Sony 2023 ES Receiver lineup

[Trebdp83]

Many will be happy to have a new HDMI 2.1 Sony receiver join their Sony TV, Sony Universal Disc Player or PS5 in their systems. Though, if prices are correct, I think the Sony models look a bit cheap compared to similarly priced receivers from others but do have a sleek and clean look. It would have been nice if there'd been at least one component video input port for some older players and a 7.1 EXT IN for older SACD/DVD-AUDIO players in the AZ7000. Sony seems to still not incorporate built in music streaming service apps and external devices will still be necessary to stream from services to their receivers. The AZ7000 does not have a full set of HDMI 2.1(8K@60Hz/4K2120Hz) ports and two of the six ports are 4K. If one chooses to use a second Center Channel Speaker, one must give up something else as the AZ7000 and AZ5000 are 13 and 11 channel amp receivers rather than 14 and 12. Sony hasn't put out full specs yet, but I'm intrigued.

 

[rsharp]

I wish companies would stop with the half-baked HDMI inputs. Make them have all the same capabilities.

 

[dlaloum]

Many will be happy to have a new HDMI 2.1 Sony receiver join their Sony TV, Sony Universal Disc Player or PS5 in their systems. Though, if prices are correct, I think the Sony models look a bit cheap compared to similarly priced receivers from others but do have a sleek and clean look. It would have been nice if there'd been at least one component video input port for some older players and a 7.1 EXT IN for older SACD/DVD-AUDIO players in the AZ7000. Sony seems to still not incorporate built in music streaming service apps and external devices will still be necessary to stream from services to their receivers. The AZ7000 does not have a full set of HDMI 2.1(8K@60Hz/4K2120Hz) ports and two of the six ports are 4K. If one chooses to use a second Center Channel Speaker, one must give up something else as the AZ7000 and AZ5000 are 13 and 11 channel amp receivers rather than 14 and 12. Sony hasn't put out full specs yet, but I'm intrigued.

If you think of it in Sony ES system terms, the Sony TV's have the streaming service apps loaded on them.... so a Sony TV with one of these AVR's will have the streaming capabilities....

It makes sense from a system perspective, just not so much from a component alone perspective.

My current (Integra) AVR, has a bunch of streaming services that I never use, as my main source is a HTPC with everything loaded on there.... so a bunch of wasted integration, licencing etc... - I also use a Sony TV, which has the same streaming apps all over again... and I never use those either!

 

[Trebdp83]

Many don’t use the apps in their receivers and use external devices of different kinds. I use mine daily as some of my receivers aren’t connected to external devices. It’s convenient to just grab a remote control or even use the front panel and stream music without dealing with another device when I don’t want to do it.

 

[EpsilonZer0]

I am happy that Sony has entered the ring after we (technically) lost Onkyo.

But I am not happy about the build quality of these units. The internal shots that I have seen look reminiscent of AVRs I had 20 years ago with the power supply tucked in the back corner. Was also surprised to see active cooling which means this boy's components get hot and they did not take the time or expense to use proper heat dissipation.

The parallel sub outputs makes the unit DOA for me because I use different levels for subs in front and back.
It seems very silly to me that Sony could not offer seperate sub channels on their flagship at least.

I will say tho that the units have that Sony sleek look with the covers on. If they fixed some issues and offered a 13.2 pre/pro with XLR in the $2500 range I might be down to give it a try

 

[highfigh]

Sony has contacted me directly and wants us to bench test their flagship. Matthew Poes will be heading this up for us and we will be doing videos together about the new Sony AVRs. They seem to have potential though I'm a little disappointed the dual sub outs are just a parallel connection. I do like that their receivers weigh 50lbs, means they have a real power supply.

I don't know if I would assume it's the power supply- in the '90s, they were using a dense non-resonant compound to add mass to their equipment as a way to prevent resonances and the effects they can have on performance. I know they used it in their Esprit line, but I think some ES models had it, too. They should have old info about their 'ancient' equipment and being ancient, myself, I remember this stuff. The anti-resonance material was similar to what was used for the base of the turntable in the second link.

Sony ESPRIT on thevintageknob.org

Sony ESPRIT series history

www.thevintageknob.org

Sony PS-X600 on thevintageknob.org

vintage Sony turntable with 3rd generation Biotracer tonearm - bestseller

www.thevintageknob.org

 

[Cos]

I saw this pop up on my youtube:

Whoa! NEW SONY RECEIVERS! Sony STR-7000ES • Sony Receiver Review - YouTube

I wasn't sure about this guy and his reviews, but I did like this video from him

10 Things I USED to BELIEVE about HiFi and Home Theater & what changed - YouTube

 

[Kleinst]

I am surprised that Sony has even bothered with producing more AVRs. This is not exactly a growth market. It can't be easy with electronics supply shortages. Maybe Sony has more of their own supply chain and isn't as affected as other manufacturers, so it isn't as expensive to make for them.

