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$600 Sony STR DA4ES???? (2 Viewers)

JohnSterling

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So I've been hunting for a new receiver. I've had a STR30ES for about 4 years now and have REALLY enjoyed it. However, I'd like to run 6.1 or 7.1 and have analog inputs for DVD-Audio...and a bit more power would be nice.

I've been looking at the new 1000 and 2000ES series from Sony...but apparantly they have dropped one of my favorite features...the 3 band equalizer on each different speaker. Mega blah.

After internet hunting, I found that the 4ES had it, and then tracked down one at a local store....for the above mentioned price after a small amount of haggling.

I've spent about 4 hours setting it up...and now the wife is asleep so I can't even try it out....oh well. Tomorrow.

What do you think? I get ripped off, or did I do OK???? Just curious.
 

Steve_L_B

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That's the current going price for that receiver. I paid $615 two months ago for my 4ES and that's the lowest price I could find from an authorized retailer. IMHO, it was worth every penny.

-Steve
 

Wayne Ernst

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I think you did quite good on the price. For the 4ES receivers that I've seen being cleared out at Tweeter, they have some dings (usual demo marks, etc.) and their price is a little under $500. I don't think paying a $100 premium to get something new, sealed, etc. is such a bad deal at all.

I've owned a 4ES for about 9 months and recently sold it. In its place, I've installed an H/K AVR-7200. The 4ES is also a "gem" that sounds great and performs well, too. :)
 

MTrotter

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I just picked up a new in the carton 4ES for $599. It was the last one they had, and the guy said that was his cost. Wouldn't go a dime lower, although I sure tried.
 

Thomas Smailus

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I seriously doubt $599 was his cost. Only retailers playing that stupid 'see if we can sucker the customer game' price stuff like x99 or xyz.99 or like the gas stations $1.34 and 9/10.... yeah, like I don't figure its $1.35.

Just to let folks know, there is a retailer selling the 4ES over EBAY as well, for around $625+shipping(around $25).

For those that don't have large AV shops near them that might still have stock, or that don't want to drive all over town, you can probably pick one up from them for $655 delivered. I gladly paid the extra $50 and I saved the local 9% sales tax, which would have been, $54 on $600 anyway. No wasted time or gas. It arrives by FedEx on Monday. New unit; 5yr warranty and all.
 

JohnSterling

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Well thanks for the response guys.

Turns out that it's a bit longer than my old 30ES receiver...so it wouldn't fit in my Hi/Fi cabinet I built. (I new this last night...but was to annoyed to deal with it). Did some 'modifying' this evening (mostly involving a jigsaw) to the cabinet and now, surprise, surprise, the 4ES fits quite well. :)

However, after all that, I got a whopping 4-5 minutes in of use today. Settings are still all out-of-whack...but it does sure sound pretty gusty. I'm pleased with it so far.

I don't know who at Sony designs these stupid two-way remotes...but they need to be hit with a hammer repeatedly. Geeze I hate these things.....
 

Wayne Ernst

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I don't know who at Sony designs these stupid two-way remotes...but they need to be hit with a hammer repeatedly. Geeze I hate these things.....
Oh, so true. The Sony remote that comes with the 4ES looks "sleek" ... but, is a bear to operate. Too many levels need to be gone through to get to what you need. I found this process frustrating. Then again, if you can get a OneForAll remote and a JP1 cable (approx. $15.00) you can locate the 4ES codes that have been made available and program a nice, custom remote for about $35.00 total ($20.00 - remote / $15.00 for the JP1 cable.)
 

Thomas Smailus

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For what its worth, they ebay source is a physical hifi shop, you can also buy from them, directly for about the same price - but you'd never find them with a google search of STR-DA4ES, thats the beauty of using Ebay - its a common marketplace.

The warranty, they say, applies as well, as they are an official retailer selling the product. The laws of the country and state, also dictate what warranties apply.

But they are a Sony listed dealer (via the Sony website dealer search):
SOUND SELLER
2808 CAHILL ROAD
MARINETTE WI 54143



On the remotes - its this back and forth, with designers trying to find out what works best and what works for what type of user.

My old STR-AV1020 from 1990 had everything on hard-buttons. Its got a remote the width of a hand calculator but twice as long with a bazillion tiny little hard buttons on it. Very scary at first, but easy to use once you undestand its geographically laid out by component.

Then you have the modern LCD remotes where designers minimize the numbers of buttons (the wife could never use the AV1020 remote) - and double up functions in graphical menues. Of course, that can be more complex because you don't see the functions not currently displayed.

The optimal solution is some middle ground - coupled with some better display or battery technology as the LCD's are worthless without the backlighting being on (as I know from my Sony 2000 super remote).
 

