STR-DB930RDS (Sony STR DB940)

Member Name: 137699

Product:	Sony STR DB940
Date:	17/12/02 (1727 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Breathtaking Sound in movies & music, Very controllable & Configurable, Nice looking (in silver)

Disadvantages: Complicated setup procedure, Masters degree needed to operate remote control, Has been superceeded

OK, my review is on the older version of the 940 amp, but I'm led to believe that the differences between the versions are mainly cosmetic.

I purchased my amp in 1999 from my local Sony Centre for the "reduced" price as-was-then of £495. It had only just been released, and I had to wait some weeks before my silver-ordered unit was delivered. They "loaned" me a black version while I waited - a shop display unit, and tried to fob me off about me ordered silver unit, I think they wanted to pocket some cash by offloading their display model, and saving money on what was a more expensive silver finish. Anyway, I kicked enough stink to finally get my silver unit some 5 months later.

All that aside, I have been extremely pleased with this unit. I am someone who gets bored of hi-fi very quickly, and most of my components only last 12-15 months in my house before they get replaced with newer, more advanced components. Yet this amp has been around nearly 4 years, and I'm still not seriously considering replacing it.

Why? Well because it is simply stunning. In the past, I have had technics, yamaha, denon and marantz combined amp/home theatre setups, and none have been able to offer so much punch when watching movies, yet show supreme musical control when playing CDs or tapes as this unit.

Having said that, it is a git to get set up initially. The menu system is complicated, and it takes a lot of experimentation, trial and error to work out the best bass/trebble/midrange settings. I am not an audio pureist who leaves these settings untouched, although there is a handy tonal control by-pass setting, if you need to turn off that at any time.

Also, the computer control centre allows you to set the positioning and sizing of your speakers, so that it can decode the signals, and weight the sound and delay based on what you input. Again - a pain in the bum to set up, but once it's right, it's breathtaking
. The sony implementation of the Dolby Digital decoder is awesome.

The construction of the unit is solid to say the least. Every time I move the unit, I am surprised by how heavy it is, and the solid metal fascia inspires confidence everytime you touch it. The controls, again, feel very well constructed.

The remote control is a law unto itself. I spent many an unhappy hour trying to figure out how it works, and now I just use it to turn the volume up and down! It can be all things to all men, and can control your dvd, tv, cd, coffee maker, and can iron your washing if you can work your way through the menu, and put in the right control codes - sadly I couldn't.

As I said, this unit has been superceded, but not by much, the current sony models are still based on the same technology as far as I can see - and if they're better than what I have, then you will be very impressed!

Summary: