Customer Reviews

Sony STR-DG600 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver with XM Connect-and-Play

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In a rush, I bought this reciever because my previous reciever had blown its capability to drive 5.1 speakers. Much to my dismay, I realized after the product had been purchased, that the online reviews of it were quite dismal.

Normally, I do not take the time to write a review for a product, but I believe this reciever deserves someone to stand up on its behalf. It seems as though, one disgruntled customer, was so fed up with this reciever that s/he wrote the same review and posted it on nearly every review site out there.

I am going to do my best to address some of the issues that I remember reading about and some of the features that I have disco vered that are not necessarily highlighted.

First off, to address the reviewer who says "you need to turn the reciever to volume range 30-40 to hear any sound", of course you do. Obviously you dont understand the concept of logrithmic sound, also, I'm sure you did this in the middle of the day. I am listening to the receiver right now at volume 25 and I am quite frankly considering turning it down because I may be bothering my roomates.

Next, admittedly, the manual is difficult to understand and in all likelihood you will need to consult it if you want to do something more complicated than changing the volume. But all of the information is there. I'm not sure if it was this site, but on another site I read that someone could not get the subwoofer preout to work in stereo mode, well, on page 59 of the manual "NOTE -No sound is output from the subwoofer in the 2CH STEREO mode. To listen to 2 channel stero sources using the front left/right speakers and a sub woofer, seledt "A.F.D. AUTO"(page 55)". If you're having trouble, just read the manual, this is a sophisticated piece of equipment and unless you helped design it, I severly doubt you can conquer it without using the manual.

As another reviewer mentioned, the speaker wire binding posts are cheap, I doubt they will break, but I will be considering banana plugs.

First universal remote code I tried for my phillips tv worked, granted, I'm definitely not getting rid of my tv remote(love the sleep button too much). Only power, channel, and volume buttons work, although there is another code to try so I might not be out of luck.

Oh, I've got cheap 16 gauge flimsy walmart cable driving my front speakers. The sound is actually very very good, much better than my kenwood reciever, and I can't wait to try out 7.1.

In terms of the auto calibration feature, well havent tried that one, the manual makes it seem like it is going to be a pain, but with that said, you can always just measure the distances and program it manually. This is probably what I will do.

I like the fact that you can name your preset radio stations and you can also give friendly names to the input modes. For example, I renamed AUX to COMPUTER, although it will only accept 8 characters.

Lots and lots of optical inputs, wish I had more things to plug into it.

A/B speaker switch, with the ability to operate both independently or simultaneously.

XM, well, I doubt they can screw that up, according to the manual it will display song and artist info for you. I have not tested this however.

Remote sensitivity is just fine, if anything, its the crappy, "Sony", and I say that loosely, brand batteries they supply, if I point the remote away from the receiver towards a small(8X11) picture on the opposite wall, the receiver responds like I was pointing the remote directly at it.

"Okay for an apartment"? I dont mean to step on anyones toes, but the sony subwoofer and large speakers I have connected to this amp are more than capable of getting me several sound violations.

That said, the reciever gets very loud, I tried turning it up to see where that little volume scale ends, but alas, I was too chicken and stopped when the lights started dimming(Perhaps this is indicative of poor building wiring, oh well).

I dont use the video features, but with the option of assignable component inputs, I may take advantage of this in the future.

Final recommendation -- A sophisticated receiver at an affordable price, if you are the type of person that likes lots of options and freedom, then this is the receiver for you (even though this inevitably leads to a poorly organized manual), but if you want your reciever to do what you want when you want with little effort, then look elsewhere.

I recently bought a DLP TV and because of the refresh rates or something, the video did not sync with my surround system. I needed a new receiver that could delay the audio. So I bought the Sony STR-DG600. I works great!! I've matched the voices with the lips, and movies are much more enjoyable to watch.

I have to admit that the setup was not as easy as it could be. The speaker plugs require screwing which was a pain. The manual was not exactly easy to read. But in the end, I did get it set up and working great. How many times do I need to set it up anyway?

I would like to give it 4 1/2 stars, if available, but I opted to give it 5 stars to counter the review with only 1 star. I mean really...1 Star? That reviewer really lost credibility with me. I think for the price, this is a great receiver.

Oh, I almost forgot, I did use the included microphone and auto-calibration feature. It worked great. It automatically adjusted the volume coming from each speaker for a better surround effect. Very nice feature!

Let me start by saying this receiver is one of the best you can buy at this price range. That obviously implies you can probably get better performance and features from other manufacturers but at a much higher price and for features you would probably never use nor care about. This also implies that the receiver isn't perfect in the sense that it has no flaws but I gave it a 5 out of 5 because it's absolutely perfect for it's price and what does offer at that price.

