Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony STRDG920 7.1-Channel Audio/Video Receiver

I needed a relatively inexpensive AV receiver with at least 3 HDMI inputs and able to send *all* inputs through the HDMI output to the TV. Onkyo TX-SR606 was the only other receiver I was able to find that met these specs, and since I have an Onkyo, I wanted to stay with that brand. The catch was that the Onkyo would upconvert non-HDMI inputs to 1080i. This Sony upconverts to 1080p. That was pretty much the only thing that swayed me. It is quite minor but I do have a 1080p LCD.

The Sony is very easy to set up. The HDMI handles every pretty seamlessly and my non-HDMI (component) items just needed the video and audio port selection done and that was it.

I like the fact you can rename any of the ports via "GUI Mode" and the speaker set up was a breeze. The microphone worked like a charm (all 1 minute of use.) Performance is pretty good for the price point. I will probably upgrade this in a couple of years when I am able to get back to a true 7.1 setup.

Highly recommend this product. I would not go as far as saying this has better audio than a Denon or Onkyo but it handles itself well..and it allowed me to rip out about 8 cables.

Connections used: three HDMI in, one HDMI out, two component (with one analog and one optical for audio) and one analog audio (soon to be optical)

Pros
- Solid, heavy construction.
- Simple, clean front panel, very readable display.
- On screen GUI interface offers fine-grained control of settings
- Switches between 4 HDMI inputs.
- Input source upconversion up to 1080p
- Automated speaker calibration with supplied microphone
- Decodes most audio formats
- Excellent sound quality, plenty of power.

Cons
- Instruction manual is very poorly organized, much as if a list of all the chips on a your computer's circuit board would somehow tell you how to use the computer. Index is a joke. Manual appears to have been translated by a non-native English speaker.
- Bazillion button remote control not designed for convenience or ease of use.
- Second HDMI output would have been nice (but good luck finding that anywhere...).

Bottom line
- 1080p upconversion, GUI interface and 4th HDMI input makes the STR-DG920 well worth the premium over the STR-DG820.
- But why oh why doesn't Sony (and not just them) take a lesson from Apple for instruction manuals and TiVo for remote control design?
- Outstanding feature set and price/performance ratio make this a winner in the mid-price A/V receiver market as of 8/2008.

Paired with SHARP LC46D62U & Polk Audio RM6750's this receiver does everything most anyone will need over the next several years. I studied receiver specs for months. Compared capabilities, checked cost fluctuations, visited "ultra high end" home theater dealers, spoke to many so called AV experts, some were called sales associates, combined systems together in sound rooms, paired receivers with speakers,TV's with speakers and receivers. I did this at all the usual retailers i.e., Best Buy and a renowned local "high end home theater dealer."

Bar none - there's no better value than this! I bought it through Amazon delivered for under $385.00.

And, there are caveats to my "Bar None" statement - BE VERY prepared to learn the capabilities of this receiver. Learning comes from both trial and error and trying to understand the "vague" instructions. This system took me hours to "mess" with and learn. If you have the time and you enjoy a challenge, this receiver's for you. It has all the normal Sony setups with A, B and C (Cinema Sound Enhanced) CSTEX, AUTO FORMAT DETECT "AFD" and all of Dolby's current and future formats, Neural THX, True HD "lossless". 4 HDMI's inputs for more hookups than most of us need, optical toslinks etc, XM Radio, DM Ports etc., etc. and a whole host of other inputs and outputs that better confirm the best value.

Anyone who has owned Sony lately now knows, Sony really needs you to buy there stuff so you can be "Bravia Synced" to them and our planet. This is probably very cool if all you ever want to own is Sony - I like the Sharp Aquos LCD's picture (black really is black) connected to this receiver with a Sony BDPS-550 Blue Ray Disk Player. Automatically the 2 synced together the Sony Blue Ray Disk Player and the Sony Receiver they seemed to become like, well, best friends. You would think that the Sharp is the odd man out and it is - but not in a bad way. Sharp truly holds it's own to the Sony components and has no problems handling the processes of everything and anything the two Sony pieces push on/in or through it.