I'm excited. I have the Sony STRZA3100es and I really like how it sounds. Their DCAC room correction is very simple and surprisingly effective. I also have Denon's and Marantz. I like them all and would welcome a new Sony.

 

[cpp]

Sony has contacted me directly and wants us to bench test their flagship. Matthew Poes will be heading this up for us and we will be doing videos together about the new Sony AVRs. They seem to have potential though I'm a little disappointed the dual sub outs are just a parallel connection. I do like that their receivers weigh 50lbs, means they have a real power supply.

Looking forward to this Gene.

 

[PENG]

I saw this pop up on my youtube:

Whoa! NEW SONY RECEIVERS! Sony STR-7000ES • Sony Receiver Review - YouTube

I wasn't sure about this guy and his reviews, but I did like this video from him

10 Things I USED to BELIEVE about HiFi and Home Theater & what changed - YouTube

I have not seen the 10 things one yet but as far as his reviews on avrs, no thanks, its all so subjective, contradictory and in some cases border on spreading misconceptions that might have contributed to hearsay that are not true or half true in the best case scenario. In his recent one on the AVR-X3700H and AVR-X3800H (just one example), he said (iirc, not quoting exact words), the 3700 sounded, layback, warm??, almost like his narrative on Marantz's, and then on the 3800 he said the opposite, anyway, like I said, no thanks, no more of those.. I do admire his talent, a great speaker, evidence by his ability to be given the opportunity to review almost every single AVR I can think of, incredible!!

 

[Cos]

I have not seen the 10 things one yet but as far as his reviews on avrs, no thanks, its all so subjective, contradictory and in some cases border on spreading misconceptions that might have contributed to hearsay that are not true or half true in the best case scenario. In his recent one on the AVR-X3700H and AVR-X3800H (just one example), he said (iirc, not quoting exact words), the 3700 sounded, layback, warm??, almost like his narrative on Marantz's, and then on the 3800 he said the opposite, anyway, like I said, no thanks, no more of those.. I do admire his talent, a great speaker, evidence by his ability to be given the opportunity to review almost every single AVR I can think of, incredible!!

Not the most scientific guy, that is for sure, it's funny that his spouse always chimes in at the end, but is never on camera.

I take his reviews with a grain of salt, but the 10 things was good because he discredits high end cables and other Audiophile Myths. He does seem to get pretty much every piece of gear that comes in.

 

[PENG]

Not the most scientific guy, that is for sure, it's funny that his spouse always chimes in at the end, but is never on camera.

I take his reviews with a grain of salt, but the 10 things was good because he discredits high end cables and other Audiophile Myths. He does seem to get pretty much every piece of gear that comes in.

He could be even entertaining to watch, with his superb talking skill, lots of facial expression, bordering line on being too funny to watch.

For me, I don't want to spend too much hearing his or others subjective impression so no more of Mr. Robinson's for me. One guy I don't mind watching is:

Anthem AVM90 vs Anthem AVM70! Is the AVM90 WORTH IT? Demos, Measurements & Comparisons! - Bing video

When he gets to the highly subjective parts I would just fast forward, but other than that I thought his reviews are generally worth watching especially the sound clips that are useless to tell difference but are of high quality otherwise. He definitively is, imo, affected by the price of the units being compared though. If the price gap is small, any difference he "heard" would be small, subtle and he would be careful saying the other sound bad, just that the better seems a little clearer, detailed, wider sound stage...etc., and he would really emphasize "seems".

In the linked one, he heard much better sound from the AVM90, obviously, because the price gap between the 2 is huge, basically double the price of the 70.

Before (two of us there that day) we bought our AVM70 4K (the clearance/discontinued deal), we heard the AVM90 carefully and tried very hard to listen for something obviously better but there is no way for us to say there is a C$4,500 (base on comparing the 90 to the 70's 8K version) difference. To me, there is absolutely no audible difference based on sighted comparison that also rely on short term memory. There is not to say there is no audible difference in an instant AB test like the way that guy set up in his video but there is no way there will be the kind obvious difference he claimed he could hear.

But then anything is possible, he does have different ears and brains.

 

[Cos]

He could be even entertaining to watch, with his superb talking skill, lots of facial expression, bordering line on being too funny to watch.

For me, I don't want to spend too much hearing his or others subjective impression so no more of Mr. Robinson's for me. One guy I don't mind watching is:

Anthem AVM90 vs Anthem AVM70! Is the AVM90 WORTH IT? Demos, Measurements & Comparisons! - Bing video

When he gets to the highly subjective parts I would just fast forward, but other than that I thought his reviews are generally worth watching especially the sound clips that are useless to tell difference but are of high quality otherwise. He definitively is, imo, affected by the price of the units being compared though. If the price gap is small, any difference he "heard" would be small, subtle and he would be careful saying the other sound bad, just that the better seems a little clearer, detailed, wider sound stage...etc., and he would really emphasize "seems".

