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Garbage design that is too fragile.

Avoid this thing like the plague. My story is like everyone else. Worked great until the warranty ended, then the volume started scratching, followed by output death. Lost the rears the first week. Right after that I lost the fronts. I was considering having it repaired, but I think I'll avoid that after reading this page...

Besides, the sound quality of my ten year old (you get that Sony? Ten *years*, not months?) NAD 2640 buries the Sony.

Fiber optic audio, design, remote, and price.

runs hot, bad reviews, definitly not sonys best reciever

I got this reciever from a friend who already had sent it to sony to get it fixed. I dont know what was fixed but I have a feeling it had to be the same as everyone else. This is my first reviever with actual surround sound and I think it sounds pretty good. I hope to upgrade in the future, and I would definitly buy another sony product.

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magnavox 5-disk cd player. Marantz speakers, and tape deck. Sharp tv, RCA movie player etc.

Well, I figured it was time enough to weigh in on this receiver. Like everyone else, I chose the Sony STR-DE915 for one reason alone: it was the cheapest thing I could find that would do what I needed done. My beloved, 12-year-old Pioneer VSX-9300S Dolby Pro Logic receiver started having problems a month before Christmas, and the $329 that this was going for was about all I could safely part with at the time.
I don't have a DVD player, so I can't speak about the Dolby Digital and such. I don't have anything with SVHS outputs, so I can't speak about that. Lacking such stuff also helped me make a decision that I didn't =need= stuff like SVHS input switching. If I needed that, I would have paid the extra bucks to get it.

So, I'm reviewing mainly "straight stereo sound," and the surround effect on typical TV shows, videotape movies, and music. I've got speakers very similar to the Paradigm Monitor 9's, about as old as the Pioneer receiver was. I don't use interconnect cables that cost more than the equipment does. I've been in "audio" since the mid-70's, and I've got a background in live music. I think I know what "good sound" sounds like.

So, let's get on with it. Bottom line, I'm satisfied with the thing. Can I get better sound? Probably. Would it cost double or triple what I paid for it? Probably. Is that worth it? Probably not. Now, that said, I =was= pretty damn unsatisfied with the thing for a while -- I was hearing obviously noticeable distortion on some of my CD passages! It wasn't "horrible," like speakers about to blow or anything, but just a bit of distortion that shouldn't be there. I even drug the old Pioneer out of the closet, spent a couple hundred bucks to get it "fixed," and swapped the Sony out of my system.

Until... the Pioneer started showing that it wasn't fixed too well -- it started making potentially speaker-damaging sounds. So, the Sony was back in the system. But, with one =big= difference -- this time I took a good look at the "impedance switch" on the back of the unit. It said that the 4 ohm setting could be used for speakers of either 4 ohms or 8 ohms, so I figured what the hey, and switched it down to 4 ohms. Absolutely, folks, that took care of that "noticeable distortion" problem -- it was gone, totally gone. I did quite a bit of critical listening to make sure I wasn't hearing it on anything.

Now, how many Sony-haters out there actually tried setting this control to better match their speakers? How many of them realize that there really is no such thing as an "8 ohm speaker" or a "4 ohm speaker" -- in reality, a speaker's impedance will vary quite widely as you measure it across the speaker's frequency spectrum. Obviously, the 4-ohm setting was a better match to my speakers, but I sure get the impression that none of the Sony-bashers ever considered touching this control.

Anyway, so the thing sounds good enough. If you think one amplifier sounds better than another, I'm =totally= sure you did a direct A/B test, with the same source material, played at matched volume levels right? Yeah, sure. If you didn't, you =can't= tell any "true" difference -- generally, the louder sound will win, and you can't depend much on your memory if you can't do a direct A/B comparison. So, that's where I stand with "this sounds better than that" statements in these reviews -- pretty much worthless, in most cases.

As for the surround sound capabilities of the STR-DE915, well, if you don't like them, they are almost infinitely variable -- just get in there and make something you =do= like. For instance, I made a "very minimal surround sound" setting that I use for watching most regular TV stuff, and I'm quite happy with it. And, other things are also just as configurable -- for instance, for news and some stuff I don't need and don't want a lot of bass, and this unit's very flexible bass turnover configuration allowed me to set one at a relatively high frequency, and turn the bass down as far as it will go, all for the "front" speaker pair, which is independently switchable with one button on the remote. So, I get the full sound out of the center speaker, and not much bass from the front pair, and it gives me exactly what I want. Sure, it's a bit complex to set that up, but nothing that someone who can get a computer to find this web site couldn't figure out with a bit of time.