The power and performance of the STRDG-920 is impeccable - after you have done all that's required to make this receiver perform at it's best. - Here's what I did - I invited a neighbor over to test the systems capabilities and try to tell the difference between Pirates of the Caribbean in Blue Ray, and Pirates of the Caribbean in regular DVD. I let him watch the 1st ten minutes of each. Low and behold my neighbor actually thought the latter was the Blue Ray. Both Blue Ray Disc Player and the STRDG-920 systems perform an up-conversion to 1080P. The standard definition Pirates of the Caribbean contains an enhanced audio over the Blue Ray version, the STRDG-920 automatically detects the "best" processing of all formats of audio, in this case an enhanced Neural / THX format helped to fool him. Visually - the up-conversion is remarkably comparable and to me extremely difficult to detect over the Blue Ray.

I expected this remake of my system would cost somewhere between $1500.00 TO $2500.00. All of these components through Amazon came to less than $1050.00 - included in the remake were this Sony Receiver STRDG-920 $384.00, Sony BDPS 550 Blue Ray Player $306.00, last years model Polk Audio RM6750 $246.00. Other parts and accessories like $50.00 in speaker wire, $25.00 for 2 HDMI cables and not yet available through Amazon was $20.00's beer enjoyed while setting it up.

I have the Sony KP-65XBR10W Projection TV which is a 1080i capable CRT widescreen. The biggest fault with this TV is that it only has one HD Component input. After recently purchasing a PS3 for Blu Ray viewing I was in need of either a component switcher or a new AV receiver. I opted for a new receiver so that I could simply run one component cable to my HD component input and all other components are hooked up to this receiver. I have my Dish receiver (Composite), PS3 (Component), Progressive Scan DVD (Component), Nintendo Wii (Component), and VCR (Component), all hooked to this receiver and all are upconverted to 1080i to my TV.

This receiver has two Optical and two Coax digital audio inputs that are assignable to any of the Component or Composite video inputs. All video Inputs can have their own custom name applied. Unlike the guy that gave this unit a 1 star rating, I found the gui interface very intuitive without cracking open the manual and had my optical inputs reassigned to the new correct corresponding video inputs.

The remote is one of the easiest to use Sony remotes I've ever encountered. I use all Sony equipment save for the Dish receiver so this remote runs them all right out of the box. Want to watch a DVD, press the DVD button, receiver comes on to DVD input and the DVD player comes as well. I do not notice the remote being any more directional than any of my other IR remotes, perhaps that reviewer had weak batteries.

Speaker settings, I have not used the auto calibrate yet, when I do I will post back how that operates for me. In the GUI menu when you select your speaker setup, you can in fact select large front and small rear speakers, or any combination you want. I believe one of the reviewers says otherwise, but that simply isn't the case. You can set the level for each individual speaker; center, rt and lft front, rt and lft surround, rt and lft rear surround and the Sub woofer.

It sounds fantastic with the Klipsch KLF20 speakers. The video upconversion looks amazing. I finally get to view my TV's max resolution on all my components. with only one cable running to my TV.

EDIT: After arranging my room I setup the Auto speaker calibration. Absolutely amazing! It selected the appropriate speaker size (large front/small center/large rear). It adjusted each speaker to it's own level and was very accurate as to speaker distance, not so much to the inch, but rather that it knew the mic was much closer to the rear speakers than the front and slightly to the left side. It even clued me in that I had my surround hooked up incorrectly. I only use a single pair of surrounds, which were located in the rear, so I had them hooked to the 'Surround rear' instead of 'Surround' as the receiver requested and the manual confirmed.

My Home Theater has never sounded or looked so good. 5 Stars!

Good build. Does exactly what it says. Good analog to digital conversion with the exception of my XBOX 360. There is a faint green line at the top of the screen and thats probably because of the conversion from component to HDMI and scaling of resolutions. I always leave my HDTV with NO OVERSCAN so if it bothered me that bad I could set the aspect ratio to overscan a little. Again not a big deal to me. Not a perfect receiver, but for the price point I have really no complaints. Unless you just want to go with the ES line of receivers this should fit most peoples needs.