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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
HDMI Pass through works, some tech support headaches
By mcingram
I read the two negative reviews with apprehension when I bought this product. However, I took the advice of an amazon supervisor and gave it a shot. HDMI pass through works great on audio and video, even though the instructions in the manual are confusing by showing other configurations. I recommend hooking up all hdmi cables from the quick set-up sheet and ignore other configurations in the manual. Also, I did not perform the speaker callibration.Set up was more difficult because I use an A/B configuration. My indoor speakers run on A, then I switch off the front indoor and switch on my outdoor speakers using front B. Support from Sony was not the best and I had to call back several times. Tech support associates assumed everything was ready, repeating the company line about automatic detection but that's not entirely accurate. Here's the scoop, Sony sets these receivers up for basic home theater use and specialized options, like A/B, will likely require amp menu changes. Also, older equipment like tv's etc may require changes and/or loss of function like the theater button (which is not a big deal for me because I like to manually choose my sound using sound field on the remote). I just don't understand why A/B isn't turned on automatically at the factory, or why they didn't make A/B turn on automatically if speakers were attached to the B channel, now that would be auto detection!Here's the deal if you are running A/B configuration you need to use the amp menu button on your remote, select speaker pattern, using up and down in the center controls of remote and choose 3/2.1 plus the middle bullseye for enter. Now SB assign is no longer grayed out and you can turn on B, also under the amp menu speaker option. I read a review on a different Sony receiver that said basically Sony turns off a lot of options, so the user has to manually turn these on and I completely agree with that assessment, plus I would add that Sony does not do a good job of outlining this in the instructions. That's why you shouldn't get frustrated, just call support early and multiple times if you don't feel like you are getting the right answer. Sometimes I had to reference the page of the directions, state clearly the function I wanted to perform and not accept their pat answer which is use the sound field button, or automatic detection. Neither of those things work if you have to turn on/adjust speaker options and/or adjust other devices like tv and dvd player.Overall, the instructions were very confusing and tech support associates were at times impatient and/or condescending. It has great sound, although sound effects sometimes drown out the center channel speaker. You must use at least the front and center speakers to hear words in movies, plus it automatically turns off your tv volume. It sort of takes control over your tv which is convenient but doesn't allow for any manual overrides. So if you want to use your tv for the center channel, or to boost the sound of the spoken words in a movie, no dice. Before I was using a yamaha and it was manual enough to use the tv for the center channel speaker. Also, the yamaha has just a little better sound quality but I am splitting hairs.What makes this a better product is that it works/plays better with other devices, no quirks or freezing up, plus remote codes are a snap. There are a lot more bells and whistles but you will probably need to ask support for help with any configuration beyond home theater. Overall, a pretty good product for the price. The positives more than outweigh the negatives.Hint1: MULTI ST works great for music (basically plays left & right stereo out of all speakers.)Hint2: Purchase a special cord with a left and right rca output on one end and an mp3 jack on the other, usually sells for $5-10. Hook up the rca cord ends to the front of the receiver and the other goes into where the headphones plug into the mp3 player. Choose video2 on your receiver remote and turn up your mp3 player to full volume, just change the volume from your receiver, not mp3. Now enjoy all your mp3 player's music throughout the house!
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
Assigning HDMI inputs
By M. A. Malenfant
I haven't seen this in the comments, so I thought I'd pass this on. I was looking forward to eliminating all the component, coax, and fiber cables and going with HDMI from my Tivo HD and a Sony Blu-Ray player. I can do this as long as I select HDMI 1 -3.However if I want to use the Assign feature to assign HDMI1 to the BD input or HDMI3 to the SAT input, only the video will be switched not the audio. In order to get the audio, you have to run a coax cable from the Blu-ray player and a fiber cable from Tivo to the BD and Sat inputs. A note on Sony's website confirms this.The manual is confusing because on page 25 it states: "Be sure to change the initial setting of the HDMI 1-3 input button on the remote so that you can use the button to control your components." Later it says that the HDMI buttons cannot be changed.Other than not being able to pass HDMI audio through the BD and SAT assignments, the amp works fine.Note: If you use a Tivo HD with this amp, the code for on/off, mute, and volume is 1176 which is not listed as part of the Sony remote codes on Tivo.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Great receiver, great price (With 3 updates)
By NGTO1
Well, not quite DOA. I was looking for an entry level 7.1 system and normally avoid Sony products like the plague. Well, this receiver had decent power at 105w X7, had DD+, DD5.1, DD-EX, DTS-HD, DTS, DTS-ES 6.1 matrix and discrete, DD PLII, PLZ, PLX, 3 HDMI inputs, and 3D support. Basically it had mostly every feature you could need and all the decoders you could ever want at 199.99. When comparing this to the 810 and Onkyo's entry level 7.1 receiver it was clear this one was the one to go with. I read all the reviews there were only a couple bad ones and the complaints seemed to be based around people not being able to plug in analog cables and output their signals through HDMI (which I have no use for that feature which by the way is on the Sony 810).I received the receiver, hooked up my speakers but because I forgot to label the speaker wire for the rear channels I had to use the test tone to figure out if they were connected right and if not how I needed to switch them to make sure they were set up right. The test tone worked so I turned off the receiver, re-wired the speakers, turned the receiver back