I am very happy with this receiver and had no problems with set up. My system is fairly simple but it replaced a Pioneer receiver with no HDMI inputs, so it is nice to be up with the times. I went ahead and upgraded to a Sony BX37 Blue Ray player as well. I went from cord all over the place to 3 HDMI cords: (FIOS to TIVO), TIVO to receiver, Receiver to TV, Blue Ray player to receiver. I had a box of old optical, analog and component video connectors left! I especially like the fact that the TV still gets picture and sound even with the receiver in Standby, and that the receiver and blu ray player can be operated from the same remote. Many options for surround sound etc. so I am just scratching the surface. Very nice value for the money:) Sony STRDH520 7.1 Channel 3D AV Receiver (Black)
I was originally looking at Pioneer and Denon before this Sony caught my eye. For the price and the features, this thing seemed like almost too good to be true. Fortunately, it's a solid product. It may lack some of the higher end bells and whistles (S-AIR, AirPlay, etc) but for a solid 7.1 system for a living room, it's awesome. It drives a set of Sony 7.1 speakers very well and offers very clear, dynamic sound. This may not be the best choice if you have a huge living room, but I barely tap its power before it gets more than loud enough for my condo. All in all, it's an excellent product for an excellent price here on Amazon.
What can I say, it's a Sony receiver. I replaced a ten year old Pioneer unit with this, and I am so pleased. My rats nest of wires has disappeared now that I only need one HDMI cable running up to my TV. The sound is good through my Bose speakers, and the setup was a snap. I saw that there were a lot of adjustments I could make to the sound setup, but the default sounded great to me and I haven't adjusted it. One thing I like is that it seemed to detect how many speakers I had plugged in and configured itself to work with them. Very nice.
It's a Sony, so it will last for years, and the HDMI and 3D capability make sure it won't become obsolete for a good while.
I have had this receiver in place for about one month in extensive use with my home theater system and Panasonic 50 inch plasma. I am very pleased with the features and performance of this unit. It has ample connection options and all the power I could want for my application. The ability to fine tune output to match our speakers and the listening area is a definite plus which significantly contributes to our home theater experience. The unit has far exceeded my expectations and I believe it was a good value for the money spent.
The manual shows that you can assign analog composite or component video signals to an input channel. It does not say that there isn't a converter inside to put those signals onto the HDMI output (check page 52 of the manual). You will need to buy a $40 external converter to make HDMI to input to the receiver. This is a major failure that's undocumented. Getting my inputs into a single HDMI for my TV was the reason for my purchasing this receiver.
The receiver functions fine otherwise. The main speaker output terminals use a strange connector that I dislike, but may be more common in today's audio products.
Just installed the Unit. Installation was pretty straightforward. I am pretty impressed with the performance so far, this is coming from a person who has used Pioneer VSX 1020K for more than an year. I have hooked this up to Polk Audio 5.1 speaker system and the sound quality is very good.
I will include detailed comments after a month of use, but in the meanwhile I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a decent receiver
Worth twice what I paid for it. It can do anything you ask it to and do it well. I got it to one half volume before my wife made me stop. Power is super. Clean, clear signal and a joy to listen to.'
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