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75.126.130.58-
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Sony STR-DG910
This is a nice product. I made the decision to buy this receiver based on its HDMI switching capabilities. It also has integrated Dolby Digital and DTS features. I used the external microphone to setup the surround system and right away the systems was sounding great! You can even edit the input names to suit your preferences. I changed the SAT/TV display setting to cable for my easy reference.
Rating: 
-
Long time listener, first time caller....
This is my first time writing a review, but I thought it was important since these reviews were instrumental in my purchase decision.
First of all let me say that this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Here were my requirements:
1. BUDGET-minded
2. HDMI pass-through with at least 2 inputs
3. 7.1 channel surround sound capable
4. Future proof, for when I'm ready to upgrade
Here are the results:
Ringing in at only $399.99 (the lowest I could find for this product) it seemed about right for my budget. It has 3 HDMI inputs and plenty of other inputs (should I need them). Currently I have my PS3 (Blu-ray) and my Brighthouse HD cable box connected through HDMI, leaving room for one more device via HDMI later. The reciever is connected to my Sony 40" XBR2 LCD TV (purchased last year). The speakers I'm using are a set of Harmon/Kardon HKTS-18 5.1 home theater speakers (read my review on that later). I have chosen not to go 7.1 since the room I'm set up in is comparatively small (1bed luxury apartment).
I still haven't had a chance to put this system fully to the test, but so far I'm VERY satisfied. The only thing I can say needs improvement is ease of use. The menus aren't intuitive and requires reading the manual. I thought about getting a universal remote, but since the PS3 works on Bluetooth instead of RF, I'm still going to need more than one remote. Fortunately the receiver remote works for my TV and cable box (not all functions though).
As far as delivery, I'm trying out Amazon Prime. I ordered the reciever on a Friday and it was here by Monday (since most carriers don't deliver on Sundays).
And to take it one step further, I originally bought this at the price of $424.99, but a couple days later it went down $25 to $399.99. I called up Amazon and they refunded me the difference. They guarantee the price for 30 days so you won't feel cheated if there's a sale the day after you buy something. Way to go! Thanks Amazon!
Rating: 
-
Garbage with no support
I originally had a DG800, which only had HDMI passthru. When I purchased a Blu-Ray player, I decided to upgrade to take advantage of fewer cables. I purchased a DG810, which had upgraded HDMI capability, but alas no audio and the video was a disaster. Called Sony tech support, assuming I had done something wrong. First they said it wouldn't handle my TV, as it had DVI connecter. However, when I pointed out that it worked on 800 and supported per their manuals, they agreed it wasn't the problem with the video Still no audio. Next they insisted it was my cable, that I couldn't use the $80 Monster, but I had to go all the way to the $120 cable. OK, what the heck. Still no audio. Now they pass me to 2nd level support and I go through pretty much the whole sequence again. Solution is send it in and they will fix it, might take a few weeks. That's a non-starter as I just purchased it. So, back to the store I go to do an exchange. Circuit City tells me they are out of 810's and they are being discontinued by Sony. OK, option is to pay another $80 and get the 910. Back home and hook it up. Picture is great. Still no audio. Now I'm really ticked off. Get on the web and find out from non-Sony posting that this is a common problem. One poor guy had to exchange his 4 times, before he got one that worked. Then HDMI audio quit after 6 weeks! This AV reciver provides good sound and works fine if don't use the HDMI inputs for sound and stay away from Sony support, they are either incompetent of dishonest.
Rating: -
A good receiver, but you should know...
UPDATED 10/23
OK.
First, I bought this receiver from CCity, not Amazon, because I was impatient and didn't want to wait for it to be shipped. Besides, I knew they'd use FedEx and leave it sitting out in a plain box ready for theft.
Anyway...I needed a receiver to replace my old receiver. The first reason was because I have a ton of electronic components that needed to be hooked up, of various connection qualities and needed to consolidate. For the record I have:
- HD-DVR (supports HDMI but was using Component and optical)
- 360 (supports Component, but was using VGA and optical)
- PS3 (using HDMI)
- Wii (using Component)
You can imagine how many cords were all over the place.