Bottom line, within its price range, I think this is a decent piece of equipment. Setting the impedance control to the "4 ohm" setting made a noticeable improvement in my system, and I'd recommend anyone with one of these units to have a look at trying that setting, making sure that you stay within the recommendations in the instruction manual.

I HAVE THE STRDE915,WHAT A PEICE OF JUNK!! PAID 500.00 6 MONTHS LATER FRONT CHANNELS BLEW. 8 MONTHS AFTER THAT IM GETTING LOUD CRACKING AND POPPING IN MY REAR CHANNELS. HAVE EMAILED SONY TWICE NO RESPONCE!! NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY FROM SONY!!!!!!

I purchased a new 915 yesterday at a close-out sale for $299. At this price, it's pretty damn good. I don't consider it an "audiophile" receiver, but it nicely compliments my DVD and Laser Disc players. I definitely noticed a great improvement over my old Pro Logic receiver. If you can get one around this price...grab it...it's a good deal.

YOUR REAR CHANNELS *WILL* BLOW OUT, no S-video switching, needs better EQ options, volume knob SUCKS, crackling etc...

I guess it's ok. I got a good deal on it through Crutchfield, and since my last Sony blew the rear speakers (then to add insult to injury went into PROTECT mode) I needed to upgrade. Great power for sure, this thing can rattle the windows without too much distortion. The learning remote is great. It can do cable, vcr, dvd, etc no problem. I don't have the heat problems everyone else seems to have though, although it's only been 2.5 years and the rear speakers are gone already. I have it on the bottom of a stack that includes the DVD, VCR, cable box, Playstation, and N64. No problems lately (knock on wood). Would I buy it again? It's a great mid-level buy for sure for the features you get. However, next time I'm going straight to the ES components or to Marantz. The lower-end Sony stuff just doesn't hold up at all.

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STRDE515, 35XBR100, 7700DVP

It has played loud and cleanly for the past 2 and a half years I've had the thing.....It rocked my "Frankenspeakers", and it rocks the Sony towers and surround package I just got.....

The thing everyone complains about with the inability to save some settings for different surround modes, and yes many of the modes are a bit "gimmicky".....

I sure hope I don't have the same problems as a lot of you guys have had, but so far, my unit has had no problems, and that includes no crackling out of the volume control....Hey, by the way, do all the STR-DE915's have multivoltage, or did I get a foreign-market machine....just curious....Thanks...Anyway, the machine plays clean and loud in music (stereo) or in Dolby Digital/Pro Logic.....and I even use Live House and Small Jazz Club music modes, with the reverb cranked down....Hope it goes for many more years.....

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An older Pioneer Dolby Pro reciever, and I like the sound of this one much better....

It has played loud and cleanly for the past 2 and a half years I've had the thing.....It rocked my "Frankenspeakers", and it rocks the Sony towers and surround package I just got.....

The thing everyone complains about with the inability to save some settings for different surround modes, and yes many of the modes are a bit "gimmicky".....

I sure hope I don't have the same problems as a lot of you guys have had, but so far, my unit has had no problems, and that includes no crackling out of the volume control....Hey, by the way, do all the STR-DE915's have multivoltaage, or did I get a foreign-market machine....just curious....Thanks...Anyway, the machine plays clean and loud in music (stereo) or in Dolby Digital/Pro Logic.....and I even use Live House and Small Jazz Club music modes, with the reverb cranked down....Hope it goes for many more years.....

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An older Pioneer Dolby Pro reciever, and I like the sound of this one much better....

none

it blows up!

Front and rear sound went out after 2.5 years. Center channel still worked. Took it in for repairs and two months later still have not heard what is wrong with it. After reading these reviews I now know this model has major problems. I would urge everyone who has experienced these same problems to call and write Sony. I also had to endure 2.5 years of crackel when adjusting the volume!

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All my A/V equipment is Sony.

I purchased the STR-DE915 from Circuit City in December 1997 and have been very pleased with it (a little dissappointed in the crude clicking mentioned in one of the other reviews.) until recently.
As other have indicated, my rear channel stopped working for no apparent reason. Not looking forward to the repair hassle...