In the linked one, he heard much better sound from the AVM90, obviously, because the price gap between the 2 is huge, basically double the price of the 70.

Before (two of us there that day) we bought our AVM70 4K (the clearance/discontinued deal), we heard the AVM90 carefully and tried very hard to listen for something obviously better but there is no way for us to say there is a C$4,500 (base on comparing the 90 to the 70's 8K version) difference. To me, there is absolutely no audible difference based on sighted comparison that also rely on short term memory. There is not to say there is no audible difference in an instant AB test like the way that guy set up in his video but there is no way there will be the kind obvious difference he claimed he could hear.

But then anything is possible, he does have different ears and brains.

I think I sent you a link to this guy when you were looking at the AVM70. This guy gets new subs every other week and changes out his system almost on a monthly basis. He is entertaining. The chances of hearing a difference between the 70/90 with my Kanto TuF through youtube are not very good. I don't get audio comparisons on youtube, completely useless.

 

[Lakeshow2413]

Red

Not the most scientific guy, that is for sure, it's funny that his spouse always chimes in at the end, but is never on camera.

I take his reviews with a grain of salt, but the 10 things was good because he discredits high end cables and other Audiophile Myths. He does seem to get pretty much every piece of gear that comes in.

Andrew is an excellent reviewer.

 

[John22]

I'm really looking forward to hearing Matthew and Gene's take on the Sony ES line. I'm planning a medium-sized room 5 or 7.2.4 system and Andrew's review, while intriguing, really left me with more questions than answers.... Is Sony's room calibration really as good as Dirac (Andrew said he didn't miss Dirac in a comment response on his review)? Is the 3D spatial audio seriously miles ahead of the Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon and Marantz? How is the Bass Management? I share Gene's concern of the parallel sub outs, but I had the luxury of designing a relatively ideal room, and I can always run a MiniDSP with MSO if I'm not satisfied with the DSPs from 2 SVS subs. Also, while Denon and Marantz have four independent sub outs, they don't seem like they'll even get Dirac Bass Management (not even available on NAD), let alone Dirac Active Room Treatment. Lastly, I like that Sony works with Sonos (unlike Denon/Marantz) which I plan for an adjacent room. We seem to be in a long waiting game to truly get the ideal receiver: an affordable, integrated, Dirac Live/BM/ART-enabled, good Spatial Audio implementation, with 4 independent sub-outs. Sony seems to have the potential to happily tide me over for a few years.

 

[Trebdp83]

Not to beat a dead HDMI horse, but Sony’s new flagship AZ7000 has some surprisingly f#%ked features. Only four of the seven ports support HDMI 2.1 features. Ports five and six on the rear and the one on the front panel are all limited to 4K Standard even though they are HDCP 2.3 compliant ports. This means 4K @60Hz 4:2:0 max.

So, what does it matter? Well, it doesn’t matter if you just want to connect 1080 legacy components to those ports. If you want RGB 4:4:4 @60Hz from a connected PC or console you are out of luck and even streamers will be limited to 4:2:0 @60Hz 8 bit. But, you will be able to sneak in Dolby Vision and HDR at a color subsampled 24Hz. I know I’ve said it often, but that’s some bulls#%t!

Oh, and check the tip regarding HDMI ports 3 and 6. WTF!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think for people who own SONY TV/PJ, BD player, PS4, the Sony ES AVR will tempt them a lot.

 

[highfigh]

I have not seen the 10 things one yet but as far as his reviews on avrs, no thanks, its all so subjective, contradictory and in some cases border on spreading misconceptions that might have contributed to hearsay that are not true or half true in the best case scenario. In his recent one on the AVR-X3700H and AVR-X3800H (just one example), he said (iirc, not quoting exact words), the 3700 sounded, layback, warm??, almost like his narrative on Marantz's, and then on the 3800 he said the opposite, anyway, like I said, no thanks, no more of those.. I do admire his talent, a great speaker, evidence by his ability to be given the opportunity to review almost every single AVR I can think of, incredible!!

I watched one of his videos (Yamaha stereo receiver with HDMI) and he used buzzwords as if he coined them but it was a pretty weak review, IMO.

 

[gene]

Sony New ES 8K AV Receiver Lineup Offers Audio Features Others Don't!

Sony released five AV Receivers all with their new 360 Spatial Sound Mapping Technology. From the $900 STR-AN1000 to their $3,300 13.2CH 48lbs STR-AZ7000ES flagship, can Sony compete with Denon and Yamaha?

www.audioholics.com

 

[dlaloum]

The 360 Spatial Sound Mapping tech, and what Sony does with RoomEQ is what interests me most...

I look forward to reading reviews comparing it to Dirac / Audyssey / ARC / Trinnov.

This is where the future is, this is going to be the real differentiator... anyone can decode Dolby and DTS, anyone can power umpteen channels - but the potential of the spatial environment processing, is still only nascent....

With the potential of some of these systems, we may see systems with fewer speakers, outperforming others with a plethora of speakers/channels.