I did a lot of research and stumbled across this nice little expensive unit. The one thing that caught my eye about it was the fact that it not only transcoded HDMI, it also upconverted source signals to the highest resolution possible regardless of what that source cable was. That meant that I could have 5 devices plugged into the receiver and just one HDMI cable out to my TV and be fine in the knowledge that it's the maximum resolution it can be. AWESOME.
So now my setup looks like this:
- HD-DVR (using HDMI)
- PS3 (using HDMI)
- 360 (using Component/optical and upconverted through HDMI)
- Wii (using Component and upconverted through HDMI)
- Receiver outputs through HDMI and I use it to switch input signals, the TV only uses on and off.
Should I decide to invest in an Elite 360, I'll then have HDMI there, which is even less cabling. Then the only cable nightmare is the Wii, which I suppose I can't do anything about.
It's really nice because I really only use two remotes instead of 5 (no, I'm not kidding, I had 5 remotes going on).
However, it does have some flaws.
- The HDMI inputs are named the same as some of the Component/Composite inputs. Meaning I can't have the PS3 on HDMI Video 2 and the 360 on Component Video 2. I'm sure I could alternate the two, but I would much rather the HDMI inputs have their own dedicated selections.
- The receiver's remote is unwieldy and confusing. Way too many buttons, I mean you have to click three different buttons just to set subwoofer level.
- The HDMI upconversion doesn't always play nice with DirecTV's HR20 HD-DVR. If the HR20 is turned on before the receiver, the receiver won't output all colors to the TV, so it'll show up pink/green. The receiver has to be powered on first, then the HR20. the HR20 might just be picky, but I think it shouldn't matter in either case.
- I had some issues getting the 360 to play nice with the receiver. I actually had to turn the little switch on the component cables to the non-HD setting to get it to work. Which is weird, because it IS in HD.
- I would have liked some sort of attenuation setting, so I could drop the volume to bare minimum with a single button press (in the case of phone calls, visitors, etc).
All in all, yes I do recommend this receiver as a great value, but then again, a receiver is only as good as your setup/speakers/etc.
UPDATE: I finally experienced my first HDMI-related issue. The receiver keeps defaulting itself to PCM, not recognizing DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 or any digital audio sound. I have to power it off and back on to get it to process the sound input properly. Even if I leave the receiver on, it still does the same thing. Also, when I power it off and back on, instead of remembering what input it was on last, it goes back to "TV", which nothing is connected to. It's quite annoying, to be sure.
UPDATE 2: I figured out the PCM issue. For whatever reason, it requires Bitstream in order to acknowledge any digital signal. The 360 works fine. It's the PS3 and the DirecTV receiver that have the issue. Also, the automatic TV setting seems to have been a symptom of my TV (Samsung DLP...I wrote a review about it) and automatically doing something with the HDMI. As to the first problem, the deal with Bitstream is that Blu-ray apparently is optimal with Linear PCM...so I'd have to change it if I were watching a DVD vs. a Blu-ray. I don't know how to deal with that.
Rating: -
Great product... especially for the price
Pros:
- HDMI functionality
This receiver provides the most HDMI functionality at its price range than any other receiver. The HDMI pass-through, switching, and component upconversion allowed me to hook up my PS3, DVR, and Media center to my TV via one HDMI cable. Before I had my speakers, I was using the TV speakers and its good to know that this system will pass audio through HDMI as well so I needed minimal cables from all of my devices. I was originally looking at the Harmon Kardon 347, and the Denon AVR, but the sony was the only one which passed audio. The Denon does have a HDMI 1.3a port which supports deep color, but I do not have any blu-rays yet which support this feature. I am not sure where else you can use a deep color output since Fios does not support it as well for their HD programming.
Other Pros are the on screen setup and the easy automated setup. The sound quality is decent, but I could have used some more EQ options.
Cons -
- No network port
For this price I wasn't looking for a network port, but having one would have been nice.
- No USB port
This receiver does have the DMPort, but having a USB port would have been nice. For now, I just use the PS3.
All in all, this receiver provided exactly what I needed with a great picture, quality sound, and many extra features.
