Receiver help (Sony DE985)

 

Anonymous
I'm a receiver novice, please pardon my ignorance about receivers, in general.

I just bought a Sony DE985 receiver, really sweet, IMHO. Love it. But I don't know jack about receivers, this is my first. I used to have a 5 speaker surround sound "boom box" type system. I kept the old speakers and hooked up all 5 to my new receiver. Everything seems to work fine, Tivo works, FM tuner, DVD player hooked up and works fine.... Only curious thing is, however, I have to have the receiver turned up to 30-40 to hear anything! Is this normal? My old system, 10 on the volume dial was loud. Now, I have to have the Sony receiver turned up to 30+ to hear my DVDs, Tivo, etc. normally. Is something wrong? The Sony receiver is 100w per channel, and I know my old system wasn't that strong. Can my old speakers be incompatible with my new receiver? I was thinking of buying a new Yalmaha 6 speaker set (using 5 now, don't have a subwoofer), buy I don't know if this will change anything.

Thanks for any advice you can offer. If this is simply too off-topic, could you perhaps direct me to some "receiver boards"? :)

Best,
James.
 

eCoustics
If your system sounds great with the Sony receiver volume at 30+, then I wouldn't worry about the high setting. You can't compare the volume numbers from one system to another. They really don't mean much. More efficient speakers will play louder at a lower volume.

You should also check:
1) The speaker wire is connected properly
2) The impedance (Ohms) setting on your receiver matches recommended impedance for your speakers
3) The surround processing mode is correct
 

Anonymous
You might want to get a subwoofer, and then I think you might hear a little diffent ( much better), and about turning up the volume, I had a sony receiver and I had the same thing with much better speaker, enjoy you system.
 

Anonymous
Thanks a ton, guys, much appreciated.

I don't know a thing about ohm ratings, but someone recommended I look into it. So I just checked my speakers, the front 2 and center channel are labeled as 8 ohm, but the rear two are 16 ohm. My receiver is labeled as an 8 ohm system if I recall correctly. Should I disconnect the rear speakers and buy new ones? Or can I still use them w/o worrying about messing them or the system up.

What about my subwoofer (salvaged from my computer)? Should I be concerned about its ohm rating as well?

Thanks again,
James.
 

Anonymous
I think your receiver was an overkill for your speaker system. I myself have the next level down Sony receiver and enjoy it with an infinity speaker system. You should avoid matching 16 ohm speakers with such a receiver. In general, the lower the impedance (ohm) rating the more power a speaker requires and vice versa. I suspect the back speakers may be from a computer "speaker set". I would also suggest getting a separate audio grade subwoofer instead of one built for a computer. It never ends, when you buy one good separate you end up upgrading. Enjoy the music!
 

Anonymous
Wow, great advice, all. Thanks a lot.

I ended up getting a 6 ohm Yalmaha set of speakers. So far, so good.

It seemed all was well in setting up my HT...until I tried to watch a DVD in DTS. Dolby 5.1 works great, but when I tried to watch "The Roayl Tenenbaums" in DTS, I heard nothing.

My DVD player has optical out, not coax. My receiver has coax DVD audio in, not optical. So, I sent the DVD optical out to the "CD/SCAD" optical input. It works great. I select DVD on the receiver to get the video, then I select CD/SCAD to get the optical audio. Works great with Dolby Digital 5.1, but again, I don't get DTS.

Any tips why?

My DVD player is a tad old (Panasonic, 3-4 yrs old). Is there a chance it can't send DTS to my receiver? Perhaps I have to use DVD coax in on my receiver and not the CD/SCAD? If so, is there a way to convert the optical coming out of DVD player to coax to fit my receiver?

Thanks yet once again,
James.
 

Mr. Underhill
I have the STR-DE885 and noticed the strange "COAX only for DVD" thing. Why they have optical inputs for MD, CD, and TV, but only coaxial for DVD, I'll never know. Crazy Japanese! I used an optical cable shortly through the CD/SACD without any problems. But I went back to using the digital coax out of my Sony DVP-NC655P. There is no converter to go from optical to coax as far as I know. You CAN change the "NAME" of the input channels on the receiver though. For example, I changed "VIDEO 1" to "VCR". As for DTS, are you sure you have your DVD player set to send the DTS signal over the optical digital output? And why would you want DTS in the first place? Dolby Digital is far superior.
 

