Sony STR-DE998 7.1 Channels Receiver
Out of stock |
Similar in Receivers
- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS® DTS ES® Dolby Pro Logic II DTS Neo:6 Dolby Pro Logic DTS 96/24
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 7.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 110 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.09%
- Stereo Mode Power: 110 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.09%
- Overview
-
Reviews
-
Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Home Theater and Hi-Fidelity Stereo
Pros
Power, great sound, price, relatively simple controls and sleek look.
Cons
Manual
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Excellent 7.1 receiver for the money. I can't really tell any differnce from higher priced models, so why bother spending more? Should make most people very happy!
The Sony STR-DE998 is a great A/V receiver. I have used Sony exclusively for the last 15 years and have never had any problems. My first real receiver was a Marantz. They are excellent, but I didn't want to spend that much money, and to be quite honest, I really can't hear a difference under most listening situations. I listened to other receivers by Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer etc. and really did not hear any difference or see much difference except in some options and user interfaces. For the money, the Sony had everything I needed and an on screen display to assist with set-up.
This receiver is very stylish IMHO (if black minimalist styling is your thing!). The controls are easy to use once you understand what they are for. There are a lot "Movie" settings for many different types of decoding. I usually just use the multi-channel out and skip the enhancements and interpretations the receiver has pre-programmed in its settings.
The main reason I upgraded to this receiver from my old Sony was to get more power (110 watts per channel), SACD inputs, and have full integration of all my A/V inputs. I have actually decided not to use the receiver for my video connections, as I have moved my VCR to another tv and don't have any other video inputs (well, cable, but that isn't HDTV because i really don't watch much tv), so I run the DVD component out straight to the TV. I am running Infintiy Primus 360's as my main speakers, a PS 10" sub-woofer for stereo, and 2 Primus 150's for surround and SACD.
I really push this receiver for listening to blues, folk and rock music. It has very clean sound. At first I thought a slight hiss was from the receiver or speakers, but it was just the background noise on a CD. There is no hum, hiss or other noise in the quiet passages of studio-recorded CD's or SACD's!!! I am very pleased with the clarity and precision of this receiver. You have to turn it way up to adequately power large speakers, but it does so with no effort at all. I cannot get all the way to max volume because it is too loud! (My ears were ringing the next day after I hooked it up because I got a little over zealous with the volume control! :-)
The on-screen display (i.e,. on your television if you hook up the video out with a single RCA cable) for set-up is a tremendous feature and really makes things easier because you can see what all your options are at once (this also helps next time you use the receiver display only, because you now know all the menus in advance!). You can see the entire menu for each sub-menu (e.g., speaker "set-up", channel volume "level" or "equalizer") so you know what is available or not (grayed out). The learning remote is very easy to use and controls all my Sony components. (Note - the test tone for speaker set-up can only be generated with the remote)
For home theater, the surround sound system (Dolby) automatically detects digital inputs via coax or Toslink cables and automatically selects the best sound field to match what is recorded on your DVD and your speaker system (e.g., 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1). It displays what choice it has made on the display and lights a cool blue light to let you know it is automatic mode. You can overrride the sound field with your own choice, but I find that the default is usually a very good choice.
A couple of minor things: The manual, while not bad, is not the most helpful. A little more explanation of formats and benefits of different settings would really help an amateur like me. I found myself going to Crutchfield, eCoustics, Audioholics, Stereophile etc. to get tips on what settings are good for what. Once you know whether "small" or "large" speakers are for you or what crossover frquency to use, set-up is a breeze! Anyway, took about 4 hours to fine tune my new system to get just right and learn all the features.
Set-up note on speaker connections: I strongly reccomend getting banana plugs for you speaker wire with this reciever. It has binding posts, and I find these A) To be hard to connect and disconnect easily with big fingers, and B) after initially attaching the bare speaker wires, I was getting a "Protector" error flashing on the screen. I had to go online and do a search to find out this was probably caused by a crossed speaker wire. It was one single strand of speaker wire that had been smushed down and over when tightening the binding post. Enough said. I go banana plugs the next day and now can plug and unplug in 2 seconds with no risk of shorting out.
This receiver is very stylish IMHO (if black minimalist styling is your thing!). The controls are easy to use once you understand what they are for. There are a lot "Movie" settings for many different types of decoding. I usually just use the multi-channel out and skip the enhancements and interpretations the receiver has pre-programmed in its settings.
The main reason I upgraded to this receiver from my old Sony was to get more power (110 watts per channel), SACD inputs, and have full integration of all my A/V inputs. I have actually decided not to use the receiver for my video connections, as I have moved my VCR to another tv and don't have any other video inputs (well, cable, but that isn't HDTV because i really don't watch much tv), so I run the DVD component out straight to the TV. I am running Infintiy Primus 360's as my main speakers, a PS 10" sub-woofer for stereo, and 2 Primus 150's for surround and SACD.
I really push this receiver for listening to blues, folk and rock music. It has very clean sound. At first I thought a slight hiss was from the receiver or speakers, but it was just the background noise on a CD. There is no hum, hiss or other noise in the quiet passages of studio-recorded CD's or SACD's!!! I am very pleased with the clarity and precision of this receiver. You have to turn it way up to adequately power large speakers, but it does so with no effort at all. I cannot get all the way to max volume because it is too loud! (My ears were ringing the next day after I hooked it up because I got a little over zealous with the volume control! :-)
The on-screen display (i.e,. on your television if you hook up the video out with a single RCA cable) for set-up is a tremendous feature and really makes things easier because you can see what all your options are at once (this also helps next time you use the receiver display only, because you now know all the menus in advance!). You can see the entire menu for each sub-menu (e.g., speaker "set-up", channel volume "level" or "equalizer") so you know what is available or not (grayed out). The learning remote is very easy to use and controls all my Sony components. (Note - the test tone for speaker set-up can only be generated with the remote)
For home theater, the surround sound system (Dolby) automatically detects digital inputs via coax or Toslink cables and automatically selects the best sound field to match what is recorded on your DVD and your speaker system (e.g., 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1). It displays what choice it has made on the display and lights a cool blue light to let you know it is automatic mode. You can overrride the sound field with your own choice, but I find that the default is usually a very good choice.
A couple of minor things: The manual, while not bad, is not the most helpful. A little more explanation of formats and benefits of different settings would really help an amateur like me. I found myself going to Crutchfield, eCoustics, Audioholics, Stereophile etc. to get tips on what settings are good for what. Once you know whether "small" or "large" speakers are for you or what crossover frquency to use, set-up is a breeze! Anyway, took about 4 hours to fine tune my new system to get just right and learn all the features.
Set-up note on speaker connections: I strongly reccomend getting banana plugs for you speaker wire with this reciever. It has binding posts, and I find these A) To be hard to connect and disconnect easily with big fingers, and B) after initially attaching the bare speaker wires, I was getting a "Protector" error flashing on the screen. I had to go online and do a search to find out this was probably caused by a crossed speaker wire. It was one single strand of speaker wire that had been smushed down and over when tightening the binding post. Enough said. I go banana plugs the next day and now can plug and unplug in 2 seconds with no risk of shorting out.