Among those flaws would be with the instruction manual itself. I've read the reviews prior to buying this myself and that was probably one of the biggest gripes I've read in reference to this receiver. I do consider myself to be technically proficient with electronics so I figured it wouldn't be too much trouble trying to figure out certain functions on the receiver regardless of the previous warnings of a poorly written manual. Sony isn't exactly a rookie at designing electronics, let alone a receiver, so how bad could this manual really be? Well in short, it's not as bad as most people are making it out to be. The problem mostly stems from the fact that it seems a little unorganized or maybe just not as organized as a typical consumer would like to have seen. It does take a few extra seconds to find what you're looking for but nothing so bad that'll cause you to pull your hair out trying to figure out how to perform a certain function. This is probably the only real gripe I have but I wouldn't say that the problem is with the receiver itself but with the idiot(s) that wrote the book.

The good things about the system is with the features. The receivers supports nearly every Dolby Digital and DTS audio formats that are out there (except the new Dolby Ditigal Plus/True HD nor the new DTS-HD but according to their respective sites you can use your existing receiver to accept those new audio formats).

I haven't used XM satellite before so I couldn't tell you how well it works but at least it's an option that some other more expensive receivers don't yet have.

There's more than enough power to feed all of your speakers for a true 7.1 channel output. I read a consumer review from someone else that stated this receiver is only suitable for an apartment. Well I kinda disagree with that statement because the output can be so loud that it'll have your ears ringing (which is also dependent upon the quality of the speakers and cabling you have connected to it). I don't see any reason why this receiver would not be suitable for a normal sized house with a normal sized living room (or entertainment room).

This receiver also has a higher component video bandwidth than most other competing receivers (80MHz versus 40 - 60MHz). Now I don't know for sure if this translates into the receiver producing a better image quality or not but something tells me it does.

Tons of digital inputs (4 fiber optical and 2 coaxial), which is probably way more most people currently would use but the option for expansion is nice.

The auto calibration feature is really nice and I personally see it as a huge selling point for receivers in general (not just this one). Granted there are receivers that apparently do a more thorough calibration than this one (like Denon) I am very pleased with it's accuracy. The calibration only has three steps: plug in the microphone in the front, place the microphone where you will be sitting, and push the auto cal button on the remote. The receiver will do the rest. Other systems require you tell the receiver what size speakers you have or tell it how far away the speakers are from your siting position and etc. This method is much simpler as the receiver detects and adjusts each speaker individually based on the what the microphone picks up during the test. I would recommend this receiver for this feature alone but like I said there are other receivers that apparently do a more accurate calibration.

I got this receiver for $199.98 from here on Amazon and don't regret this purchase in the least. Highly recommended!

I purchased the Sony STR-DG600 receiver for one main purpose; to listen to SACDs (Super Audio Compact Discs). My current system has the Sony STR-DG600 receiver ($201.00 @ Amazon) coupled with a Sony SCD-CE595 SACD Player ($149.00 @ Best Buy) and are played through the Sony SA-FT1H home theater speaker system ($264.00 @ BHPhoto). If you've never heard an SACD I can only tell you this: 5.1 surround SACDs are to stereo what stereo is to monural. It's a incredible listening experience. Since SACDs are recorded at 64 times the resolution of a standard CD it's as close to an analog signal as your are going to get . The only drawback is you need a SACD player and a receiver that will allow input of the 6 discrete channels (5 speakers and 1 subwoofer) to unlock the sonic magic of an SACD. This receiver is more than up to the task. The only other thing is speakers that can handle the up to 100KHz theoretically possible on an SACD. While my SA-FT1Hs are not quite that good they will reach an unbelievable 50KHz. I realize this is outside the range of human hearing but so is a frequency down in the 10Hz range and people add subwoofers all the time. Why? Because while you can't hear these frequencies you can feel them! It adds a presence to the music. It's as if you were at a live performance. As far as a previous comment about the receiver not being powerful enough to drive the speakers at higher sound levels - rubbish. The Sony STR-DG600 receiver driving the Sony SA-FT1Hs at two thirds the way to maximum sound output is at a volume easily loud enough to damage your hearing. Why you need to go louder than that I have no idea?! I personally would like to keep my hearing so I can continue to enjoy music.

I also really enjoy the Music sound fields. They are electronic enhancements on this receiver that allow you to simulate the music being played in a classical concert hall, a jazz club or a 300-seat live house. They really add a lot to any conventionally recorded CD.

As far as the manual goes... there were previous comments about how hard it was to set up. Again I respond "rubbish". Yes, there are a lot of customizable features on this receiver. I see that as an advantage, not a drawback. Anyone with room temperature I.Q. and a little patience can easily configure this system to get the optimal sound experience.

There are a lot of other features on this receiver but I will leave those for other reviewers. To me the main selling point of this receiver was it ability to directly receive the 6 discrete channels of SACDs. If you are really into music (and since you are taking the time to read this, I'm sure you are), do yourself a favor and listen to an SACD on a properly set up surround system. You'll never buy a regular CD again. And you can get this entire sytem for less than $650.00 - amazing! I think Sony has really blown away the sound industry with these new products.