Anonymous
Question about slightly older Sony Receiver.

I have a SONY reciever model # STR-D315. It has stopped operating(no visuals/sound), but I can hear some sort of noise when I try an turn it on. I have a feeling it is some sort of blown resistor/fuse(something simple), but given its age, it is not worth paying $200 to have it fixed. None the less, I would still like to use it. Does anyone know of any resources, SONY diagrams/parts that might assist me in diagnosing and fixing the problem myself?

Thanks for any help
 

I just received a de985 for Christmas to replace an older receiver. I happen to be blind, however, and my lady is a bit of a technophobe, so you can imagine some of the "discussions" we've had so far trying to set up some of the more arcane settings. If someone has this receiver andw ouldn't mind sending me an email, I have several questions I need to ask. The people at Sony are very polite and nice, but they seem to be good at asking for my phone number nad address, and for more than that they consult their littlelist of frequently asked questions. So if there's someone here who wouldn't mind walking me through a few settings I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks
 

I just got a Sony DE985 for my birthday, and I can't get my Tivo remote to control the receiver (On/Off - Volume). Does anyone know the setup codes for the Tivo Remote? I tried the ones the Tivo setup suggested, and also tried searching for a code manually with the remote, with no luck.

Thanks in advance!
Chris
 

Anonymous
Question for anyone that can help...I just got a new Sony receiver (dont have the model number with me, so just hoping someone might have had this problem before in general). I hooked up 2 front speakers, and then just stuck the FM antenna in to make sure I could get sound, and to my dismay, nothing comes out. There is also a Test Tone which the product should make, used to test connections, and that also gets me nothing. I believe the problem is that the "SP. OFF" light is on, on the receiver display. As far as I can tell from the instruction manual, this means headphones are inserted. I can guarantee that they are not. My only thought was to actually insert headphones and remove them, to see if this helped. Alas, the headphones I own are for walkmans, and are the wrong size. Any ideas? I have a query with Sony right now, but of course they are EXTREMELY sloooow in replying (I already bought their product...why would they care if it works or not??). Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
 

Bob Wooters
Dear Ano,
Make sure that no wire strands from your speaker wire are "bridging" the positive and negative speaker terminals. Then try unplugging the receiver for about 10 seconds. This will recycle the receiver's protection circuit if you have triggered it. Good luck.

Bob
 

steve smith
i have a strde-885 and sony 5 disc dvd/cd. and a 32" wega and a pair of bose 701 floorstanding speakers..i have all the stuff i just don't know which cable/wires to buy and what to run to what. i bought an s-video cable, thats it. please help.
 

Anonymous
NC655P CD sound problems
Hi I have a Sony NC655P DVD changer and I'm getting really poor sound quality when playing music CD's. Sound off of DVDs and eve MP3 CDs is great.

Any ideas? Does this sound like a problem that needs repair?
 

I just picked up a Sony DE985. Ive noticed that you can not only adjust the gain of each speaker, but you can also adjust the frequency of eachy speaker. What are you recommendations for frequency settings to acheive the best type of sound?
 

Anonymous
I have a SONY STR935 receiver and it flashes "Protector" shortly after power up and then I can't do anything with it. Is there any way to clear that? I tried resetting everything but that didn't work.
 

I am looking to complement my Hitachi HD Widescreen with a more than ample sound configuration...I currently have Bose 161 surround speakers and am looking into Bose 701's for the front pair and a Bose VCS center channel speaker. I am also looking at using an external amp (as my TV came with one internally). The model I am looking for is a Sony DTR-DE985...Now for my question: Is there any problem using my 5 speaker layout for this 6 channel amp? More specifically, is Virtual 6.1 the ability to sound like 6 speakers with only 5 or is it the ability to power 6 speakers with a 5.1 input??? Damn, my head hurts. :)
 

DOES ANYONE HAVE A USER MANUAL FOR THE SONY
STR-DE985 OR STR-DE885
 

Anonymous
Help!!!!

I bought a Sony HTIB with a STR-K740P receiver and it was open box, hence no user manual. For anyone who own a sony HTIB you know their menus make little sense. So, I want to use an optical cable (I already bought it) and now it works off of the analog cable in PROLOGIC (not bad but come on I paid for DTS and DD). I have a sony DVD player I already set it to bitstream also known as DD/PCM and tried to select the input but it only come with up with coax, anlog or auto detect. Oh I also set the the mode button to Auto DEC. (why sony thinks it should be called auto December I don't know) but it only plays out of the main and the sub.

