My new Sony surround receiver

[seilerbird]

After ten years and 6 different surround receivers I finally scored the ultimate surround receiver (for me at least). I was living in a very small RV ten years ago and bought my first LED HD 32" TV. I went to Walmart and got a $199 surround system. It came with a DVD drive, amps and 6 speakers. I bought it to watch surround movies. I had it set up around my bed since the living room was not the right shape for surround sound. Then I got a larger RV and the surround sound went into the living room. This was in 2010. I then bought another Walmart surround system for $169. The reason for the upgrade was for the Blu ray player that was included. In February of 2015 I upgraded to a real surround receiver, a Yamaha RX-A740BL for $450. But that one didn't last long, it did not have any way to adjust the volume on the individual channels and the surround mix sounded bad. In July of 2015 I bought a reconditioned Sony STR-DN840 for $229. It was defective so I exchanged it for another one of the same in August of 2015. I did not like that one either and I don't remember why. When the Beatles released 1+ in surround in November of 2015 I knew I had to upgrade the whole system so I upgraded to a used Onkyo TX-NR545 for $299. At this point I joined QQ. I was fairly happy with this one and used it for the last two years.

But recently it stopped working properly. It would not play back the TV. First I called LG about the TV and they blamed the receiver. So I called Onkyo and they blamed the TV. Both blamed the cables. I replaced the cables and it still didn't work. So my guess was the receiver since it was much older and easier to replace. If the receiver would not have been the problem then I could return the receiver and jump down LGs throat. Fortunately it was the receiver. I bought a Sony 7.2 STRDH770 for $298. (I was researching this post and noticed it is $198 today.) I have never liked the automatic speaker calibration of any of the receivers I have bought so when it came time in the set up for the calibration I almost didn't do it. Fortunately I did and I was completely blown away. It sounds perfect. I looked at the settings it came up with and all the distances to the speakers is dead on correct. The speaker size is also correct as is the sound. This is the best sounding system I have had so far. I love everything about it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BV7SO8U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But now here is the interesting part. I bought my LG OLED55C6P in February and I have had one niggling problem. The ARC is suppose to turn on the receiver when the TV is turned on. It does that but it also turns on the 4k Blu ray at the same time. Which meant I had to turn off the player and change to the input I really wanted. Doesn't sound like much of a problem but it was very annoying. I have called LG about this problem like three times and every time they were always blaming the cables, the receiver and me. Never solving the problem. Well I changed the cables and I changed the receiver and the problem remained so I called LG Tuesday and after talking to the lady for five minutes I asked to talk to a supervisor. She came on the line and she was the first person I talked to that actually understood the problem. She arranged for a service technician to stop by today.

So this morning I was curious about the Simplink settings. There are two. One to turn Simplink off and on and one for Auto Power. I turned off the off/on button and restarted the system. Worked perfect. So I went back to the Simplink settings and the off/on button had been turned back on. So I restarted the system a few times and it works perfect. Of course every time I called that was the first thing they checked was to make sure the Simplink was turned on. Weird. Solve a problem by doing exactly the wrong thing. So I called them back and cancelled the appointment.

I have to admit I am a picky bastard when it comes to sound and I am amazed that I love this receiver so much. I can't turn the volume up higher than 3/4th of the way. At that point the sound is extremely loud but it is distortion free. The bass just pounds my chest. So now I have the perfect TV and the perfect surround system.

 

[timothyemerson]

seilerbird, great post! Glad to hear the Sony is working out for you too and that you've got it all the way you like it.

My receiver is a Yamaha but I've always wondered what a Sony would be like so I might check one out in the event of 4K upgrade.

I've found most of the many Sony products I've owned over the years to be very reliable (like a Toyota) and give the best bang for buck. I've never had a problem with any of their TVs, their stereos have all sounded way better than others at similar prices and I've only had a couple of buggy products (DVD/SACD player that would sometimes switch itself from 5.1 to stereo).

I find the automatic syncing of hardware that you described to be annoying but it's good you found the solution. My first BDP did this. When you switched it on, it would change the receiver to the BDP input because it thought I wanted to use the BDP right at that very second when actually, I wanted to finish listening to the CD I was listening to first, but have the BDP ready to spin, thank you very much. Hate it when some engineer on the other side of the planet has been told to make decisions for me. That's one of the reasons why my cars are manuals; no one's telling me when to change gear! If I wanna wind it up in third, I'm gonna (I don't, but I like to have the option). Anyway...

I'd like to do the RV thing someday (is it a manual?!). Space for cars/spare parts and spreading out my speakers wide keeps me in a house though. First world problems...

 

[seilerbird]

seilerbird, great post! Glad to hear the Sony is working out for you too and that you've got it all the way you like it.

My receiver is a Yamaha but I've always wondered what a Sony would be like so I might check one out in the event of 4K upgrade.

