Sony STR-DG820B

[admin_exported]

I brought a sony BDPS-350 Blu-ray player last week...replacing my trusty Denon DVD1940 Up-scaler.....wow...what a difference....1080i into my Hitachi 42PD8700U (which is over two years old) and it's like a revelation!

Now I want to up-grade my Amp...to take advantage of the HD sound tracks and based on What HiFi's early reports, I was just about to press the 'Pay now' button on a Sony STR-DG820B when I thought I had better check the reviews one last time. So I popped onto Amazon to check out the independant reviews. There were only two (not exactly a large survey base) but one reviewer gave 5 stars the other (link below) only one star.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2ZWXQKLL18NCU/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2ZWXQKLL18NCU

He refers to channel hum and buzzing (on all five channels) to which initially I just thought the guy must have mains supply issues but then goes on to say he checked this out in several shops all over London and found the same problem. He was so cheesed off with it he returned it to Amazon for a pricier model.

So my question is.... is this really the case and will the staff and Editor at What HiFi investigate this further (or give me a definitive answer) before I go and hand over my hard earned cash?

If it's an issue I will buy the slightly more expensive Yamaha instead.

I'm holding off purchase until I get an answer.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Well (unless you've more than two HDMI sources) l i'd buy the Yamaha anyway!

But back to the issue - we've heard some chatter about this with the Sonys, but no direct experience or deluge of reports. Plus we've had several of the receivers in, with no such problems.

As ever, with such a consumer electronics product that'll sell in its thousands, you might get the odd duff unit. But Amazon has an excellent returns policy if you should encounter any problems.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Clare. It does sound like there might be some substance to that rumour then (which in this day and age is in-excusable from a major OEM like Sony).

I had a bit more of a play with the audio set up of the Blu ray spinner last night and I think I'm going to stick with my old Amp for the time being. I actually have a pretty decent set up as it is....old yes....but it sounds great! I have a Marantz SR4300 AV amp running the centre B&W CC7 Speaker and rears (TDL RTL2's) and I then pre-out to my old Audiolab 8000A to run my front left and right channels through my trusty old TDL RTL3's. I also have an Acoustic Energy Sub....which with all that Transmission line technology elsewhere in the speakers is barely needed!!

I notice that the Sony doesn't have pre-outs which is not much good for me anyway, as I feed the audiolab with a CD73 to spin silver discs when not using it as a movie player (and sometimes even FM Radio too) and I don't think many (if any) AV amps are going to come close to the stereo I get out of the 8000A (unless re-mortgaging the house....which I don't think in the current climate is a good idea).

HD Audio is going to have to wait a while longer......it's the picture quality I was more concerned with in any case and that I'm happy to say it is absolutely cracking.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Kimbleman:
Thanks for that Clare. It does sound like there might be some substance to that rumour then (which in this day and age is in-excusable from a major OEM like Sony).

I had a bit more of a play with the audio set up of the Blu ray spinner last night and I think I'm going to stick with my old Amp for the time being. I actually have a pretty decent set up as it is....old yes....but it sounds great! I have a Marantz SR4300 AV amp running the centre B&W CC7 Speaker and rears (TDL RTL2's) and I then pre-out to my old Audiolab 8000A to run my front left and right channels through my trusty old TDL RTL3's. I also have an Acoustic Energy Sub....which with all that Transmission line technology elsewhere in the speakers is barely needed!!

I notice that the Sony doesn't have pre-outs which is not much good for me anyway, as I feed the audiolab with a CD73 to spin silver discs when not using it as a movie player (and sometimes even FM Radio too) and I don't think many (if any) AV amps are going to come close to the stereo I get out of the 8000A (unless re-mortgaging the house....which I don't think in the current climate is a good idea).

HD Audio is going to have to wait a while longer......it's the picture quality I was more concerned with in any case and that I'm happy to say it is absolutely cracking.

For about £50 more you could have got the S550 - you may still be able to swap. This has multi channel connectivity so you could connect your Marantz to it with three pairs or RCA cables and you would then have the BD player decoding the audio and sending it to your receiver to give you HD audio.

 

[d4v3pum4]

The Sony is a bottom end receiver and should be treated as such. I wouldn't consider it an upgrade, more a first time buyers solution. Marantz have some cracking receivers out there at the minute by all accounts but I would also look at the slightly more expensive offerings from Yamaha, Onkyo and Denon. All have amps at around the £400 price level, some of which are heavily discounted at the minute that will outperform the Sony in all departments.