Sony STR-DA4ES  One Man's Opinion

[giveemenoughrope]

<font color='#000000'>Hey Folks, &nbsp;I am not a card carrying &quot;audiophile&quot;, I suspect. I have never ventured into the world of separates or speakers costing over $1,000 per pair, nor SACD. I do, however, care enough about sound quality to gather as many of the live recordings I collect as possible on DAT. Having said that, I love things like bass feedback circuits and loudness switches. I also am enamored of Sony ES products, so bearing these things in mind, here goes: I purchased the DA4ES about a month ago, and would offer the following: This is one absolutely fantastic piece of technology. If you compare the features and $625 cost to any other brand, I just don't see how you can find any even remotely close competition. It is easy on the eye, and weighs a whopping 46 pounds. The Sony ES line comes with a full five year parts and labor warranty. It sports analog bass mangement, 2 sets of multi-channel analog inputs, assignable optical and digital ins/outs, RS 232 upgrade port, a macro-compatible LCD remote, every Dolby decoding scheme under the sun, etc... &nbsp;The main thing I would like to stress is the number of adjustments you can make. Not only is each speaker adjustable, but you can also EQ &nbsp;any of the factory designed &quot;soundfields&quot;. There is a &quot;Night Mode&quot; feature, you can adjust the percentage of soundfield effect from 0 to 150%, on and on I could go. If ANYONE is consdiering a new A/V Receiver in the $625 range, I emplore you to look at this baby. Thanks for the rant bandwidth. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; giveemenoughrope</font>

 

[ctransj]

<font color='#000000'>Well, .
I have Sony 5ES and I so am happy with its flexibility &nbsp;and especially its BASS management. There is one &nbsp;feature that Sony doesnt support: Last video out if you switch from a video source to a non video source.(audio split doens't do as some body suggested me to look at).

However there are a few points I don't totally agree.
&nbsp;First, the price you mentioned is the internet price and I am not sure if Sony honor purchase over the internet. It would be fair to compare original MSRP.

&nbsp;Second, it would be nice to have a lot of control over the receiver but one of the main factors for many people to pick one from the crowd is the sound quality and sound quality and that usually the result of components used inside the box. In general, I would picture this : price = quality(sound, components) * features. &nbsp;This is not a formular I put here because my english is not good enough to explain. That's you normally see some of the receivers are ugly, simple but sound so good.

But yes, Sony ES is not a crapy receiver as many people said and as you said: 5 year warranty, upgradable(i just did mine).... Those things are hard to find from the other manufactures.</font>

 

[LongBinh6]

<font color='#000000'>Giveemenoughrope,

I had originally eliminated the DA4ES from consideration, but it is now back on my list due to frequency response problems.  I like the EQ settings flexibility and want to use them to try to flatten out the response peaks in the base range.

I still have one concern.  Several Sony ES receivers I purchased in the past had noisy rear channels, read &quot;audible hiss&quot; when at idle.  Lately I have seen other posts that also complain of hiss in some Sony ES receivers.

Here is my question:    Do you hear any hiss in the surround speakers, when the receiver is in one of the surround modes, with the volume off and when the room is completely quiet?  My previous Sony ES's had a low but just noticable and therefore annoying hiss when the room was completely quiet.

Thanks for any help.

LB6    

P.S. &nbsp;One more question: &nbsp;I have not been able to find a download of the DA4ES online but I did find one for the DA5ES and then like an idiot I lost it. &nbsp;They have the same EQ functions. &nbsp;I have a dip at about 125hz on my satellites (all five are identical speakers) and then a peak at about 40hz on my sub. &nbsp;Does the DA4ES allow for two frequency adjustments in the 150hz and below range or just one? &nbsp;Thanks again.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Hi,
I was very much into a new yamaha receiver 1300/2300 but then I got a good deal for 5ES ( $560) so I thougth to give it a try. I first hesitated because many people complained about it. I bought my yamaha by reading other opinion w/o audit it.
&nbsp;I was offer 4ES adn 5ES at the same price but I picked the 5ES base on Steve' review and my judgement over the new price of 4ES ( MSRP &lt; MSRP of 5ES retail on first release date) so i sacrified 1 channel for the quality inside.
Anyway, I am very much happy with the 5ES, quality, features and look. I didn't hear any hiss and hum at all but heard some noise &nbsp; &nbsp;when ranking the volume up but you have to be right at the speakers. No hiss or hum on the SR speakers. But the yamaha is totally quiet.

