Sony STR-DE597 6.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS ES®
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 6.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 100 Watt @ 8 ohm, 1 kHz, THD: 0.7%
- Stereo Mode Power: 90 Watt @ 8 ohm, 40 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.09%
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Best home audio system for those on a budget
Pros
Great sound and functionality for the money. You won't be disappointed.
Cons
Tuner does not perform well. Expect to spend money on a powered antenna.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This is a great unit for the average user. For true audiophiles, this unit will not suffice. Unbeatable value.
If you're like me, you like to have good, functional electronics that don't break the bank. The Sony STR-DE597 does just that. I purchased mine in December of 2006 and I have not regretted that decision so far.
I paid 179.99 for the unit off Crutchfield.com and that included a remote, a center channel speaker, two front speakers, two surround speakers, and a subwoofer (NOT-powered).
I also have a Sony 5 disc CD/DVD changer and HDTV, and I can run everything with the remote provided. Of course, I can't do fine tuning on the TV, but I can perform the majority of the functions I need while watching movies.
The unit has optical and coax audio, which is nice for Xbox 360, DVD, and digital cable boxes. It will NOT work as a video selector, however, so keep that in mind if you want a receiver that will also select what component you want to function on your TV. My Sony HDTV has plenty of inputs and the stereo remote allows me to switch them on my TV, so that's not a problem for me.
The speakers perform well. The highs are crisp and clear. The subwoofer does not provide earth shaking bass, but for the money, it sounds pretty good, providing just enough rumble to make your gaming and/or movie experience complete.
The only downside I have is that the tuner does not work well at all, especially with the loop antenna provided. In my car, I can get 10-15 AM stations parked in my driveway, yet I can only get 2 or 3 on this receiver. The FM quality is very limited, as well. I have tried a powered antenna, with mixed results.
With the powered antenna, FM comes in great, but I still only get 3 AM stations, for some reason. If listening to AM radio at home is important to you, you may want to try something else or invest in a high end ($50 or more) powered antenna.
As far as setup goes, I didn't have any trouble, although the manual is pretty hard to follow. If you're not experienced with setting up home theaters and hate figuring things out through trial and error, you may want to recruit some help. Once the unit is set up, it requires very little tweaking afterwards, however. It does not have a multitude of different "environment" settings, but I had a $800 Yamaha receiver years ago with all of those, and they never got used.
Also, if you want to use a multitude of digital audio components, you may want to upgrade to a higher end unit with more digital inputs, because this unit only has two.
I paid 179.99 for the unit off Crutchfield.com and that included a remote, a center channel speaker, two front speakers, two surround speakers, and a subwoofer (NOT-powered).
I also have a Sony 5 disc CD/DVD changer and HDTV, and I can run everything with the remote provided. Of course, I can't do fine tuning on the TV, but I can perform the majority of the functions I need while watching movies.
The unit has optical and coax audio, which is nice for Xbox 360, DVD, and digital cable boxes. It will NOT work as a video selector, however, so keep that in mind if you want a receiver that will also select what component you want to function on your TV. My Sony HDTV has plenty of inputs and the stereo remote allows me to switch them on my TV, so that's not a problem for me.
The speakers perform well. The highs are crisp and clear. The subwoofer does not provide earth shaking bass, but for the money, it sounds pretty good, providing just enough rumble to make your gaming and/or movie experience complete.
The only downside I have is that the tuner does not work well at all, especially with the loop antenna provided. In my car, I can get 10-15 AM stations parked in my driveway, yet I can only get 2 or 3 on this receiver. The FM quality is very limited, as well. I have tried a powered antenna, with mixed results.
With the powered antenna, FM comes in great, but I still only get 3 AM stations, for some reason. If listening to AM radio at home is important to you, you may want to try something else or invest in a high end ($50 or more) powered antenna.
As far as setup goes, I didn't have any trouble, although the manual is pretty hard to follow. If you're not experienced with setting up home theaters and hate figuring things out through trial and error, you may want to recruit some help. Once the unit is set up, it requires very little tweaking afterwards, however. It does not have a multitude of different "environment" settings, but I had a $800 Yamaha receiver years ago with all of those, and they never got used.
Also, if you want to use a multitude of digital audio components, you may want to upgrade to a higher end unit with more digital inputs, because this unit only has two.