Thank you Timothy. I learned a long time ago not to get married to any one particular brand. Being a fanboy means you will miss a lot of great products. When I am in the market for anything I look at every single thing available, read all the user reviews and make up my mind as to what will work best for me, not what will impress some unknown fanboy.

I've found most of the many Sony products I've owned over the years to be very reliable (like a Toyota) and give the best bang for buck. I've never had a problem with any of their TVs, their stereos have all sounded way better than others at similar prices and I've only had a couple of buggy products (DVD/SACD player that would sometimes switch itself from 5.1 to stereo).

I have had very good luck with Sony in the past, especially their DSLRs. Even though I didn't like two Sony receivers in the past that did not deter me from trying again. That is what I love about shopping with Amazon. If I don't like it then it goes back, no problem.

I'd like to do the RV thing someday (is it a manual?!). Space for cars/spare parts and spreading out my speakers wide keeps me in a house though. First world problems...

I have been living in an RV full time for 15 years now and I really love the life style. I have been to all 48 states before settling down in Florida. I just got a new to me fifth wheel RV that is 33 feet and has three slide outs. I have a ton of room in my living room now and it makes for a perfect media room. It is not a manual, in fact it has no engine, just a trailer called a fifth wheel. I don't even have any way of moving it, I am parked permanently.

 

[seilerbird]

Well this is bizarre. I put the Onkyo back in the box and took it to a pawn shop. They plugged in an HDMI cable from a TV into the output and plugged a DVD player into all the inputs and a speaker into one of the speaker outputs. Worked perfectly. I got $175 for it which is $125 less than I paid for it. So I am thrilled to death.

 

[leevitalone1]

Well this is bizarre. I put the Onkyo back in the box and took it to a pawn shop. They plugged in an HDMI cable from a TV into the output and plugged a DVD player into all the inputs and a speaker into one of the speaker outputs. Worked perfectly. I got $175 for it which is $125 less than I paid for it. So I am thrilled to death.

Those Onkyo HDMI issues are an easy fix. It is just faulty resistors on the board. Lots of guys do the fix, but a shop won't unless authorized by Onkyo, so my buddy and me pulled the board, bought the new resisters and took it to the shop who had no idea who the board came from, and did it for $20.00!

anyway my son bought me a brand new Integra AVR , new-old stock. Box was never opened, and although no HDMI has 5.1 analog and 100 watts x 5! retailed new at $900.00 he got it for $100.00. It's beautiful!! In my Bedroom.

 

[leevitalone1]

Well this is bizarre. I put the Onkyo back in the box and took it to a pawn shop. They plugged in an HDMI cable from a TV into the output and plugged a DVD player into all the inputs and a speaker into one of the speaker outputs. Worked perfectly. I got $175 for it which is $125 less than I paid for it. So I am thrilled to death.

Good price!! I was broke and took my BD player (reluctantly) to the pawn shop, and providence didn't want me to sell it, as it refused to operate, it's a good high quality Sony, older but good model, 5 trys all it did was make a whrr sound and eject the disc. Took it home, and was pissed off, tried it out and it has not failed me yet! Every disc I load works just fine!!! BTW later that day came into cash,

 

[mandrix]

Those Onkyo HDMI issues are an easy fix. It is just faulty resistors on the board. Lots of guys do the fix, but a shop won't unless authorized by Onkyo, so my buddy and me pulled the board, bought the new resisters and took it to the shop who had no idea who the board came from, and did it for $20.00!

anyway my son bought me a brand new Integra AVR , new-old stock. Box was never opened, and although no HDMI has 5.1 analog and 100 watts x 5! retailed new at $900.00 he got it for $100.00. It's beautiful!! In my Bedroom.

Sure it wasn't some capacitors that were replaced on the Onkyo?
The fix I saw (haven't tried it-although I've had some slow hdmi startup issues and the hdmi board was fixed under warranty once) involved replacing I think 6 capacitors. Looked like simple de-solder old ones and solder new ones in place.
Let me look for link........ah here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GgDEtSug2o

 

[leevitalone1]

Sure it wasn't some capacitors that were replaced on the Onkyo?
The fix I saw (haven't tried it-although I've had some slow hdmi startup issues and the hdmi board was fixed under warranty once) involved replacing I think 6 capacitors. Looked like simple de-solder old ones and solder new ones in place.
Let me look for link........ah here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GgDEtSug2o

yes, the guy who does my stuff did that for us, and he just hates the newer audio stuff.
I love going there he always has something (vintage) there for repair, some incredible audio stuff,
An older man, who knows his shit inside out, and he told me his repair experience on TV.s "the new one's are crap, and the LG are the worst of all. that the color drivers were terribly cheap." (I quote don't be pissed at me) BB says they are the best selling, and the repair guy the most business.

 

[ubertrout]

I've been vaguely considering replacing my Yamaha RX-A3000 with the Sony STR-DN1080. It's a bit of a downgrade but I'm about to add a second 4K device to my system, and that one doesn't have dual HDMI. The DSD handling capabilities of the Sony are appealing...