Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony STR-DA2400ESB 7.1 Channel AV Receiver in Black

I bought this along with a set of the Jamo 5.1 speaker set and have been generally impressed with the sound quality that I get from both. However I found the set-up of the Sony to be remarkably difficult, not least because the on-screen setup simply would not work. It took me a lot of fiddling, changing of settings and internet searching before I realised that the on-screen menus will not work if you have the output resolution set to 1080p. Which is incredibly daft given that the unit will happily output, say, a Blu-ray DVD picture at 1080p with no problem. It's only the on-screen set-up menu that won't work. Once you do get it working it's a pretty fiddly and un-intuitive menu system. Changing the names on some of the inputs - e.g. to XBox - works in the menu but doesn't appear to change what is actually displayed on the unit itself when you try and use it. So, overall, excellent sound quality let down by a poor set-up experience and unhelpful manual.

As someone who loves music and having owned audiolab amps in the past, I am not easily impressed by mainstream amps in general. However, after reading several very positive reviews in What Hi Fi and on Amazon, I decided to change my AV Amp for this Sony.

Setting up was a doddle, though I have since done this manually with better effect. With a 3 year old, the first dvd we played was The Magic Roundabout...we know this one inside out...the difference between the Sony and the previous Denon was staggering! Sound effects hurtled around the room, leaving little man engrossed in the whole film for the first time since we bought the dvd, but asking also, "What was that?" as he turned his head to follow the sounds.

In 2 channel, radio and cd capture much (if not all) of the precision of my old Audiolab 8000A, though with a boat-load more emotion/passion - as a family, we are currnetly giving some of our neglected cds a second-hearing...it really is that good!

If you want to spend this much on an amp and want it to convey the power of dvd and the emotion of music...it's dead simple...BUY IT. Service and price from AMazon is, as usual, first rate.Sony STR-DA2400ESB 7.1 Channel AV Receiver in Black

I bought this as part of a programme to upgrade to Hi Def from my old system consisting of an early Panasonic standard def plasma panel and a Yamaha AV Receiver with Yamaha surround speakers. I'm not an audiophile, but I do enjoy surround sound with my movies. My old AV receiver only supported Dolby Digital, not DTS or any of the HD audio formats so I wanted something that would support these and provide upscaling for some of my non Hi Def sources. At this price point this model looked like it had everything I wanted.
The receiver went in very easily. I kept my old speakers, thanks to the 4 ohm / 8 ohm setting option on the receiver, but they now sound ten times better than with my old Yamaha (796 RDS I think was the model number). Much more depth and clarity. The 'night mode', which emhphasises dialogue and dials down explosions is very effective and useful when our daughter is asleep upstairs.
I've run all my sources through the receiver, running only a single HDMI cable up to the TV which has decluttered it nicely. There's a really good range of inputs on the back so I've managed to connect a Sky HD box (HDMI), Media PC (Component + Optical Audio), Blu Ray Player (HDMI), Wii (Composite) and XBox 360 (HDMI). Switching between these inputs is straightforward and the remote commander supplied with the receiver controls my Blu-ray player (Sony) and my TV (Samsung) so I only have to resort to a second remote when viewing Media Centre content and for the Sky+ box. The remote commander works very well and a real plus if you have other Sony kit. Another nice touch is the 'HDMI Control' setting that means that when I turn off the TV, it automatically shuts off the AV Receiver.
I don't feel I can comment much on the upscaling, because I never tried running any sources directly into the TV. A minor niggle here is the fact that only sources coming in on non-HDMI conections get upscaled apparently; anything coming in on HDMI gets passed straight through. The standard def from my Sky+ player is noticeably poorer than the hi-def but I don't know if it would be improved by upscaling in the amp.
Another nice touch is that the sound through the speakers autmatically cuts out when you plug in headphones. A small thing, but an irriatation on my old yamaha (on which I had to turn off the speakers manually) and just one more thing that makes it feel easier to live with.
A minor niggle with the set-up, though I think it's the fault of the Blu Ray player, is that sometimes the decoding of audio takes palce in the player rather than the receiver. As I understand it, the two devices 'negotiate' to decide who is most capable. I prefer the sound when the AV receiver does the decoding (lus you get visual confirmation of the audio format that way) but there's no way of setting that to always happen. The AV receiver does, however, helpfully have a bright blue light on when it is decoding and if it isn't, turning it off then on again seems to switch roles for the two devices. As I say, I think it's more down to the Blu-Ray drive but something to look out for.
All in all a great bit of kit and I can't imagine that others at the same price point offer anything more.

I can't fault this receiver in any way.
I found it very easy to set up, very easy to use (and it looks great, too!!)
I bought the receiver with a set of Tannoy Arena Lite 5.1 Speakers, and I have to say I'm blown away by the lot.
If your considering investing in a receiver don't look past the Sony, I promise you won't be disappointed, and for that money you can't go wrong.
P.S. If your considering a good set of speakers, take a look at the Tannoy's, they're relatively pricey compared to other surround speakers, but, I've never experienced sound like it, just amazing!!!

I can't fault the sound and picture quality - when it's working! First of all, I could get no signal from my Apple TV box via HDMA - Sony support were no help at all but I found the solution online. Then I discovered the dreadful lip-sync problem caused by the difference in speed in processing video and audio. There is a built-in AV Sync facility but it is so badly implemented to make it virtually useless. You can't change the delay while watching/listening to program material. You have to do it by trial and error, blind. The major problem though was the fact that any signal from my DVD Recorder or Blu-Ray player made the screen go blank for 5-6 seconds every 10-15 minutes. Could be I just had a duff one but it has been returned for a refund.