Those in the market for a
receiver that can handle the latest and greatest ought to look
Sony's way, as the firm's revamped
ES lineup not only plays nice with your
iPod, but it's the first from Sony that can distribute high definition content to a second room. The STR-DA5300ES, STR-DA4300ES, and STR-DA3300ES 7.1-channel devices all offer seamless (albeit optional) iPod integration, and the onboard Digital Media Port allows users to add other accessories such as a WiFi client for streaming digital music, a Bluetooth receiver, or a Network Walkman docking station. You'll also find 1080/60p and 24p support,
1080p upconverting, Sirius / XM compatibility, and a variety of internal amplifier ratings depending on model. All three of Sony's latest AV components will be available before October, and while the low(er)-end DA3300ES will check in at a cool grand, the DA4300ES will demand $1,300 while the DA5300ES runs $1,700.
[Via
Electronista]
posted Jul 24th 2007 4:15PM
When is someone going to put out a reciver that doesn't waste 90% of the ports on obsolete video and stereo RCA connections? I don't have *anything* that still uses them, and I would rather not waste the space...
To each his own. I wouldn't buy one without RCA connectors because I still have a couple devices that use them (like my digital camera and an old but excellent short wave radio).
And why would you care anyway? I doubt that having those connectors adds 25 cents to the manufacturing cost and they don't take up much space.
Holy smokes do you sound selfish. Just because you don't need RCA connectors doesn't mean that the thousands of other people who purchase it don't. I don't know who you think you are, Edgore, but Sony isn't in the business to just cater to ONE individual.
I for one think the receivers are really nice and versatile.
BOW BEFORE THE MIGHT OF 40,000 RCA CONNECTORS HAHAHAHA!!!
Oh man I forgot to turn the reverb on!
Can we take tha...
BOW BEFORE THE
Dude it's still not on.
No turn the knob to the, not that on
whatsdamattau - Yes, yes, You are correct. For selfishly stating what I, personally, would like to see in a receiver, I am, as you point out, a monster. I forgot that my stating a preference would either remove the RCA connectors from all existing receivers, or force everyone to only purchase receivers with no RCA connectors in the future.
Did your mom bottle feed you, or did she find some other way to withhold her affection before she dropped you on your head as a child?
Joe - I'm fine with having some RCA connectors - I just don't need any more than are already included on my TV.
nice receiver, but all i really want to see is a receiver that is HDMI, support for Dolby TrueHD, n is easy to set up, then im good.
really i have not seen one receiver support Dolby TrueHD in any retail at all. Nice to see one support it though. Too bad it's too expensive n somewhat a waste.
http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Receiver
Looks like this one does support TrueHD and DTS-HD, guess that means it's using HDMI 1.3?
I like all of the "we upscale all inputs to 1080p" stuff that the new Sony and Denon receivers have. Hopefully this will filter down to the lower-end receivers within a couple years.
Word to the wise. Upconverting and Upscaling are two different things. 1080p upconverting just means that it will output composite/s-video/component out of component or hdmi at UP TO 1080p. It DOES NOT mean it will take 480p movies and upscale them to 1080p. If your component source is 480p or 720p for that matter, all the upconverting will do is "upconvert" that 480 or 720 to component and output it at the 480 or 720 respectively. Sucks don't it? They make you believe you will get the signal upped to the 1080, but you don't.
Actually the 5300 (not sure about the others) does perform up-scaling.
Faroudja® DCDi™ Cinema Up Scaling Technology
Yes
Faroudja® DCDi CINEMA Chipset for Up Scaling to 1080p
IC processor developed by Faroudja®, and first used by Sony, which will up scale and up convert all video signals (less than 1080p) to 1080p via HDMI2. This chipset corrects image jaggedness; reduces block noise and reproduces true to original colors. The end result is a beautiful and smooth high definition image.
HDMI Up Scaling
Video sources connected via composite, S-video and component cables can not only be up converted to a HDMI™ video output but can also be up scaled from its native signal to 1080p (i.e. 480i to 1080p) thus minimizing the number of connections needed from the receiver to the television display. HDMI supports resolutions up to 1080p and enables both HD video and uncompressed streaming audio to be transmitted through a single cable.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665186458#
Wow, thats a lot of HDMI goodness for less than 2 Bills not to mention the other stuff. Hazah!
Isn't 2 Bills = $200 or $2, isn't that supposed to be "less than 2 Grand" for less than $2000.
all I want is an amp with
-4 or more optical inputs
-3 or more component inputs
-3 or more HDMI inputs
No other inputs needed.
I hate the very core of all things Sony... BUT...
7 HDMI ports!!! That is awesome... I might have to defect.
The Sony receivers have always been a good value. There are speakers that produce a higher fidelity of sound, however, dollar-per-dollar Sony receivers have always offered a good receiver at a great price.
The last 2 Sony receivers I used left me very disappointed, but this one looks really impressive. Too bad I am very happy with my current Yamaha.
"The last 2 Sony receivers I used left me very disappointed,"
Yeah, but were they ES receivers?
I've got an STRDA30ES that's now in need of replacement, but it's honestly about 11 years old. And there's nothing *functionally* deficient about it, it's just developed an internal arcing problem that manifests as a loud "snap" every once in a while. Still, I can't complain after 11 years of use. And like I said, it still pumps out the Dolby Digital and DTS with the best of 'em.
Sony's regular receivers are "eh". They're cheap plastic light-duty receivers no better than anybody else. The ES line, though, is not really what I'd call "high end" but it is much better than average quality and for not very much more than average prices considering the features you get. Sony always packs really cutting-edge stuff into their ES receivers - I mean DTS was brand new when I bought mine and not many receivers had it. Sony's good at future-proofing their ES line like that.
That's interesting that all 3 receivers include the cross media bar (XMB) interface. It even does Picture in Picture too! Not much to complain about here.
It's all nice and dandy, but, why do receivers have to be so Freakin' huge.
Really, try to find a slim receiver they're just not around.
if you were familar w/ how amplifiers work, you'd totally understand. hit up howstuffworks and look up amps, once you see how it works, you'll see that you can't get a kick ass amp, in a small size. thats why all denons, pioneer, sonys, marantz, etc, receivers in the 1300-2000 price range are all about the same size and weight. and, all 300 amps will be smaller and lighter, all 3500 amps will be larger n' heavier.
I don't want a kick ass amplifier, I want an 'aint to bad' amp. But the cheapest models from Sony, Yamaha go for about $400 and are still humongous. For me power is not the reason to buy an amp. I don't need to wake up my neighbours. I would like to have HDMI (to be future proof) and enough A/v in's and out's. When you buy a quality amp, you're always paying for the power, but if you buy a low power amp,the quality seems to go down as well.
Power is not about being loud. It's about being cleaner sound.
I too could do with a slimmer profile and without the row of logos in the lower right corner, looks like a Nascar. Ugh!
I took one look at the back of this thing and you know what I said? Holy F***ing S**T...I wouldnt have troubles hooking everything up but come on! There is like 4 ports for everything! excessive if you ask me!
setting up everything is simple as hell. if you can read you can hook this up.
ive installed one of these for a customer a week ago. the thing works great!!
I've got the ES5200 a few months back and I kinda like it. I'm happy that i'm not a ipod-junkie and need to upgrade mine for that feature.. =)
If i would be, I'd probably rather have an external dock so I can still keep my receiver in the closet.. (I use a harmony-remote with RF signals, so closed doors are not a problem.. only heat is *grin* ) But the other digital ports might come handy one day.. hmmm.. anyone wants to by my 5200? =)