Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony STR-DE185 Stereo Receiver

This a good quality receiver. The price is comparable with most of the other receivers in this class. The big difference that I see is legendary Sony quality. I own many Sony products and have been pleased with their performance. I think this is one instance where a "name brand" will pay off. Sony doesn't make any "junk products"!

Really great bass sound though the treble could be a bit better... this could be a result of 10 year old JVC speakers, but I think it is the system. still if you are on a budget and looking to build an audio center, this is a good place to start. Even at almost max volume, there is no distortion. I live in an area with poor radio reception, yet I get NPR crytal clear... and in STEREO!! Usually I have to settle for putting the station on FM mono. I have my Dish Network receiver and DVD player hooked up and everything sounds great. Maybe I will splurge for some new speakers... after all I can hook up two pairs and I'll see if there is any difference.

Well, the output from this amplifier sounds comparable to another fairly high-end unit I have, so that is good. It's a well balanced sound with no notable features (I'm not into megabass).

Two other positives.

First, it can drive A and B speakers simultaneously (or one at a time). But the great advantage is that they are driven independently: turning on the B speakers creates no dip in the volume of the A speakers, and vice versa - even with the very different speakers and cable lengths that I use on A and B. Not something you see every day.

Second, it has robust quality. For instance, during a recent thunderstorm it went into "protect" mode when there was a dip in the power supply, rather than continue to operate and potentially die. And that was behind a surge protector, so it's pretty conscientious.

Amazon are no longer offering this unit, but if you can find it elsewhere it's well recommended.

I bought this stereo receiver to power some small Athena bookshelf speakers in my office. The power rating is supposed to be 100 wpc but it doesn't seem to more than 20 wpc. I paid $100 when I could have done better spending $10 at a garage sale. Save your money and get an old heavy receiver from the 70's.

i JUST RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS SONY RECEIVER FOR MY NEW HOME THEATER i JUST PURCHASED. sO FAR I AM PLEASED WITH IT. STEW