Sony STR-DA5ES (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Sven, again, I beg to differ. Perhaps Oade Bros. got some bad information from their Matsushita sales rep. The price of the 'RP91 dropped rather quickly last year. Often times, such a price drop is an indicator that a product is on the way out. There was a lot of talk about the 'RP91 being phased out last year, and not all of it was linked to something that Oade Bros. had said.

Sony dropped the price of some of its SACD players months ago. Oade Bros. did not go around saying that the players were on the way out. In fact, I asked Jim Oade if the 'C555ES was being discontinued when the retail price had dropped from $1700 to $1200 (last fall). He said he had heard nothing to that effect from his Sony sales rep. In the end, people make mistakes. Don't assume that any comment Oade Bros. made about the 'RP91 was underhanded. As I said before, I have gotten a lot of straight answers from the folks there before. They are a very reputable outfit.

 

[Ted Ross]

So who has the da5es in stock & cheap?

 

[KeithH]

Ted, check OneCall (1-800-340-4770) and J&R Music World (1-800-221-8180).

 

[Ted Ross]

I checked onecall & they list at $1200 -ouch. Whatever happened to getting it in the ~$800 range?

 

[KeithH]

Ted, Sony does not allow authorized dealers to advertise super-low prices on ES products. As a result, you will only see dealers list prices cleared by Sony, which are often the retail prices. With OneCall, you have to call for their "real" price. Crutchfield just dropped the price of the 'DA5ES from $1200 to $1000 (their prices are always high), but to see the price listed as $1000, you first have to enter a name (anything will work) and click "Submit" for the price to appear.

 

[Ted Ross]

Didnt know that-thanks

 

[MikeAlletto]

I checked onecall & they list at $1200 -ouch. Whatever happened to getting it in the ~$800 range

As someone else already said you need to call them. Or what I did is their online chat thing during business hours. Someone comes on, you ask your question and they answer it right there. Its pretty cool too, a friend of mine was asking about HD decoders and the onecall person pushed a new web page with a product across to his browser automaticaly to show him something. They are also willing to deal so if the price isn't what you are looking for try and get them to lower it a little.

 

[Ted Ross]

I found several stores on pricegrabber.com that have it in the ~$800 range.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I'd also seen the What Hi-Fi "Supertest" over the weekend. what's curious is that this so-called "Supertest" didn't include any "competitor" from Marantz, Onkyo nor Harmon Kardon, three well-respected names in HT receivers.
simiarly, the Hi-Fi Choice test cited earlier did not include a Marantz, although Onkyo and HK were represented this time.
I wonder why? perhaps Marantz doesnt' market aggressively in the UK (seeing as these are UK magazines)?
referring back to the article in Hometheater Magazine (which is the one that got me slightly depressed in the first place ), I also read it over the weekend. my gist was really that the SR8200 scored better overall anyway, apart from the distortion issue, which in any case if memory serves is already below audible limits anyway. the various out-of-100 scores given were almost all 95 or so, save for ease of use which registered 90 (IIRC). the Sony DA3ES in contrast scored roughly 90/100 in most categories.
all I can say is, whew!

 

[JackS]

I find it interesting that the Brit mags came to about the same conclusion that I did 3 years ago. My final choices were between the upper end HK's and Sonys. If I were in the market today and contemplating a purchase, these two nameplates would be my bench-mark. I would look at the rest, but have a strong feeling that my conclusions would probably mirror my feelings during my last purchase. Everyone should buy their receiver based on their very own and pereonal impression, and not the reccommendations of the Sales Guy or other forum members. If you do this, your satisfaction with your purchase is guaranteed. Interesting stuff is available from all brands, and we can rest assured that that "one" receiver that is perfect for us can be found with just a little effort on our part.

 

[Brett Miles]

Re: the HT magazine reviews, I personally put less emphasis on the "out of 100" scores given to the two receivers since they are only subjective numbers assigned by two different reviewers with different speakers and sources, in this case. I put more stock in the "hard data" from the lab tests, which put the Sony 3ES ahead in each of the categories if I'm not mistaken. If the Marantz is only available for retail price (of which I'm not sure, using Onecall for an example) one could still get a 5ES for 1/2 as much and put the rest toward a separate amp or speakers, etc.

 

[KeithH]

Ted,

No problem. Just note that the majority of dealers you will likely encounter on pricegrabber.com are not authorized Sony dealers. When I have used such price-search sites, I have gotten hits from Crutchfield (authorized) and a slew of unauthorized dealers.


Yee-Ming,

Good point about the receiver selection in the two magazines. The receivers chosen could be a function of the models made available to them from the manufacuters in time to do the article. Reviewers don't go to stores to buy models for review, as you are probably aware. Anyway, I have read plenty of reviews of Marantz products in Hi-Fi Choice and What Hi*Fi? over the past two years. In fact, What Hi*Fi? considers the Marantz SR-4200 receiver the leader in its price class. This is stated in the current issue, though the '4200 was reviewed back in January.

 

[Ted Ross]

Keith, I thought Sony wasnt as picky about buying from authorized dealers when it comes to warranty repair-unlike Yamaha & Denon. Or am I wrong?

 

[KeithH]

Ted, some have said that Sony is not as picky as, say, Denon. I don't know if that is true. I always buy from an authorized dealer to be safe. When I took a minidisc player to Sony's repair center in Bristol, PA some months ago for a warranty repair, a lady there asked for the receipt and commented that I bought from an authorized dealer. I took that to mean that I was in good shape. Anyway, the nice thing about Sony is that you can get hefty discounts from certain authorized dealers -- OneCall, J&R, and Oade Bros., for example.

 

[Michael Murphy]

Just tried the Onecall live chat thingy to get a price quote on the Sony STRDA5ES and the price came back at $1200. They offered to price match any other price I got from an authorized Sony dealer that has one in stock. Looks like they know J and R and Oade Brothers are out of stock so Onecall is not making any great deals.

David Nolan - who did you get the $850 price from?

Michael

 

[Bob Hickman]

OneCall is pretty high. Crutchfield is offering them at $999.99, and they are usually the highest priced.
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...TRD5ES&o=m&a=0
Bob

 

[David Nolan]

well, it was brandnamez, or whatever and crazy eddie - and a local dealer. so no one authorized. which is why i have not made the purchase yet.

 

[Ted Ross]

Yeah, brandnamez has it for $819.00-very tempting

 

[KeithH]

Ted, I've read mixed reviews of brandnamez.com. Obviously, they aren't an authorized dealer. I wouldn't feel comfortable ordering from them. Have you tried calling OneCall? It's worth a shot. If they quote you $1200 for the 'DA5ES, tell them that is the old retail price and that you know they discount. I say "old retail price" because Crutchfield is selling the 'DA5ES for $1000. You could tell OneCall that too, and then tell them that you have come to expect them to beat Crutchfield's price. Then see what they say.

 

[MartinV]

Hey guys, I just want to be sure of something...

The DA3ES produces true Dolby Digital EX and DTS EX or does it only do it through a virtual cinema mode? I keep reading the descriptions for both the DA3ES and DA5ES on various sites (Onecall, Crutchfield, SonyStyle) and it seems like the 5ES is the only one that lists DD-EX and DTS-EX decoding. I would hate to buy the DA3ES if it only synthesizes/simulates true decoding of 6.1 signals.

Set me straight. Thanks