has all the essential elements for a digital receiver (DTS,DOLBY DIGITAL,etc).

HISSING SOUND !!! HISSING SOUND !!!! HISSING SOUND !!!!

although being new in the digital home entertainment arena,
I always thought that I'd do good on my first purchase of a Home Entertainment System. I always strusted SONY above anything else ..up 'til I purchased this particular package. Everything was fine except for that really.. really terrible HISSING sound. I read an article that says you need to set the volume on the receiver to
a minimum and check if you hear any static . Well.. darn..
how come I didn't do any research before buying . I was
just too overwhelmed with the display they've set up (and
yeah..they've set the volume to around 8/9 ..just so that
you definitely won't hear any static.) I just said OK I want it. I was really happy with it the first few weeks, until I've read some reviews and came across that dreaded
word (HISS!! HISS!! HISS!!) .. and so I've set the volume
to around 1...2 ..put on an Enya CD ..LO AND BEHOLD....
HISSS!!! HISSSS!!! HISSSS!!!!
Well, if you're not much into music but would want to just watch dvds....you should be ok (watch out for scenes without
much action...HISS..!! HISSS!!!).

I actually returned this receiver and upgraded to the 845 model.. sales guy actually said they got the same complaint from several customers (on the STRDE-545). I'd say I'm
a happy man now .. no more HISS!!!.

Similar Products Used:

sony sa-ve505 satellite speakers
sony dvp-s336

DTS,Cinema Sounds Fields,Surround sound settings were unexpected for the price,

Non glowing remote,what a joke?!,

I am very impressed in the sound quality of this unit! I did notice a very loss hiss the other day after I hooked up my rear's. I thought it was the DVD player but looks like I am going to make a trip to the Sony Service Center. *yay*
Other than that, I couldn't believe the sound it produced! I was only upgrading to add dts, and a sub output that my old Pioneer didn't have. I have a JBL Sound2 100-150 watt sub ( not sure how much it is ) that has a weak crossover built in and got a lot of treble through it. I work at Best Buy and got this on an awesome deal. Could have got Monster Cables at cost but for the money I got away with going Acoustic Research for all my cables for about 25 bucks including everything I needed. I was very pleased with the multi-channel DTS! Cd's sound great but I do agree I wish I could get a little more out of the rear's. I will go with a Yamaha 5460 or 5480 when I upgrade again to get that 5-Channel stereo. Nice reciever for a 100 bucks!

Similar Products Used:

6 yr old Pioneer Pro-logic reciever, My dad is an audiophile with all Paradigm & Rotel equipment at the house!

Nice exterior with clear markings and buttons etc. Relatively cheap compared with its specs and features.

Hissing... After service it was for the most part gone. The "glowing" buttons on the remote control are a bit difficult to see in the darker than daylight. Otherwise the remote control is pleasing to use. The volume control steps could be smaller...

Good product for the money... Works fine with other Sony components and looks good, too!

WOULDN´T CHANGE TO A YAMAHA OR A PIONEER! (sorry guys... :-) )

RECOMMENDED!

Low price

LOUD hiss, too many useless features, poor remote

I ended up owning this unit for only a weekend before returning it. It's cheap, but also a VERY poor design.

To start with, the hiss is unbearable. WHY is it that the unit doesn't physically cut off the surround channels using a realy when listening in stereo mode?? This is something that EVERY other reciever I've seen does. Result of this cost cutting: When listening in stero mode especially on low to moderate volumes, the hiss from the surround channels is VERY noticeable!! WHY is the unit hissing in the first place?? Were the Sony engineers too lazy to do something about it, or is it another example of a unit designed by the Marketing dept??

To make matters worse, who thought up the wonderful idea to make the remote control buttons green on white?? This makes for VERY poor contrast and button texts that are almost impossible to read!!

And, why all these useless features? A million sound fields and sound modes are sipmle selling points, since most people won't ever use them. And, sure, blue LEDs attract people in the store but WHY have a BIG light come on when using DD??

Similar Products Used:

Technics SA-DX930

Great price (at least what I got it for) and great features. Come on, it's got DTS and 100 watt all around!!!

that damn hissing (there's a reason for it, I'll discuss in review) and the odd remote (cool at first cause the top flips up, but gets annoying after a while)

Strengths: cheap, features, and looks. MY wife and I have an entire Sony line up in my apartment. The CD player, Tape deck, Receiver, VCR, and our new VVega TV, only 27", but fits perfect in our entertainment center, so we got it instead of 32 or 36. ANYWAY:

weaknesses: the only thing I find annoying in a slight bit is the hiss, BUT like I said in my quick facts, there is a reason that no one has mentioned yet. I had an old receiver not capable of Digital or Optical input, just analog. No hiss on that old boy. Get a brand new box, hiss on analog, but lo and behold, when input is received as digital or optical, your hiss is 100% GONE!!! Even at max volume. Okay, so it's tough to swallow, but come on folks, this is total Marketing here. Sony isn't dumb. They know that people LOOOOVE their stuff so much, that if the hiss from analog (which is grotesquely displayed when selected) is that obtrusive to a user, perhaps said user will go out and buy a new CD changer, or DVD player, hmmm...I am. Now, it hisses on the radio, and you can't stop that, but there is a fix to the other problems. Albeit, Sony knows what they are doing. That's why their stuff is "cheap $$$". It's easy to replace and keep on top of the curve. (ever try doing that with computer stuff, or cars? You'll go broke.)

