should I buy a used Sony STR-DA50ES? how much? (1 Viewer)

[AndrewC]

A friend of mine recently upgraded to a STR-DA4ES, so he's selling his STR-DA50ES. Should I buy it? If so, how much should I offer for it? It's got about a year worth of warranty left on it.

I saw one on Ebay go for $297 and another $258 recently. I'm a bit amazed by the depreciation since it was ~$1K when he got it new.

I've been saying to myself for years now that I'd get a new receiver (in the $700 - $2k range), but I haven't bothered. My current unit is a Yamaha RX-V393 (don't laugh) and doesn't even have DD or DTS decoding (my Sony DVPS-550D DVD player has DD decoding w/6 analog outs which are fed into my DD ready receiver). I kinda want DD decoding for Xbox games and DTS so I can play some DTS DVD titles (or hear DTS versions of the audio).

I don't care THAT much about the battery draining remote. I'll get a bunch of Ni-MH rechargables and alternate sets.

For reference, speakers are Paradigm Mini Monitors for fronts, CC-350 center, and Atoms for two rears along w/Boston Acoustics CR400 powered sub.

My usage will probably be 10% games, 75% TV (!), 5% music, and 10% DVD movies.

Should I bother or save my $ for something else?

 

[Chuck Kent]

I have a friend who has his old 50ES in his 2nd setup and it's still cranking out the sound. IMO, they were/are a good unit.

The only negative is that nasty remote. Just dreadful (IMO.) If you can live with the remote (I'd advocate a new universal remote to replace it (like a Home Theater Master MX-500) then 200 to 300 bucks seems like a decent price for one. Most receivers drop to this price range after a couple of years or so. Time and technology marches on...

 

[Tom McA]

It was a good unit for an early-generation receiver. HOWEVER, I was very happy to unload mine when I upgraded (to the 4ES). It had some quirks that were annoying, but par for the course for receivers of its vintage:

It had painfully slow bitstream recognition. Up to several seconds of silence before it figured out whether you were throwing PCM, AC-3, or DTS at it. Also, when I was shuffling CD's in my changer, if it went from a standard Red Book CD to a DTS CD or vice versa, it would completely mute. You had to click away from the CD input and back to it for it to recognize the new bitstream. Very annoying. Also, it would occasionally (once every couplea weeks) just power up dumb. I'd have to turn it off, wait several seconds, then power it back up again.

I sold mine to a neighbor for around $200, and he was very happy with it. For much more than that, I don't think it's worth it.

And yes, the remote is hellacious. However, a simple $30 One-for-All learning remote (GREAT bang for the buck, those things) solved that pretty handily.

Just my two cents. Happy listening.

 

[JackS]

I'm using a DA50 in a second system. My guess as to its worth would be between $275-$350 depending on physical condition of the case. Although the receiver did have a MSRP of $1000, the typical street price was about $650 when new. I kept mine for the simple reason that there is nothing even close to the used price that I would be interested in. You definatly won't find anything new at this price that is as good as the DA50. Offer $250 if in excellent shape and consider $300 if necessary.