Initially I bought a Kenwood Receiver with DD decoder for around $400.00 in October 1998. Having a set of Cerwin Vega DX-1 mains and Yamaha surrounds (tiny 1994 vintage) and a Acoustic Research 12" 100W subwoofer, I reviewed "The Getaway" with Basinger and Baldwin on DVD. When it came to the scene where the Baldwin character fired his 12 gauge out the back window of his Ford, I COULD FEEL THE SHOTGUN RECOIL ON THE BACK OF MY SOFA!!. THUMP! THUMP! But when the Kenwood crapped out, I exchanged it for the Sony STR-DE825 at Good Guys.

I was never able to produce the same punch of Baldwins Remington with this STR-DE825 receiver. This was extremely dissapointing and I fiddled with the outputs and DB gain till the cows came home and to no avail.
I sold the Sony and am waiting to shortly purchase the Yamaha 995.

Sony cuts corners by muting low end on the SE series receivers. The ES series apparantly don't but I wont risk another try with Sony receivers. Now... their TV's are their forte' and always I'll have a Sony. :)

Perry

You can use it for bakeing eggs on it!!!!

About everything you are able to hear.

My friend ownes this particualr unit, and its horrible. He runs a pair of Bose 10.2 on it. And this think has absolutly no dynamic clarity or power at all. You can also bake eggs on this unit. It also has clip connectors not like good Binding Posts *eg: Onkyo)!!!!

OK People listen up!!!

I do not understand why anybody buys a sony receiver!!!!
I mean don't you people listen to the unit???? Or is it because they are always returned or marked down??? OK lets make this one easy!!!


1.You see a Sony receiver for 500$.
2.You think: "Wow what a deal!!!!"
3.You buy it (Without even listening to it)
4.You get home, and hook it up.
5.then you think "What the hell is this!!!"
6.Next day return it for a new one.
7.Same problem.

Hey stop waisting your time doing the same crap over and over again. Sony doesn't care about its customers, neither does Bose!!!! They are marketing companies, nothing else. Bose says beatiful sound through research. No way!!! I would never pay a 1000$ for a paper woofer.

Wake up buy products like Onkyo H/K or Yamaha!!
They are the ones not having to make TV comercials!! People who take their time and listen to those units will find out what I am taking about. Lift up any Onkyo receiver and then lift up a Sony!! Then tell me the difference in great built quality.

PS: Fancy lights and the Name do not tell anything about the unit itself.

Florian Wiegand

overture3@hotmail.com Please feel free to E-Mail me with you quaestion and I will do research over the Internet for you!!! I live in Houston Texas.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo,H/K,Yamaha.

Lots of DSP modes, okay 100x5 watts, DD, nice complex EQ.

hiss in some DSP modes, runs hot if not ventalated well.

This reciever is okay for the buck. I got really sick with the stereo sound in 2 channel, so I added a "car" equalizer...that's right a car equalizer powered by a Radio Shack power supply (clever huh?). And as you know the sound just BLOSSOMED!!! Trust me...I hated the reciever's sound without the EQ and after I installed it the sound imporved ssssooo much. The presence and 3-demesionality of the sound was so sweet, the treble, bass, mid, vocals -basically everything, was very well defined. I used the stereo's RCAs and ran it through my Sony CD player (107 db quality sound). It was just joke in the beggining but eventually the sound was so nice, I never took off the EQ.

Just this cheap set-up will kick my brother's mid-priced Yamaha hands down. So you see, it's not really the reciever's fault for not dilivering the "warm" sound. Install a EQ, and the sound will be garanteed "HI CURRENT" like the Yamaha's, and Denon's...at a fraction of the price.

BE CLEVER:

Sony STR-DE825
Sony CDP-75
Sony 835 dual cass deck.
Radio Shack 14.4 Volt power supplie
Speakers are all Infinty Kappy 6.3i 4 ohms with custom built tower structures.

Similar Products Used:

mid-priced Yamaha reciever, Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer.

Clean power. Easy setup.

Did not care for the supplied remote. No DTS.

I am currently using one of the Bose Home Theater speaker systems with this unit. I drive this unit hard! And I have not experienced the overload problems some users have had. I use this unit primarily for home theater, occasionally for music. AC-3 play back is great, as well as Dolby Surround Sound & stereo. Controls and indicators are is to use and read respectively. I am very pleased with the performance of this model.

This unit does generate some heat. But all of the receivers of similar type I have listened too generate a comparable amount of heat as well.