I give Kudos to Sony for totally taking advangtage of the people that buy their stuff. And until I bow down and get that 5 DVD/CD changer with optical audio out, I'll have to deal with the hiss just like very other cheap bast*rd out there. (that's why we got it anyway isn't it? If we weren't cheap, we would have gotten a Marantz or Makintosh!!!)

enjoy all!!!
(oh yeah, and I'll probably keep buying Sony, since they made me soooo happy with the PSX2 that I bought for $350 and sold for $875! haha)

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE515 (Pro-Logic, Digital Ready Receiver)

None

Hiiiiissss Hiissss, Bad Remote

Do not buy this amp for any reason.

It sound like it is raining when you turn it on.

And for you lucky people that say that you have no hiss or that think that we are using bad external components or cables, i can say this to you it hisses with nothing connected to it, only power and one speaker Hiiiisssss :(

Bought it 00-11-13 in sweden and took it back the same day got a new amp from the store also Hiiiisss, then got my money back.

Well this is to Sony, i will never by a Sony produkt again.

Avoid at all cost.

I haven't been able to find any hissing sound even at the loudest volume. Clarity is very good.

None so far, Remote does suck....

Overall the system is great value for the money, Perhaps I got lucky and recieved a system that doesn't hiss. The options on this system are vast and easy to control.. Works great with both audio and visual sources. I recommend this system to anyone who is looking for a buget home theatre.

Similar Products Used:

Technics

Price

Poor remote, some hiss IF bass bost or tone is on.

A cheap receiver that does a reasonable job. Now about that hiss, well it is there, but ONLY IF the tone and or bass bost in switched on. If these are left off then the hiss noise is about what you would expect. The remote has some poor colour co-ordination, making use in low lighting conditions difficult. Overall, if you are on a budget or are not too nit picky then this could be for you.

Many features for the price.

Hisses more than my snake does...

The 545 was my first DD/DTS receiver. I played some DD DVD's through it and the positional audio effects were quite cool.

But the damn thing hisses constantly. As other reviewers have mentioned, the hiss starts at volume level 1 and is constant throughout the range. I tried a UPS to condition the power - no help. I tried moving the receiver as far away from other components as possible - no help. I tried different speakers - no help.

I've had the thing 3 days and it goes back today. It's too bad too - almost all of my other components are Sony and they've always worked well. Ah well, time to jump ship I guess...

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-D790 (ProLogic receiver, 6 years old)

Price for features

Hiss. Hiss. Hiss.

Well, what can I say that hasn't been said. Foolsh me decided that maybe the reviewers here were just nit picking and parroting everyones elses comments. I am by no means an audiopile, but I can tell what sounds reasonably good to the average ear and what doesn't. So I went out on a limb and decided to try this receiver out at home since it had all the features I needed for the right price. But after setting this up, the hiss is definitely there for any of the analog inputs. :( And it is even noticible at a moderate volumes. At low volumes it's even louder than the audio input sources (vcr/cd/tape/tuner). And no, it's not a function of what the input source is, it is apparent even without anything connected. It reminds me of the hiss you hear on casstte tapes without noise reduction. Just as a sanity check I connected my old receiver which is on its last leg. I had to turn the volume up to 3/4 to get a hiss even comparable to the hiss at the lowest setting for the the STR-DE545. If I had an input source connected to my old recevier at this volume I would have blown my windows out! (I'm using the highly efficient Infinty SM series speakers in my system too.) So like many before me, I am returning this item to Best Buy. It unfortunate Sony has seen fit to find this an acceptable defect. If it wasn't for the hiss, I would have been the happiest clam in the bucket. I have had many other sony components and this is the first I can say I've been disappointed in. Of coures I usually buy the top of the line consumer model. So now I'll be looking at the STR-DE945 or STR-DB 940. Hopefuly Sony will see fit to fix this in the future as this would be a great reciever to combine with the DVP-S360 DVD player for a price conscious consumer looking to build a home theatre. I'll post my review of the new receiver as soon as I get it. -Tom

PS - Another lesson learned from this experience ... Best Buy is definitely not the place to preview a receiver. As much as I love the store for its selection, price and it's lack of the car salesmen type associates, the ambient noise and the inadquete speakers they connect make the listening experience there pretty much useless.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-AV1070 Prologic Receiver (~10 years old)