Sony STR-DE897/S Audio/Video Receiver (Silver)

I purchased this receiver with Sony's SA-VE367T 7.1 speaker system. Circuit City offered a package deal and a great price. I had been wanting to upgrade to 7.1 but wasn't willing to spend thousands my first go-round. Biggest tip: BUY THE BEST QUALITY A/V CABLES YOU CAN AFFORD!! I went with Monster's products and the difference was truly amazing. I wasn't a believer until after getting everything wired up and connected. It does take some time getting all the parameters (such as speaker distance, etc.) set up, but it is time well spent. I have a 52" widescreen DLP HD tv /w component and DVI inputs. The receiver can do all the switching save for the DVI inputs. Not a big deal as only my DVD/SACD player is connected this way, so the audio routes to the receiver and the video directly to the tv. However my HD digital cable and Hi-Fi VCR all connect through the unit. The receiver even upconverts RCA type video to a higher quality S-video signal. Unless I'm heading out to a newer built theater complex, I prefer to watch movies at home as the sound is much superior to older theaters. My neighbor has a new BOSE system that he spent almost 3 grand on; I can't hear any significant sound difference and I'm pretty picky. The remote works great and it can learn the commands of all your other remotes if the codes aren't pre-loaded. You just have to remember what buttons you assigned to what functions if there isn't a similar name! I'm now considering a touch screen remote that you can download different screens and codes for all your remotes and you configure it with your pc. Again, a great product for the money; just pony up the $$ for high quality cables!

This is my 3 Sony receiver and they have all worked flawlessly. This one replaces a lower rung Sony 5.1 receiver. This is my first in the silver color and it is stunning, with the front having a brushed aluminum look. It compliments all the other components that seem to have turned silver overnight. This receiver has tons of inputs for everything. You can plug in SACD capable dvd players and send analog output to another receiver and independently switch output to it from another source you have plugged into it.

I especially like the front optical input- I have a x-box connected up to play jukebox music from it. It would be a hassle to fuss around in the back of the unit to do this with my rack system. I have not yet tried the 7.1 sound but the 5.1 is stunning-this receiver deserves good speaker wire- 16-gauge at least-and good speakers. I have not tried switching video signals yet into it, but this unit is caplable of using all types-composite-S-video-component.

Found the setup and programming to be fairly easy-but the instruction manual written by Sony is poorly written-just like on my previous Sony receiver-Wake up-Sony!!! The unit is fairly heavy and deep-I hope that equates with power and dependability.
For the price this thing is a winner!!!

This is a great unit for the price.

The set up went fairly smoothly. I have to admit that I am not 100% sure that the "sound" is optimized to my listening area, but that is probably due to my own (in)abilities as an audio technician.

The receiver has plenty of power for the 13'x17' room in which it is installed.

The remote is easy to use and I was able to program it to operate all of my other gear except the Comcast HDTV/DVR Cable box.

I "auditioned" similiarly priced Onkyo and Yamaha receivers. At this price point, the Sony was the only receiver with 7.1 capabilities. The Onkyo and Yamaha were good, but the Sony's extra channel was a deciding factor for me.

About 14 years ago I bought a Sony receiver for about 6-0-0 bucks, no small amount back then. It had all kinds of options, and aside from a few small problems, the receiver continues to work fine. However, I had to tradeup to a new receiver because the old one just didn't have enough inputs to deal with electronic life today (cable TV box, TiVo, Xbox, XM radio, DVD, VCR) So, I bought the STR-DE897 for 4-0-0 bucks. I certainly got a better deal 14 years later -- the DE897 has all the inputs I need and it has the capability of just about any kind of speaker setup.

I like that the DE897 has different sound field setups, which makes it versatile for various speaker setups or sound sources. However, I still haven't figured out exactly how to use all of the sound field setups. I managed to setup the system to use the Sony 7.1 speaker system and it just remains on that setting, which is fine.

The only significant complaint I have with the DE897 is that Sony must have changed to a new set of remote control codes with the newer receiver models. None of the Sony remotes you can buy off the shelf have a code that will work with this Sony receiver. While I can probably use the "learning" feature of the off-the-shelf Sony remotes -- I shouldn't have to do something like that between two Sony products. Nothing in the receiver's documentation makes you aware that your old Sony remotes just won't operate the receiver. Of course, the receiver's remote will operate my other (older) Sony devices.

The sound the receiver produces is very good and clear. I am not a perfectionist audiophile, so whatever failings this receiver has, I can't hear them. I just like to have good, solid sound delivered to my 7.1 surround speakers and the DE897 delivers.