Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)In a rush, I bought this reciever because my previous reciever had blown its capability to drive 5.1 speakers. Much to my dismay, I realized after the product had been purchased, that the online reviews of it were quite dismal.
Normally, I do not take the time to write a review for a product, but I believe this reciever deserves someone to stand up on its behalf. It seems as though, one disgruntled customer, was so fed up with this reciever that s/he wrote the same review and posted it on nearly every review site out there.
I am going to do my best to address some of the issues that I remember reading about and some of the features that I have disco vered that are not necessarily highlighted.
First off, to address the reviewer who says "you need to turn the reciever to volume range 30-40 to hear any sound", of course you do. Obviously you dont understand the concept of logrithmic sound, also, I'm sure you did this in the middle of the day. I am listening to the receiver right now at volume 25 and I am quite frankly considering turning it down because I may be bothering my roomates.
Next, admittedly, the manual is difficult to understand and in all likelihood you will need to consult it if you want to do something more complicated than changing the volume. But all of the information is there. I'm not sure if it was this site, but on another site I read that someone could not get the subwoofer preout to work in stereo mode, well, on page 59 of the manual "NOTE -No sound is output from the subwoofer in the 2CH STEREO mode. To listen to 2 channel stero sources using the front left/right speakers and a sub woofer, seledt "A.F.D. AUTO"(page 55)". If you're having trouble, just read the manual, this is a sophisticated piece of equipment and unless you helped design it, I severly doubt you can conquer it without using the manual.
As another reviewer mentioned, the speaker wire binding posts are cheap, I doubt they will break, but I will be considering banana plugs.
First universal remote code I tried for my phillips tv worked, granted, I'm definitely not getting rid of my tv remote(love the sleep button too much). Only power, channel, and volume buttons work, although there is another code to try so I might not be out of luck.
Oh, I've got cheap 16 gauge flimsy walmart cable driving my front speakers. The sound is actually very very good, much better than my kenwood reciever, and I can't wait to try out 7.1.
In terms of the auto calibration feature, well havent tried that one, the manual makes it seem like it is going to be a pain, but with that said, you can always just measure the distances and program it manually. This is probably what I will do.
I like the fact that you can name your preset radio stations and you can also give friendly names to the input modes. For example, I renamed AUX to COMPUTER, although it will only accept 8 characters.
Lots and lots of optical inputs, wish I had more things to plug into it.
A/B speaker switch, with the ability to operate both independently or simultaneously.
XM, well, I doubt they can screw that up, according to the manual it will display song and artist info for you. I have not tested this however.
Remote sensitivity is just fine, if anything, its the crappy, "Sony", and I say that loosely, brand batteries they supply, if I point the remote away from the receiver towards a small(8X11) picture on the opposite wall, the receiver responds like I was pointing the remote directly at it.
"Okay for an apartment"? I dont mean to step on anyones toes, but the sony subwoofer and large speakers I have connected to this amp are more than capable of getting me several sound violations.
That said, the reciever gets very loud, I tried turning it up to see where that little volume scale ends, but alas, I was too chicken and stopped when the lights started dimming(Perhaps this is indicative of poor building wiring, oh well).
I dont use the video features, but with the option of assignable component inputs, I may take advantage of this in the future.
Final recommendation -- A sophisticated receiver at an affordable price, if you are the type of person that likes lots of options and freedom, then this is the receiver for you (even though this inevitably leads to a poorly organized manual), but if you want your reciever to do what you want when you want with little effort, then look elsewhere.
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Sony STR-DG600 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver with XM Connect-and-Play
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