JohnSterling

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Wayne and Thomas....

Actually, I probably know WAY more about remotes than any other type of hi-fi gear. (Not that that's saying much) :)

Wayne,
Yes...I've got 4 different Radio Shack remotes, which, I'm sure you know, have the electronic guts of the One4Alls. Also have been addicted to my JP1 cable for a couple years now. However, I've never gone so far as to write my one protocol.

Thankfully, the protocol that the 'Robman' had wrote for the Sony 2 way's a year or more ago started working great, once I had set the receiver to look for AV1 remotes instead of AV2. *whew*...that's a lifesave. All my groovy startup and shutdown macros started working just fine again!!!!!!! So now, the hyper-annoying Sony 2-Way is currently sitting in a drawer with its batteries removed. HURRAY!!!!

Thomas:
Have you looked into the Home Theater Master MX-500??? Its sort of what your talking about at only $125-$135 on line. Great remote for a great price!

Oh yeah...I finally got to spend a few hours with the new 4ES. Love the thing. Just really sounds spectacular. All the cool built in features are fun as well.

Thanks again. :)
 

JohnSterling

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Oh yeah, Thomas, I've also got that Sony AV2000 remote. It sure looked cool at first...but both my wife and I are 'button' freaks. That LCD screen became nothing but an annoyance. Since I discovered the Rat-Shack remotes and the JP1 cable...I haven't used it in over a year and a half. Maybe even 2 years. Oh well....live and learn.
 

AaronWT

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Hmm. I got my 4ES in August 2002 for $640 plus shipping when they first came out. I must have gotten an excellent deal. No problems so far. I did upgrade the firmware though.
I also upgraded from a 30ES and the difference was very noticeable. I'm hoping that the 4ES can be upgraded with the new Dolby PL2x but I won't be holding my breath for SOny.
 

JohnSterling

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Aaron,

Can you provide info on how to both check the firmware version and do the upgrade itself? I'm assuming it's through the RS232 port on the back.

Many thanks.
 

Thomas Smailus

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John,..

Not to sidetrack this forum too much, but back to remotes.

I'll eventually replace the RM-AV2000 with something better. The wife is not a button freak - she is a simplicity freak - which directly conflicts with teh AV system having 3 components that need to be turned on to watch TV (TV, Amp, Vcr) and making sure the input sources of all are set right. The SYSTEM CONTROL buttons work great for this - one is programmed for ON and one for OFF with little white lables above them. Only when she gets into an odd setup - such as changes channels on the TV mistakenly - so it goes out of VIDEO INPUT mode and starts using its own tuner - then I usually get a phone call with "Help!" in it. ;)

I have looked at the Theater Master units, and am interested in the Pronto... but thats down the road.

I'll admit that I'm new to this Radio Shack remotes and this JP1 cable you mention. Can you point me at a website or discussion here to get me up to speed? Whats that all about?


---

On the 4ES - I imagine around $600-650 is the bottom end that most anyone will sell them at. They are good enough and of course black, that there will be no problem selling them all. Lower than that and any retailer is really not making much given their time and at least the storage and manhours to handle the equipment. Only cheaper way would be if someone named Guido or Pauli can get you one that happened to fall of the back of a truck. ;)

DPLIIx is interesting and 'should' be something that can be added - but its just a way to use 5.1 material in a 7.1 speaker system... something the 4ES can already do in its own Sony fashion - right?
 

Wayne Ernst

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Hmm. I got my 4ES in August 2002 for $640 plus shipping when they first came out. I must have gotten an excellent deal.
Aaron, yes - that was a pretty good deal. At the time (last fall) there was more than one vendor selling it at a very good price. I picked one up and actually paid less than you did. However, now the going rate still seems to be in the low-$600 range or a bit lower for "demo" models. At that price, the 4ES is no slouch.
 

AaronWT

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DPLIIx is interesting and 'should' be something that can be added - but its just a way to use 5.1 material in a 7.1 speaker system... something the 4ES can already do in its own Sony fashion - right?
The only thing the 4ES has is the Sony Cinema? but that uses prologic on the back not PL2.
Or you can use PL2 or NEO:6.(these only work on a 2 channel signal)The only thing that works with 5.1 is the Sony Cinema DSp which doesn't produce a seemingly independent 6th and 7th channel which the DPL2x is supposed to do.
 

Shiu

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Feb 18, 2003
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John, in case your question has not been answered, here's the link to download the firmware update file:
http://www.css.ap.sony.com/ The instruction included with the file does tell you what kind of cable you will need for the flash update. If you cannot find one in the stores you can at least get one made, with the pin-out information provided. I updated my 4ES but I really could not tell if it is doing anything different.
 

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