on then the test tone wouldn't work. The manual said that if the test tone didn't work then either the wiring wasn't secure or the neg/pos were crossed. This receiver has tiny speaker inputs so if you have even semi-big gauge wire it won't fit cleanly. I rewired my speaker cables, I re-stripped them thinking they just needed to be fresh, I electric-taped anywhere on the cable that had exposed wire. I did an immaculate job on the wiring, let the receiver sit over night unplugged thinking it needed to reset, and also did the system reset thinking maybe it was in protect mode (which the receiver's display never said it was). It still wouldn't work.After running through hours of tests, plugging in different HDMI sources, unplugging certain speaker wire, etc. and never getting a test-tone or sound at all I called Sony and they ran me through the steps I had already ran through myself. They told me I needed to take the receiver to the nearest servicing center to get it repaired free-of-charge. I called the servicing center and they said companies stopped doing repairs on audio receivers years ago and do exchanges instead. He himself said they hadn't worked on receivers that weren't top-of-the-line for 5 years. I called Sony back and they looked up another service center and there were none. So they told me to ship it to them at my cost (they would cover the shipping back) and I would get it in two weeks. I said no thanks; I'll just exchange it for a new one.I called electronics expo who was great and they paid for shipping both ways ala Microsoft and the 3RROD. They emailed me a shipping label that day. Shipping to them was ground and it took a week to get there (west coast to east cost) and they are 2-day shipping it back either today or tomorrow.I'll update my review when I get the replacement either Friday or Monday.Update #1 (Feb 19 2011)So I received my replacement receiver yesterday. Hooking it up was a breeze, set up took a little longer (more fine-tuning than anything). The speaker inputs on back of receiver are a little small (other than the front channels) so if you have large gauge wire you'll have a hard time getting it in cleanly.My biggest problem with this receiver is the cumbersome set-up menus. Turns out the receiver I sent back originally probably wasn't actually broken, it was just user error (instructions are written confusing in some areas). I consider myself a techy near-audiophile so for me to mess up and not understand how to turn on the test tone is pretty embarrassing.The only other problem I have with the receiver is the sound settings for surround sound. I have a 7.1 set-up but the receiver according to the manual only has Dolby Pro Logic IIx (PLIIx) for converting a 5.1 movie into a 7.1 so if you want to get sound out of all 4 surround speakers you HAVE to use PLIIx. The other surround modes, Auto Format Direct (A.F.D.), C.ST.EX (Cinema Studio EX) A, B, and C, V.M. DIM (V. Multi Dimension), PLII MV (Pro Logic II Movie), and NEO6 CIN (Neo:6 Cinema) don't mention anywhere that they will provide you with sound to all 8 of your speakers. Only PLIIx states it'll provide you with sound to all 8 speakers. After some investigating it turns out that the C.ST.EX (A, B, and C) will give you sound to your surround back speakers as will A.F.D.- A.F.D. from what I believe gives you the sound straight from the disc without adding any pre-programmed sound fields but what confuses me is how the surround back speakers are getting sound when what is being sent to the receiver is only 5.1. It seems that either the receiver "fakes" 7.1 with any 5.1 signal it gets regardless of the sound mode you've selected (barring 2 channel stereo of course) or it just sends the same signal the 2 side speakers get to the back speakers. Of course this is nearly impossible to test so I'm now trying to decide which is better, PLIIx which claims to up convert 5.1 to "discrete" 7.1 surround or just go with either A.F.D. or C.ST.EX A,B,C that claims nowhere that'll up convert 5.1 to 7.1 even though sound does come out of all 8 speakers. If the Bluray movie you're watching is encoded in true 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio the receiver auto switches to that mode and cancels any pre-programmed sound field you may have turned on so you're getting true 7.1. If only more movies were encoded in 7.1...The sound is great, the auto calibration seemed to work fine but for my own personal preference I like to hear the surround speakers a little more than the default so I had to fine-tune the surround speakers to the volume I prefer.Other than the cumbersome menu system and confusing sound mode descriptions I'd definitely recommend this receiver to anyone patient enough to learn the ins & outs of it.Edit #2:So after some research with the sound fields, it turns out the PLIIx MV (Pro Logic IIx movie) is the best way to go to watch 5.1 movies in 7.1. I used the cinema studio EX mode and A.F.D (auto format) for a while watching a 5.1 movie on BD, and while I did hear sounds out of the surround back left and right channels, it was really quite even after turning the back surround channels all the way up to 10. Once I switched the sound mode to PLIIx MV the back surround channels were far more distinct, separated, and easier to hear. It all around sounds better using PLIIx MV for 5.1 movies with a 7.1 speaker set-up than it does using the other modes. Even the side surround channels sounded better.Edit #3:One thing to note, after using the receiver for a couple weeks, it turns out that sometimes it switches amp mode from just amp to "TV/AMP" in the menu settings. I don't know what causes it, but it's a bit annoying. The other thing, with the HDMI-CEC thing when you try to turn the volume up on your TV when the receiver is set to "AMP" instead of "TV/AMP" in the audio output menu your TV remote will actually turn your receiver volume up instead and a HUD on your TV will display the current volume (inaccurately) that your receiver is at. It only works (poorly) sometimes. At this point I'm just nick-picking because these are smile gripes and they're not features I really need nor was expecting. But I thought I'd point it out anyway.If you have this receiver, have a 7.1 speaker set-up, and are watching a 5.1 source I would definitely recommend using PLIIx MV to watch your movies. If the movie is in 7.1 it will default to a discrete 7.1 mode. Here is a list of BD movies that support 7.1 discrete audio. [...]Pros- Great sound, many options, very customizable.Cons- Confusing menu system, confusing sound field descriptions, confusing manual.
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