you wont get cheated on this product.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo474

DTS and DD at very low price.

Hiss, lots of others

I brought 445 for $250 but returned and I got 545 instead.

445 Hisses a lot.
The 445 has lots of other disadv compared to 545, no s-video, only 1 digital input, no AII control and no universal remote to name a few major one.

Also no separate one more front speaker input and no way to increase/decrease center and rear speaker output.

My advice is add few extra dollar and go for 545 model (under 299) and if you can afford 845 (under 399) but 445 is not worth the money.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DE545

Re-nameable inputs, simple remote, slick styling, decent sound if you ignore the damn... ...

hisssssssssssss!!!! only one set of front speaker outputs, no phono inputs, non dolby surround effects are worthless- good for movies, sucks for music.

I was very disapointed with this unit. I got it for an absolute steal, brand new without a box for 189 plus tax at circuit city. I had used a Sony STR-D665 for 5 years which served me well, and with the adition of a DVD player, I wanted to check out the Dolby Digital/DTS thing. I got it home, hooked it up and the first thing i noticed was the damn hissing. Desite what other reviewers say, it doesnt matter what kind of speakers or cable you use. Recoton or Monster, it doesnt make a difference. The reason is because the hissing comes from the unit itself. Put it on volume zero and it goes away. Volume 0.1 and above and is one constant level of hiss.....it's not the speakers, its the unit. I have large standing Sony Speakers that never hissed with my STR-D665. It's not too noticable at higher volumes, but at anything below 12 its annoying. I live in an apartment and a well performing low volume stereo is essential for me. Talking to various people and technicians have also confirmed that its the unit. Im no technician, but what i got out of my inquiries were something to do with all the new digital DTS technology, instead of "analog" circuitry of the past, its all replaced with completely digital processors which is why it has no phono inputs. The hissing makes your CD's sound like cassettes. The lack of A+B speakers kind of bugged me, but for the price what do you expect? I also didnt like how there was only one optical and one coax input. The volume increase is also very artificial. Unlike older receivers with honest to god volume knobs, this thing increases volume digitally, so you lose a bit of control over volume. Seems like 9 is a bit too loud at night but 8 is a bit too quiet. It also clicks through the speakers when you turn the volume up or down. The last thing is the non-dolby surround effects. All it is is horrible reverb pumping through your rears. A 4 or 5 channel stereo mode, like on Onkyo receivers, would have been nice. You can really only listen to music with decent quality in 2 channel mode, the only other choice is to listen in pro logic, and music in pro logic bites. Another interesting thing about the hissing, even if you listen to music in 2 channel mode, the rears and center still hiss while nothing is going through them. Give me a break! Talk about CHEAP! This receiver was obviously engineered more for movies than music, so music lovers are advised to get another unit. Heck, even movie lovers would be better off elsewhere. I would strongly recommend new buyers looking for a quality, affordable product to check out Yamaha. Sound in all modes is superb, and no hissing!

As for me, im sticking with my old STR-D665 until it explodes. I really think the whole Dolby Digital/DTS thing is overrated anyway. It sounds better in and should be left in the theaters. Except for the separation of left rear and right rear theres no difference thats such a big deal that i noticed between digital and pro-logic. But the companies still pimp their new stuff to get our money! But they wont have mine until my 665 dies!

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-D665, Yamaha HTR-5150, Pioneer VSX-D509S

Price, Looks, Sony Quality

Yes, again the HISS. (Very Annoying)

I really liked the price. But when I got it home, the amount of HISS is discouraging. On volume 0, there is no HISS anything above this it HISS'. Yes, Ive tried different high quality cables to no avail. All you reviewers who say there is no HISS ---- You are not the Audio Enthusiast, or Audiophiles you say you are.

Similar Products Used:

Harmon Kardon

DD and DTS for the price. Lot's of options. Others listed below

Everything else, cheap speaker connects, terminally doomed circuitry that makes your speakers hiss at any volume

Let's start this review off by pointing out that this is a revised review review of my previous one from 3/3. Second is fuck me for writing that review. That was my first reciever, I didn't know better. I listened to step dad's Denon Pro Logic and that showed me what a piece of shit Sony had made. At half volume, you can't hear his speakers hiss, not even if you put your head right up to them. I kid you not. That's pretty substantial compared my speaker hiss which you can hear at volume 1 and up from damn near anywhere in the room. That's so unacceptable to mass produce pieces of shit like the STRD-445. Shortly after this fiasco, I went straight to the audio shops and started shopping for a new reciever. I got a Yamaha HTR-5230 yesterday from Best Buy for $250. I'll either go install my Sony at my dad's place as stereo reciever to go with his Acoustic Research floor speakers or sell the thing on ebay. If anyone reading this wants to buy the Sony in excellent shape, I'll hook you up, just e-mail me at rotchinig@yahoo.com. This reciever does have a lot of kick ass options and holds it's own at half volume. It's just when you listen to some music or anything at volume 1 through 9 you got the damn hiss. I'ts unacceptable. The only time you'll look past the hiss is it volume 10-15 while playing a DVD. If that's all you'll do then this is the reciever for you. Me, I hook up 3 other components and watch all tv with a reciever, I need something better. Anyhow, disregard my review below and trust all the others when they complain about speaker hiss. They knew the grass was greener with other well reputable companies. This was just my first reciever so didn't know, now I do. Please take my advice and don't buy Sony when it comes to recievers. Thanx for reading this, Peace out:)

Similar Products Used:

Denon Pro Logic

Includes all necessary features.

Speaker connectors, stereo sound quality.

First it was a disappointment because of the annoying hiss-noise. Later I found out that it will be repaired for free within quarantee time (1 year). A faulty dsp-processor was the reason for that hiss-sound.
Now I enjoy DVD-films with my Sony and Philips 711-dvd-player. They both give a good value for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE335.