Test AV receiver Sony STR-DH800

Comfortable sound, DMPort, wireless connectivity.

Few HDMI inputs, poor feature set, no networking.

Design features

On STR-DH800 especially popular will be S-Air, which allows you to “detach” the rear speakers from the receiver via radio. It requires the purchase of an additional accessory, but those who have experienced the installation of a six-channel system in a well-appointed living room will easily appreciate all the benefits.

The design feels the return to the “chopped” forms, and the abundance of keys and the lack of a cover over the connectors on the front panel give away the junior model. A set of ports in moderately representative only S-Video is abolished , but the number is more suitable for modest systems, 4 HDMI inputs today – the bare minimum. Only analog connections are provided in the front, which also cannot be called a modern variant.

But to connect to other Sony devices there is Bravia Sync and DMPort. The latter partially replaces the missing LAN and USB, the company has a lot of accessories for it, including a Bluetooth adapter and an iPod dock.

The power of the built-in amplifier is declared within the modest limits of 85 W per channel, but, looking ahead, we can note that for rather massive shelf speakers it was more than enough. Apparently, the figure from the manual is not far from the truth even when fully loaded. This is a fat plus. In the case of a five-channel system, you can divert the resources of the rear center to bi-amping the front pair, and then even the floor-standing speakers will have enough resources.

Service functions

List of features can be called typical for a budget receiver these days. Support for all audio formats including DTS-HD and Dolby

TrueHD, fully reveals the potential of Blu-ray discs. The auto-tuning accurately adjusts the calibration of the device to the room parameters. The video part is deprived of the usual scaler, which can hardly upset anyone, because it has become an indispensable attribute of all new players.

There is no sense to have more than one of them in the system. But minimal interference in the signal keeps the picture in its original form.

The remote control can be set to control the entire home theater system, but as such it is somewhat less convenient than with a single receiver. However, it copes with its main task very well, so it would be wrong to criticize it.

Sound quality

The main thing to note right after listening is the outstanding level of acoustic comfort. The sound is free from unwanted high-pitched and low notes, which can often appear as a consequence of audio track compression.

There are no problems with it on Blu-ray, but in case of DVD, and especially with AVI-files, you can only welcome such features. There is also the reverse side of the medal – such effect is achieved by cutting off the high-frequency range, which makes the sound somewhat muffled in general. But it’s impossible to get everything at once, and it’s twice as impossible with budget equipment.

So the line of compromise here is clearly drawn and will probably appeal to many. Genre specificity tends more towards slow motion pictures, for fans of action movies and video games on the market there are enough other models with brighter, to the detriment of melody and sound, manner of playback.

But the localization of effects and panorama scale are all right here, so the impression of blockbusters remains at a high level.

Price/quality

Choosing an inexpensive receiver is always a difficult thing, because their quality is largely determined by the specifics laid down by the developers. It is difficult to find a good unit for a lot of money, and here it is especially important to coordinate the purchase with the parameters of the room, acoustics, and personal preferences in sound. If successful, you can get a better effect than for twice as much money, but if not, the expense will seem like nothing at all.

This model is an obvious choice for owners of Sony TVs and players. The company encourages mono-brand sets, a number of functions work only in them. The receiver turned out to be surprisingly unassuming towards the acoustics, which allows you to save on satellite speakers without serious losses in sound quality. You have to be careful when choosing a subwoofer.

But the most important thing is to match the properties of the device with the list of your favorite genres. If “Titanic” and “Lord of the Rings” are at the top of the hit-parade, you can’t find a better option, but if you love “Transformers” and “Star Wars” you need something more spectacular.

Thrifty movie-lovers, who prefer to get maximum functions per each penny invested, have long taken note of Sony’s products. Developers from the receiver division spare no effort to transfer the tried-and-tested ES-series technologies to entry-level products as quickly as possible, which gives them a significant competitive edge.

Since the amount of budget models is traditionally the highest, the cost of improving the design here is justified even faster than at the top of the price list, and the annual renewal of the lineup brings a number of really innovative and interesting solutions.

12 000 Dollars.