If your sats can handle above 150Hz then you should set your Xover &gt;150Hz so all the let your sub handle freq &lt; 150Hz
Sound like you have a booze system that can't handle (40Hz, 150H)</font>

 

[ctransj]

<font color='#000000'>I meant booze system, not booze(typo). Sorry.</font>

 

[ctransj]

<font color='#000000'>Look like I can't type &quot;B O S E&quot; here, keep changing to booze</font>

 

[Yamahaluver]

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

ctransj : <font color='#000000'>Look like I can't type &quot;B O S E&quot; here, keep changing to booze</font>

<font color='#000000'>Just for info, the corruption of booze products began after the takeover by Delco. As long as booze had it's founder the brilliant Amar G. booze at it's helm, it came out with dynamic revolutionary products like the 901 series speakers which were the only alternative to surround sound enviroment before the days of Dolby Pro Logic and DSP. Sadly Mr. booze's succesors had other plans on their mind namely mass market and greed. So they hype up their ordinary products with media and there you have it, a perfect formula on how to ruin a good thing.

Just my two cents as I used to have a Krell/booze 901-IV combo and they did sound decent for the money that I paid that time. Too bad the Yamaha NS 2000 speakers stole my heart and also revealed to me what the Krell amps were capable of.</font>

 

[LongBinh6]

<font color='#000000'>Absolutely, positively no booze here!

I have the Energy Take 5 system with an Energy 8&quot; powered sub.  In my old place the Energy's were flat within +/- 2db from 200hz down to 30hz (amazingly flat).

I recently moved and am going to purchase a new receiver.  In my new room I have a moderate dip, -5db in the 100hz-125hz range and a peak of about 9db in the 40hz range.  My present Denon 3200 has a fixed crossover at 80hz.  Different rooms and the placement in that room obviously affect the frequency response of any speaker system.  I moved them and eliminated most of the problem but I prefer the original placement.  I am very picky about flat response in the 200hz and below range.

Thus I am considering ways to flatten them out.  That is why I was looking at the Sony DA4ES until last night after I made the above post.  I found the owner's manual download for the DA5ES and answered my own question.  It has only one EQ in this range so would not solve my problem.  I will probably get the Denon AVR-3803 and try to eliminate the response problems with a mono graphic equalizer and the receiver's selectable sub crossover points.

I have found several  mono graphic equalizers that have 31 bands with frequency points of 1/3 octave that adjust at 20, 25, 31.5, 40, 50, 63, 80, 100, 125, 160hertz and up.  I don't know why I didn't think of this before.  There are several brands that cater to the DJ and musician crowd and also a home audio company (Audio Control) that makes a nice looking 31 band mono EQ.  These units run from $100 and up.  I think it would be a great product if someone would make a subwoofer mono graphic EQ with 1/3 octave sliders in the 20-200hz range.  It would sell like hotcakes.  I don't think most people realize how rough their frequency response is in this range!  There are several parametric equalizers but they are either too expensive or too complicated (require a computer to set up).

I hope this might help someone else trying to obtain flat response.  The Enegy's are outstanding for their size and price.  By far the best speakers I have ever owned as far as &quot;bang for the buck.&quot;

LB6    

P.S.  I meant Bowez, sorry Doctor!</font>

 

[cededone]

<font color='#000000'>You have my vote as well on the ES- 4 receiver. Many features, quality and warranty. My only concern is the remote. It could have been supplied with a higher qulaity one even if it meant more $$$. I haven't had the hiss problem mentioned in an earlier posting. Purchased this init 3 months ago online.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I have owned the 4ES since October 2002.  All is dead silent when idol.  When idol you can put your ear to any speaker and here absolutely nothing.  I do have everything running through a Monster HTS 5000 power center if that makes any difference.</font>

 

[adydula]

<font color='#000000'>Hello,

I have had the SONY 4ES for about 7 months now and its is a really great receiver, period. I would buy it all over again.

I am absolutely amazed at its capabilities and the price this can be bought.

MSRP?? You got to be kidding, no one pays retail. This unit can be bought for $600 +/-...and its been compared to units costing much more....and thats fair?? To be even considered against the 9000 model tells you something...

I have several high end systems and comparing them to the the capabailites (amp, pre etc..) the 4ES is a deal.

There are other great receivers out there, but this one is hard to beat...

I really like the expansion capablities..ie 2 multi channel outputs one 5.1 and one 7.1, and a pre-out for 7 chs....

If you want to do 6.1 or 7.1 its there, no more amps to buy or the associated cables....

No thunking down for the 96/24 to 48/24.

Best of luck, aint this a great hobby!
Alex</font>