Ok 1st off I never liked sony to begin with but after I got this receiver my whole perspective changed this thing has power and accuracy exactly where its needed. The bass isnt muddy its clear and deep, the mids and highs are powered up, Im running a 12 inch 200 watt sub with 4 tower speakers that have 200 watt range and a 125 watt center channel they all hit hard when I crank it. I love movies so this is great for sorround movies as well as for video games, music, radio, and tv. The best feature I'd have 2 say is the auto calibration system with the microphone, it definately is a big plus in my book. The setup on the back for connecting wires could've been alot better but still if your not electronicaly illiterate then you should'nt have a problem.

I bought this receiver as a replacement for my college-era one.

Besides having surround sound, I also needed a receiver which could accept Monster-type cables. My old one simply could not accept the larger diameter copper wiring of said cables.

Besides the usually modernistic Sony look, this receiver also controls all my other Sony devices (TV, DVD, etc) with the single remote.

The receiver also has the normal bells and whistles associated with any such reasonable product: optical connectivity, full assortment of normal A/V and audio wiring capability, multiple device support, digital signal processing for audio, etc.

I also tried the receiver's built-in self setup capability.

I am not certain how well this worked given the unusual configuration of the room it is in, but it is a well intentioned feature.

The only negative (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) is that the receiver appears to have a monitoring signal sent to all connected speakers.

This manifests as a 'tick' every 10 seconds when speakers are not being used and the receiver is on.

I have removed all electrical attachments to the receiver as well as turned off all electrical devices in a 20 foot radius - without being able to remove this tick hence my suspicion that it is produced by the receiver itself.

I picked up this receiver for $200 plus $40 shipping.

At that price it's hard to go wrong unless the receiver just doesn't work.

The good thing is that the receiver does work and works well. The auto calibrate function is excellent as it kept me from having to go through the menu and enter distances and other characteristics about the speakers. Just start the calibration, walk out of the room and come back in a few minutes.

Component and video switching work well although the consumer electronics companies (Sony in particular) have made a huge mess of connectivity standards. There are so many issues of what works with what anymore. Too many connection types, DRM, etc. I would really like to plug any device into the receiver and send all the video out to a TV. The truth is that I can't plug S-Video from my DVD Player and composite from my tivo into the receiver and have it shown as S-Video on my TV. Everything input must be S-Video OR Composite but not a combination of the two.

But back to the receiver. It has a good number of audio modes for movies, music and games. Music doesn't sound very good to me but that could have something to do with my speakers. I had to set my small speakers to "large" on the receiver so they would output more bass to the surrounds. I have a 250w sub but getting more low frequency sounds from the satellite speakers helps fill out the midrange. This is more of an issue with small speakers than it is with the receiver. I couldn't comment correctly on audio performance unless I had a large set of stereo speakers.

I couldn't get any output from the pre-out jacks on the receiver. This is disappointing because I had a specific use for them in mind. I also couldn't program the remote for my TV or DVD player. I was fine with this issue because I bought a universal remote for my entire system. One other issue I have with the receiver is that I didn't like that AM/FM/XM are all selected as an input from the same button. That makes the use of a universal remote much harder. I would have rather had a button to select FM as an input and another to select XM. As is, I never know whether I'll be getting AM/FM or XM when I hit the tuner button.

I also had to remove the analog audio inputs from my DVD player in order for the receiver to use the Digital Coax connection instead. I didn't expect the receiver to default to the worst audio connection available.

Overall, I'd recommend this receiver to someone who's looking to buy one in this price range. It has a good selection of inputs, good sound and performs as expected.

I purchased this receiver 3 days ago, and finally have it set up tonight. For the price, it is an excellent value, and seems to be fairly user friendly.

What isn't user freindly is the users manual that came with it. After spending the last two evenings attempting to set up my system, (following the instructions from the manual,) I ended up paying my salesperson to come over and set it up for me. It took him close to an hour and a half!

With that said, I would still recommend the receiver itself! The sound quality is very good, everything functions as promised, and I especially like the auto callibration setup for he surround sound.

I had read a lot of reviews that said the manual was impossible to read. I had no problems setting the reciever up. Everything went smoothly and I am now enjoying 7.1 surround sound! This reciever is everything I was expecting and more. I think it was the best value for the money. Sony builds quality products, and this is one of them.

As a little man with thinning hair I must compliment this receiver from Sony. Although I did not personally install the component, the company that did mentioned how they were impressed. I know that manuals have never been the strong area for Sony; this is true to color in this manual. FYI-Use the front components to hook up your IPOD or MP3. I also compared this receiver with the retail stores around and was impressed with the price and quality. I would make this purchase again.