Any way can someone tell me how to do this right or how to get a copy of the user manual (the website doen't have one). By the way the people who have been doing the Sony website for the last five years should be shot, it sucks.

Thanks,

waiting for digital
 

Hello,

Try searching ebay for manuals under the search term of "DA3ES" and see what you guys come up with.

Regards, John
 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39800&item=3020770329

Check this guy out for manuals.
 

Anonymous
Hey guys I have am using my friends sony STR-DE615 reciver and the Protector word is flashing any clue how to get it to go away He said He got the code a while back but dosen't remember it, He told me to check out the web and I should figure it out with some help. any help would be greatfully appricated.
 

Hello Anonymous,

Try re-setting the memory... consult your owners manual. Also, disconnect all your speakers and just hook up one speaker at a time. Turn on the amp and listen to the radio and another source. Shut down the receiver, then hook up the next speaker and repeat the last steps to try to isolate the problem. Check your speaker wire for shorts and proper polarity.

Hope that helps you, John =]
 

Hey Guys,

I have a very old Sony Reciever (Model STR-AV560). It has worked fine, occasionally switching to protector mode. I assumed this was from too high volume, although I seldom play it loud. Recently I was watching a video and it switched to protector, but this time it would not turn back on without being in protector mode. I disconnected it from the speakers and all other inputs and it still does this. I also left the unit unplugged overnight, hopefully erasing any memory and the problem still occurs. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

Aaron,

Sounds like a job for SONY Service, or your local repair shop.

Regards, John
 

I have an older VSX-49 Pioneer Elite Receiver, for an older model it has some really nice features. The problem I'm having is its rated for 8 ohm to 16 ohm speakers 100Watts per channel, but most easily available home speakers are rated 4 ohm to 8 ohm, can I use these speakers, if not what are my alternatives to finish out my surround sound system?
 

Hello, I have an sony str-k740p. I've had it for a while and never could understand why it would never light up DD running from my xbox. I now figured that out. How and what kinda cable to I use to run that? Because the input is one I've never seen before. If anyone has any suggestions, please!
 

Hello Corwin,

A: Just use 8ohm speakers and try to stick with the same brand or model of
speakers you are using for the center and fronts for tonal/timbre compatibility. Any speaker that "says" rated @ 4ohm or 6ohm, will draw too
much current and might activate the protection circuit.

Regards, John
 

The following address is a great source of Sony receiver owner's manuals. They even have some, like the STR-AV560, that are almost 20 years old.

http://129.33.22.12/release/STRDE895.pdf

When the manual comes up in Acrobat reader, just change the model number part of the address in the address window to look at the equipment you want.
 

Ken
I just resolved a "Protector" issue on a STR-DE945 amp, turns out one of my rear speakers has a short in it, i simply disconnected it, and the protector stopped coming up, what threw me was that only at increased volume levels did the protector show up... so time to replace the infinitys, since checking the monster cable yielded no problems.
 

Usually PROTECTOR occurrs when the speaker wires are shorted together. Make sure that they are not too close where you hook them up in the back. If they are okay, you may have an internal short. I am on my second amp, as the first Sony I had did the PROTECTOR thing (my wires were touching) and the next time they touched, the PROTECT did not work and my amp fried itself...
 

REALLY need a owners manual for a sony STR- K740P. ANY help would be great. I have searched sony.com and e-bay with no luck.
 

Anonymous
I need an owner manual for my Sony AV Receiver, Model STR-AV500. It would be good to have it in PDF format, but hard copy would be good, too. Does anyone know where I could get one? Thanks.
 

mike
Sony STR-K740P owners manual can be found at amazon.com as a PDF at the following link:

http://images.amazon.com/media/i3d/01/MANUAL000001406.pdf

Good luck!!!!
 

RE Sony STR AV-560 - The manual is there, but not at the link provided, it's here:

http://129.33.22.12/release/STRav560.pdf

Helped me set up my SONY to control my stuff, got it off Ebay, and it still works GREAT despite the age.
 

