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12-22-2003, 01:31 PM
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#1 of 28 
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Member
Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 08:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 9,764
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Need a stereo receiver -- anyone have experience with a Sony STRDE185?
The 10+ year old Sony Dolby Pro Logic receiver that I had demoted to our bedroom system many years ago died last weekend. I am looking for something inexpensive as a replacement. The system also consists of a Sony 27-inch TV, my original 5 year old Sony DVP-300 DVD player and a pair of Optimus speakers. Since we only have two speakers, I do not require a 5.1 receiver.
I was leaning towards another Sony for ease of use -- I would prefer to control everything with one remote, and ease of use trumps sound quality for this setup. Any serious film watching is done on our main HT system.
OneCall has a Sony STRDE185 listed for $130. The specs seem to meet my needs. Does anyone have any experience with this or similar Sony stereo models? Any feedback would be appreciated.
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12-22-2003, 02:33 PM
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#2 of 28
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Member
Location: San Jose, Ca.
Join Date: Jun 1999
Local Time: 06:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 11,228
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I'd strongly suggest look for an Onkyo or H/K stereo receiver. I paid $150 for a brand new DE475, so that is not a good price, and it will disappoint anyway. The 475 was a POS, and it only had 2 bookshelf speakers hooked to it as well. I got rid of it the same week,
"The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain't so." - Mark Twain
HT: Marantz SR-8300, MA500 monoblocks x 2, 5X GR Research A/V-2s, Adire Audio Tempest sub, Denon 2900, Oppo 980H, Toshiba HD-A2, RC2000MkII remote, Panamax 5100, Panamax Max2 sub, Slim PS2, PS3 60G + 320G USB
Bedroom: Marantz PM-7200 Integrated, GR Research A/V-1s, Sony 222ES SACD, RC3200 remote, Panamax M8EX
Audio: Audioquest * Video: Bluejeans
My DVDs  My HT
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12-22-2003, 08:10 PM
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#3 of 28
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Local Time: 01:17 AM
Local Date: 11-19-2008
Posts: 876
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Yeah I would probably avoid the Sony. If you really wanna go bottom-end then Panasonic is probably the best choice... If you can afford something a little better, around $200, HK or Onkyo, even Denon.
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12-22-2003, 08:43 PM
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#4 of 28
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Member
Join Date: May 2002
Local Time: 01:17 AM
Local Date: 11-19-2008
Posts: 100
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Quote:
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Yeah I would probably avoid the Sony. If you really wanna go bottom-end then Panasonic is probably the best choice...
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Yep, I decided to go "bottom-end" and am replacing my 10 year old Sony STR-1090 with the Panasonic SA-HE 100. Good reviews for a low-end receiver and plenty good for my kids and the high-volume intolerant spouse (kids movies are mainly what we watch)
By the way if your 10 year old Sony was a Sony STR-1090 , mine works fine and I might sell it for whatever I can get for it. Probably not worth the shipping costs these days though.  |
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12-23-2003, 06:04 AM
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#5 of 28
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Member
Join Date: May 2002
Local Time: 06:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 1,355
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I have a Sony STR-DE675 and wish I spent that $300 on another brand. I love my Sony DVD and 300 CD changer, but they just don't do receivers well.
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12-23-2003, 08:41 AM
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#6 of 28
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Member
Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 08:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 9,764
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Thanks for the suggestions so far. Keep in mind this is for a bedroom setup, and is usually played at a fairly low volume level. Also, I failed to mention that there is also a cheap Infinity powered subwoofer as part of the setup (another hand-me-down from my HT's Pro Logic days years ago), so the amp will not be pushed very hard to drive the pair of Optimus speakers. I am just looking for something to provide an improvement over the Sony TV's built-in speakers -- dialog when watching DVD's is sometimes hard to understand with the TV's speakers.
Based on that additional information, wanting to keep the cost down, and the desire to make this setup as simple to use as possible (my wife uses it a lot more than I do), would you all still recommend avoiding the low-end Sonys?
I actually have a 20 year old Technics receiver boxed up that I could use, but it has no remote and would be an ergonomic nightmare for my wife to use, so I would rather spend a little money to make things more wife-friendly.
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12-23-2003, 09:01 AM
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#7 of 28
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Member
Join Date: Feb 1999
Local Time: 01:17 AM
Local Date: 11-19-2008
Posts: 215
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Have you considered the Sherwood RX-4100/4103? They are widely available (CC and elsewhere), sound good and should be $100 or less.
Jeff
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12-23-2003, 09:25 AM
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#8 of 28
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Member
Location: San Jose, Ca.
Join Date: Jun 1999
Local Time: 06:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 11,228
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www.hifi.com has a stereo Onkyo for $169 right now.
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12-23-2003, 12:41 PM
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#9 of 28
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Local Time: 08:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 1,300
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Myself I would go with the Refurbished Onkyo TXSR500 for $149.96 that www.onecall.com has. It's going to sound a lot better than any of the lower priced Sony receivers & just incase you ever decide to go with Surround Sound you would be set. If operating your system is going to be a nightmare for your wife I would then pickup a cheap Universal Sony Remote for her. The low priced Sherwood & the Stereo Onkyo receivers above are also good choices though. |
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12-23-2003, 01:17 PM
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#10 of 28
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Member
Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
Local Time: 08:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 9,764
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Quote:
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Have you considered the Sherwood RX-4100/4103? They are widely available (CC and elsewhere), sound good and should be $100 or less.
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Does Best Buy carry the Sherwood brand (or anything else that would meet my needs, another than Sony)? Their website didn't have anything interesting except the Sony stereo model that I originally asked about. I do have a $100 gift certificate from BB that could make this close to a no cost solution. I can always use the gift cert for other things, though, if BB doesn't have a decent, low cost solution.
Bill, I saw that refurbished Onkyo at OneCall, and it is tempting, even though the 5.1 channel sound is more than I'll use. The dedicated subwoofer output and flexible crossover would make setup simpler -- I currently have the sub connected via speaker cables to the L/R channels of the old Sony receiver, then run the Optimus speaker cables from there. There is no crossover network on the sub -- everything is connected to the same speaker terminals.
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12-23-2003, 02:27 PM
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#11 of 28
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Member
Location: San Jose, Ca.
Join Date: Jun 1999
Local Time: 06:17 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 11,228
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Circuit City carries Onkyo and Harman Kardon.
Maybe you could sell the gift certificate?
"The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain't so." - Mark Twain
HT: Marantz SR-8300, MA500 monoblocks x 2, 5X GR Research A/V-2s, Adire Audio Tempest sub, Denon | |
