Sony STRDH800.CEK Receiver with 1080 HD and 24p True Cinema
Posted by Notcot on Apr 10, 2010 in Home Cinema & Video |
Product Description
- 110-watts per channel
- 7 HD inputs
- 24p True Cinema
- Blu-ray Disc Audio Decoding
- 430mm x 157.5mm x 322mm
- AV Receiver
- Number of amp. channels7
- Watts Per Channel:100w
- Av Processor: Dolby: TrueHD, Digital EX, Pro-Logic/II/IIx
- Digital Inputs:4
It’s a real shame Amazon doesn’t have more information on this product because it might put people off buying it, anyways I’m using this with Harman Kardon HKTS-7BQ – 5.1 Cinema Speaker System in Black a Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Console (250GB Model) as my Blu-ray player displaying on a Panasonic TX-P50G10B 50-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p Plasma TV with Freesat – Installation Recommended, and all I can say is wow.
It recently got delivered and I hurried off with it and began the unpacking process in front of the TV, and the slot I had earmarked for it, it was all packaged very well and securely. I then came to connecting it up which was a breeze, as I’d used banana plugs I can’t really comment on how good the screw fixtures for the speaker wires are, but they looked fairly secure, but for me it was just a case of removing the black caps over the holes and matching polarities and speaker placements, popped in my HDMI cables and plugged the amp in.
At first I was quite daunted, but the well written manual holds your hand every step of the way, I just plugged in the auto-cal mic, put where I’d be sat, and then ran the automatic setup, it output a test tone from each speaker and adjusted their levels accordingly (personally I found this quite accurate and just needed a little adjusting), when all this was done I had a play with some of the other features renamed some inputs and then switched to the PS3 input.
I also really like the fact you can calibrate the settings for 3 different locations and save them, so you can flick through optimizations depending on your seating position, I use this feature a lot but I suppose it depends on each individual how useful you’ll find it.
Firstly I just put Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (3-Disc) with Bonus Digital Copy [Blu-ray] [2009] in the PS3 and let it play to see what would happen, the amp lights up Linear PCM, after exiting the film and messing around with some settings I had it bit-streaming DTS-HD to amp for it to do the decoding, (note you can only bit-stream on the new slim PS3’s it’s LPCM only on the older ones). As soon as the movie got rolling I was quite literally taken aback with how good it sounded(I chose Transformers 2 because it has quite a lot of bass and wanted to test the sub out), in the action scenes I was picking up so much more than what I’d heard before, I could of actually sworn I was there.
I then decided to play Final Fantasy XIII on it, which has a fantastic soundtrack and just sounded even better than before through this system, I was amazed at just how much I’d been missing.
This was the first AV Receiver I’d bought after hearing about a friends system the much more expensive Sony STR-DA2400ESB 7.1 Channel AV Receiver in Black which I was also impressed with, however I settled on the DH800 because of a few reasons, I’m not after up scaling, alright it’s a nice feature to have but I couldn’t warrant the extra cash for it, this amp has been getting fantastic reviews from pretty much everyone, I found the price excellent value and it comes with 7.1 which is rare to find on other similarly priced receivers.
Personally I can’t tell the difference in sound between this model and the more expensive models, but I’m no trained musician/audiophile, and I’ve found it absolutely fantastic, in fact I am very very satisfied with it, if you’re thinking about getting this amp, you won’t regret it the myriad of functions and connectors will keep you occupied for ages, until you’re ready to upgrade to a bigger more powerful one later if needs be.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’m going four stars as well.
There’s no doubt that this item can give you excellent sound hooked up to the right speakers. It sounds great (I’m using a Q Acoustics Q-AV system). The remote is a nice thing too, better than the other Sony components I have. The two niggles I have is that it is quite (make that very) complicated to setup and operate. Which is partly because it is so highly featured I guess. The other (which is slightly more than a niggle) is that the only EQ fine-tuning control is a very rudimentary Bass-Treble, like you’d get on a cheap car stereo. Sure there’s the usual raft of Hall, Jazz Club reverb effects, which you’ll cycle through once then never select again, but if you want to dial out a slight harshness around 3kHz because of some vocal sybillance on a particular source (a lot of the Freeview stuff is a bit coarse, I find), you’re stuffed. Which I had assumed you could. Should have read the manual more thoroughly I suppose – but then that links back to the first point.
I’m not sure I’m getting the best out of this amp, but I have heard some very nice audio from it. Picture also seems very good, better than going straight into the TV (PS3), but I’m not so qualified to judge that (I used to be an audio engineer for Harman Kardon in a former life).
Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with it, just could be even better
Rating: 4 / 5
Received my Sony Amp just before Christmas.
Had very good reviews in Which Magazine and was quoted as the best Amp under £300.
Very easy to set up with auto calibration feature.
The only problem with it is True HD.
I have read many forums and it seems everyone is having trouble with there Amps and true HD through there HDMI leads.
Using the HDMI leads (Using PS3 & Sky HD) does not give you any form of 5.1 DD.
Using the optical lead, you can get 5.1 DD AND 5.1 DD EX.
Have the Harry Potter collection on True HD.
Have tried all settings on PS3 and still no joy.
Also have I-Pod, SKY HD & DVDR connected to system very nice sound; I have the JAMO speaker system connected to this.
This Amp is very easy to use and I am very pleased with it except for the HDMI problem.
Rating: 4 / 5
It Sounds Very Very Good.
Although i don’t use the video output the audio is extremely good. I Didn’t give it a 5 star because it doesn’t have 7.1 analog input.
CD Player through optical is extemely good and you can hear all the detail.
The FM cable “aerial” supplied is poor – but you can pick up much better ones if you want the FM tuner. Films Sound fantastic through Digital processing on optical input!
Surround upmixing is good although not needed for most audio. (The surround speakers in my system are not as good as the main (or even close) so i only use them for surround sourced inputs, Will have to upgrade to take into account this amp!)
Would recommend to some one creating their own First home cinema system and also those who would like good stereo from multisources in one system.
It has earned the 5 star “what hi-fi” award for good reason!
Rating: 4 / 5
Got very excited awaiting the delivery, but it got delayed with the snow that we had. Eventually chased it and spent a couple of hours setting up. Its a great piece of equipment…if only I knew how to use it! I am technically minded, the (well written) manual tries to make it all very simple, but there are a lot of buttons and cables to sort out! Thats the fun of it though as the ultimate sound quality of the product certainly exceeds expectations. I am still working through all the options, adding speakers bit by bit and trying to keep it simple for the family to use.
Not sure this is the most technical of reviews, but I would certainly recommend the Sony and am enjoying building the home cinema experience
Rating: 5 / 5