Comments on: Sony STR-DH800 7.1-Channel Audio Video Receiver

By: Jeremy B

Jeremy B — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:03:01 +0000

I am a long time Sony fan! I purchased my first Sony receiver approx 15 years ago (can't remember the model off the top of my head, but it was their top of the line one at the time - it was before 5.1/7.1 was introduced and had the old 3 speaker surround sound setup). Approx a 18 months ago I purchased the Sony STR-DG910 because I wanted 7.1 at my new house. The DG910 died last week (after only 18 months...) and I needed a replacement ASAP.

I wanted to go with Sony again because I really like their products and I am a long time fan. So I did my research and considered this model (the DH-800) and the STRDG-1200. The 1200 appears to be one of Sony's premier line receivers and you definitely have to pay the extra dough to get one. It is currently on sale for $600 (verses it's normal retail price of $900), but after doing a feature comparison of the two, I went with the cheaper 800 and am more than happy that I did!!

Sony makes it easy to compare their receivers.Go to sony[dot]com and browse down Electronics, TV & Home Entertainment, Home Audio Components, followed by Shop and Browse. You can then put a check in the boxes of the receivers you want to compare and it will display a side-by-side comparison.

The DH800 is one of Sony's newest receivers and so far I think it is amazing!! As I said above I replaced my DG910 with it and it fixed a few things that bugged me about the 910, including: The amp seems to be much better - I get much higher volumes at a lower level and it seems to be a cleaner sound. It decodes Linear PCM from my PS3 and Samsung blu-ray player better. When I make adjustments to my surround sound speakers (volume and tone) and it actually stores them properly. It also have 4 HDMI inputs (v1.3), which was key for me to have with a new receiver (the DG910 had only 3 HDMI v1.2).

The ONLY thing about it so far I am disappointed about is the fact that it only has speaker outs for one set of front speakers. My two prior Sony receivers allowed an A and B speaker set, so I have two sets of fronts (which is great when listening to music). The receiver allows a B set, but that only works with you are using 5.1, not 7.1. The 7.1 uses the "additional" speaker options. I guess most people just use one set of fronts, so this may not be a big deal to you.

One other thing... The manual is a joke though, which Sony has always had a probably with. They should invest a little money in hiring an outsourced company to write their manuals so they make sense and allow their customer to have a pain-free setup. I'm thankful that I am good with audio/video equipment and was able to figure everything out without having to open the manual.

Overall I think this is a great receiver with a ton of fabulous features and for the price (approx 290 dollars here at amazon) you can't go wrong! It doesn't matter if you're putting together an entry level home theatre or have a nice setup and want to replace your current system, you'll be happy with the sound/video and the loud volumes you can get. Rating: 5 / 5

By: John O. Watts

John O. Watts — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:21:34 +0000

I have had the STR DH800 for about two weeks and I love it. The sound it great and it is set to move into the future. Setup was easy and I loved the self speaker calibration with the enclosed mike. There is a small learning curve as with any new peace of equipment. So just take your time and work through it. In the begging I was not getting the Dolby True HD or the DTS Master HD. But what I found was my Bluray player was not set up properly. After going through the BD setup menu and changing a few things I was set to go. So at 110 Watts X 7 you have tones on power to work even the best speakers. So go for it don’t follow the nay Sayers try it for your self.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: I. Clanton-Thuon

I. Clanton-Thuon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:29:09 +0000

This is a good reciver, but it’s missing some features that would make it really nice, namely:

1. no on-screen display, you have to do all configuration on the front display

2. no WMA-Pro support (only really matters if it’s connected to a PC)

3. Only one subwoofer output

4. Can’t re-label inputs

The sound quality is comperable to a much higher-end reciever.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: D_reason

D_reason — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:44:54 +0000

I purchased this STR-DH800 amplifier and the 5 disc SONY NC800 DVD/CD player and am VERY DISAPPOINTED. The $300 amplifier does not have on screen menus and is very complex; the $120 DVD/CD player can ONLY be adjusted through the TV and does have 1080P upscaling. No 1080p upconversion on the amp so you cannot connect older components to the amp and expect the HDMI out cable to handle them. Why have composite video in on the amp if you cannot output??

When I try to play CD’s on the new player (connected by HDMI to the amp) it keeps losing sound every 10 seconds! Sony tells me that this is because the amp has

“ACTIVE INTELLIGENCE” (a real oxymoron…really meaning NO THOUGHT WHATSOEVER WENT INTO THE DESIGN) and the TV must stay on to play only MUSIC CD’s since the player is connected in by HDMI and the out is to the TV! WOW??

I had SONY audio and video products before…but never again after this experience.
Rating: 2 / 5

By: Giacomo

Giacomo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:13:17 +0000

Good: Great sound, lots of HDMI plugs, well-made

Bad: Manual is worthless (read below).

Does anyone know how to get this receiver to show up on my TV? It’s suppose to have an on screen menu but the manual only mentions it and doesn’t tell you how to get it. I hooked up one HDMI to the “Out” on the receiver and the other end into my Sharp HDMI 7 plug. Can anyone help me here?

Thanks!

Jim
Rating: 3 / 5