Here's the STRAV500 Link:

http://129.33.22.12/release/STRav500.pdf

It's in PDF Format
 

does sony make a reciever that supports a 4ohm load????
 

i have a sony str-de575 receiver with polk audio rm6000 satellite speakers (5 plus a sub-woofer). whenever i turn the volume above roughly 30, i get a "protect" message on the receiver. 30, on my system, is not that loud. any clues to solve this?
 

Anonymous
Did anybody find out how to solve the PROTECTOR problem?
 

Anonymous
i have a problem i have a sony str-de625 receiver all has been going fine. i've been playing mp3's from my comp through my tape inlet. all of a sudden all the music stops and the screen on the receiver is flashing "PROTECTOR" AND THATS IT... and i cant find anything in the users manual, can anyone help???
 

PROTECTOR

I have a STR-DE885 and after 4 months of use get "protector" each time I turn it on. It sometimes happens immediately, and other times after 20-60 minutes of use. I get it regardless of how many speakers are hooked up 0-5 w/sub. I even picked up some monster wire to rule out a short, and tried the same setup with my monster power Pioneer VSX-D1S reciever and had no problems. (NOTE dgital movies sound better on the new sony, music sounds better on my 12 year old pioneer) The speakers are JBL units thay had displayed with the reciever. I tried my Bose 701s and had the same problem. Sony has not repsonded to my inquire, and the store would not take it back for it was after 90 days.
 

I'm having a similar PROTECTOR problem. I have an 895 and my PROTECTOR case only happens with the DVD. Watching a show via my DirectTV works flawlessly, even at high volume. Watching a DVD like Sex in the City works, too. However, watching a DVD like the Matrix2 goes into PROTECTOR mode the second something blows up.

I've checked the wires and even purchased a new set.

I've checked the polarity on all of the speakers.

Any clue? Arg ...
 

MSEE guy
My guess is that the PROTECTOR problem is a design flaw in the Sony 8xx units - sounds like the circuit is unstable/too sensitive. Judging by the number of refurbished units on the market, this seems like a likely scenario. Probably the easiest thing to do if it is still under warranty is to send the unit back to Sony (make it their problem to fix) - you could also try asking for another unit/model (tell them you heard it was a design flaw). FWIW, I haven't seen this problem with the 9xx models. Good luck.

P.S. Most integrated/discrete amps now days don't like driving loads under 8 ohms... and Monster wire is not worth it, scientifically speaking.
 

Anonymous
as for the protection mode....I have experienced it having to do with certain speakers. I had 4 ohm speakers plugged in and an audio source that doesnt stress the system is fine, but a heavy audio track on a dvd or dvd-a or SACD has too much current and makes the system go wonky. Just use an 8 ohm speaker set and you will be fine.
 

I purchaesd a sony STR-k740p digital reciever but still not able to maximize it's fullest potential with ma surround and sub-woofer and would kindly request somebody able to offer me the manual or refer me to where i can get one to do so. thanx
Jeff
 

Larry Carroll
My sony receiver strd1015 has the protector problem, I check all the fuse and disconnect from all my speaker, and when I turn on it, 3 second later, the protector flashes again, can someone help, please.
 

Colin
i also have the protector thing regardless of what is hooked up to it.....kinda bummin me out it's been sitting on a shelf for a couple years hehe would be nice to fix it i have tried everything of can think of with my limited expertise.....I tried all of the above....


TO WHOEVER WANTED THE STR MANUAL:

that is pretty much a waste of time bud it's worthless very little info and most of it seems to be translated from japenese.....

good luck to all you "protected" people I feel for ya hope someone figures it out
 

Unregistered guest
I am trying to fix my old receiver. It displays a "protect" message when i turn it on. What does that mean and how can I fix it. Any help, thank in advance. (older model receiver: Sony de325)
 

Anonymous
 
I have the STR895 model, I had it hooked up once and it played radio stations fine PS2 fine, and the DVD, but would not play for regular DirectTV. I have recently moved and hooked the system up, I only here the front three speakers, and now I can here the DIRECTTV but only on one channel. I have checked the speaker connections the wire and nothing. Also, I can not seem to find the remote to test the speaker connection. WHAT DO I DO.
 

LocutisofBorg
Unregistered guest
All sony docs can be found at:

http://www.iq.sony.com/srvs/sosdocs/default.asp

Don't pay for them
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