Similar Products Used:

STR-DE605, STR-AV550

I bought this receiver when I dove into the DVD world. Blowing the entire tax return, I wound up attaching some Paradigm speakers to this puppy, and a Sony DVD player (S300). I have to say I'm very impressed with this receiver. It's my first audio purchase of any real value, and I'm quite pleased. Unfortunately, I'm having a problem 3 months into enjoying it, and the sound drops out every now and then, causing me to have to switch functions to get it back. Other than that problem (wich I hope Sony can fix, though they have NO idea why it's doing that), it's a GREAT receiver!!

I think that it is just plain unfair to compare a Onkyo, Maratz,Yamaha,Nakamitschy to a SONY!!!!

There is no way that you can say that I paid 1000$ more just for a thicker cable!!!! Have you ever heard of costly overprized power supplys? Or maybe discrete high current power amps? Or maybe of a smart construction? Oh wait I get it its the price Right?? You know what next time do your Homework!!! The Onkyo's start at 250$. The Onkyo TX-DS575 which was named the Best Sounding Dolby Digital Receiver in its class by Audio and Vision Mag. I am sorry but 26DSP Modes which sound all the same doesn't do the job for me. I took my friend to an Audio Store nearby and showed him the Onkyo's, Yamaha's,and the Maratz. And even he a Sony Lover, said: There are worlds between a Sony and all the other brands that I listed above. Hello!!! Ever heard of powerfull capasitors, 24bit Motorola DSP??, Massive Power transformers,Large Heat Sinks. Hey you want to know what the secret is.

BETTER CONSTRUCTION FOR BETTER SOUND> Its true. Look and lift a Sony and then a Onkyo,Yamaha,Maratz,Nakamichi.
If you would have done your Homework you would know.

JUST GO ARROUND AND LOOK.

PS: If you needed help carriing a Sony upstairs, then you must be pretty weak.

Florian Wiegand

Remote, plenty of video inputs

Flakey, overheats, cheap speaker connectors, difficult EQ

There seems to be a common theme of these overheating and shutting down randomly. Sony don't make them anymore, the 845 has replaced it and from what I can tell the 845 seems to be a much better product. So if you see an 825 for sale 2nd hand I would advise against buying it.

The problem with them is that the DSP shuts down at random points, particualry right in the middle of the most important part of the movie you are watching.

I have found that the best way to fix the DSP when it shuts down is to just switch off the surround sound and then switch it back on. Just open the flap on the remote, hit the "sound field" off/on button, wait 1 sec, and press it again. Not too difficult - just rather annoying.

Bad points:
The graphic EQ is flexible but extreemly complicated to use, I gave up and left it set to defaults. The speaker terminals are the horrible spring clips, no good at all if you have a half decent cable. The unit also gets very hot - even at low volumes.


Good points:
There are enough inputs for video, playstation, cd, mp3 player, and a few spare.

My advice - don't buy one if you have a choice.

Clarity, power, inputs, auto mode switching

Lack of S-Video inputs

This is my first DD receiver and I matched it with Polk RT25 bookshelf speakers for mains, Advent sub, and Advent surrounds. It sounds pretty damn good.

Recently, I purchased a pair of Definitive Technology BP6 tower's for another room running off the speaker B outputs and the sound is absolutely incredible.

Similar Products Used:

None

excellent value

When I decided to buy my first DD receiver, I started looking at Pioneer. I have owned many Pioneer products in the past and always have had good luck with them. Having earlier bought a Sony dvd player, I also was considering a Sony receiver. Comparing the two companys products in the 400-500 dollar range, the Sony receivers blew away the Pioneers with more features, inputs, and the cool remote. Once i got my 825 home and had time to really listen to it, i was amazed at how much better it sounded than anything i have ever owned from Pioneer.Vocals seem more realistic and the sound just seems more detailed and open. AC-3 reproduction is detailed and very believable. I have never had a product that has more features and is as fun to play with as this is. The only complaint that I have is that it lacks a tape monitor, so I can't use an EQ with it in 2 channel mode. Most of the time, Im in 2 channel and I dont feel that the onboard EQ is flexable enough for my tastes.4½ on a 5 scale.

AC-3 5.1 Dolby Digital

No DTS 5.1, Difficult Remote. No S video plugs

feature that attracted me to purchase this unit. The sound Quality is very good and option of 26 sound Field to choose from is very cool. I like arena field myself because of the Live concert felling.