Tons of different sound fields

Poor build quality, poor customer sevice, doesn't stand behind their products. No authorized repair shops will take these in, everyone refers to Sony.

This was a fair unit at best when it worked. 1 month after the warranty expired I turned it on a got a flashing "PROTECTOR". Now nothing is functional. I contacted Sony several times once I found out it was such a common problem, it has to be a design or engineering flaw. I will never buy a Sony audio product again. I put all of my Sony equipment on ebay this week and am replacing it with Harmon Kardon.

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Harman Kardon 525 strg985

Puts out strong sound from front speakers (when working).

Weak signal strength to rear speakers. Poorly built receiver, no durability. Will end up in some repair shop sooner than you'd expect. Junk.

This receiver is crap. The rear speakers put out weak sound during play of 5.1 DVD. I had it fixed once under warranty when the rear speakers eventually lost all sound. As soon as the warranty expired the front speakers lost all sound (receiving no signal from receiver). And I'm a casual user. I used to think Sony was the best quality you could get. Not anymore! I'll never buy a Sony receiver again.

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Pioneer, Harmon-Kardon

switchable ohms.

It's cleaning out my wallet.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I to feel that Sony owes me something. I use to be a die hard Sony fan and like many I know I have now switched over to Onkyo. If they don't watch it they are going to be competition with companies like Rca, Dawoo, and Apex. My receiver has been tied up at the shop for nearly 1 year. I'm not getting it fixed again. This time they tell me it's the chip that needs replaced. I took it in because of no sound out of any speakers. We should all get together and do something about this!!

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Onkyo. Never lets me down!

I've filed a complaint with http://www.BigClassAction.com. I encourage others here who have had similar problems with this model receiver to file a complaint as well to get this ball rolling. Sony should be held liable for selling this defective product.

It's a piece of crap.

I bought this receiver in 3/98. I bought the 4 year extended warrant from Best Buy. After about a year, no sound coming from any speakers. I took it in, they replaced 4 transistors. It worked OK for about another 18 months, then same problem. Took it in again, had it fixed under warranty. Now 2.5 years later, the same problem again, but of course now it's no longer under warranty. This is clearly a lemon, but Best Buy won't do anything for me. They say at least $200 to fix. I can't believe Sony's never issued a recall or been sued over this, given the # of problems I just read about on this site. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a new non-Sony receiver.

Good Sound, plenty of power

Runs way too hot. Can cook an egg on the unit.

I bought the unit new from PC Richards. Unit ran very hot when it worked. Now, no sound and front panel flashes protected. If anybody can e mail me the schematic or service manual, i would greatly appreciate it. bkruse@globecommsystems.com

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Panasonic, AR, Technics,

Good power, nice remote, set up was quick and easy. It works now just as well and when I bought it brand new 5 years ago

way too many soundfields, no s video, no multi-channel input

I must be one of the rare owners of this receiver that has experienced NONE of the problems that I have read here. The unit runs no warmer than any other amp/receiver that I have owned. I listen to music constantly and regulary watch about 3 to 4 DVD's a week. The music is usually at a moderate volume, while movies are at a level that my wife doesn't really like (LOUD). It took some time to get used to most of the features that this receiver offers, but like most people, I find ones to my liking and leave the rest alone. The rear channels are a bit light on sound, but I found that this is usually dependent on the source material, besides the rear channels are meant to be invisible not locatable. In the last 2 months I have moved the Sony to my bedroom to make room for my new HK 325. I don't listen to it as much, but still I have not had 1 single problem with this receiver

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sony, pioneer, harmon kardon

While it worked, it did a fine job... or an adequate job. AC3 RF is HUGE for us fans of laser discs. Many optical inputs. It looks nice. Umm... it never killed anyone.

Poor quality build. Failures of amps and other parts are frequent and frustrating. My last one was probably dammaging with the horrid loud noise it started blaring in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

THis is my second review. The receiver died again despite my replacement of the rear surround board. It lived for about another year after that repair and now I'm going to let it die and buy a Yamaha. I think I had this for 3 or 4 trouble-filled years. ACtaully, when I get a new receiver that doesn't require hitting or soldering to get it to work, I won't know what to do with myself. It was fun to tinker with this heap and I did enjoy the satisfaction of hearing it come back to life. But, come on, I can only stand so many failures, fading channels, failed components before I wash my hands of it. I've put a little more than $200 into this machine and I figure that it served me well. I'll miss AC3 RF (until I can spring for a demodulator) but I am sick and tired. Anyone want or need any parts from this baby before she goes into the dumpster? If you can get a working unit for ~$100 it might be worth it if you need AC3 RF. Do NOT pay more than that and I would hesitate to suggest that anyone who has no use for AC3 RF take one even for free. It's just no worth the trouble.

Great for the first five years...

The frustration of seeing $400 go down the tubes. It would be nice if the sound field could be stored with the input selector, instead of changing it every time I went from DVD to music.

Slightly different problem than everyone else (maybe because I never had room for rear speakers). Center channel just quit, speaker is fine, wire is fine, but just static out of the center channel. Spent an hour yesterday trying different combinations to isolate the problem - it is most definitely the center channel amplifier.

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Nothing quite this annoying.

Great Sound, Powerful

Gets way to hot,Sony has let there customers down.

The STR-DE 915 is a great unit when it works,sound is great. It gets very hot. I have had 1 problem since new in 1998. The rear speakers quit working so I took it to Circuit City to see about getting it fixed and was told it would cost $240 to fix and said no,and then I took it to Stereo Center and they fixed it for $20,it was a bad diod,I was told it was tipicle for this reciever.I haven't had a problem since. Sony sure dropped the ball on this one,it runs so hot it would keep a cup of coffee warm if you chose to use it as a hot plate. All my equipment is Sony and have been very happy with them until this.I just bought a new Sony HDTV but will probably buy a Harmon Kardon reciever.