Blimey! - It’s like I’m at the cinema!
Written: Jun 10 '01 (Updated Jun 10 '01)
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Pros: Very sophisticated processing; good spec; awesome sound quality.
Cons: Don’t actually allow EX.
The Bottom Line: The '555ES is a brilliant receiver, sound and operation are top-class. Plus all the features anyone could ever want.
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| MichaelHatton's Full Review: Sony STR-DA555ES |
The ‘555ES is a bit of a beast in terms of receivers, it comes clad in a luxurious matt black, and comes complete with a high-tech remote with touch screen LCD display. At this price it certainly seems to have it’s high-tech features. Lets go through the ‘555ES.
Features
Unlike some other modern receivers this Sony doesn’t allow the proper EX, which means you can’t benefit from the sixth centre rear channel encoded onto DVD today. What it does allow is a “Virtual 6.1” mode. This 6.1 mode makes the two channels at the rear blend together to appear to be a middle channel. And it more than works well, adding a bit more ambient sound and it also keeps costs down too. Unfortunately there are no pre outs for the rear channel, for connection to a mono amp.
On the other hand, you get a ton of gizmos and sockets to connect you home to. There are five video (both with s-video or composite video switching) and four audio sources sockets (one being a phono connection), and seven digital connections (5 optical, two coaxial) are in there too. There is a six channel input for outboard processors, with those are component video sockets to connect to a projector or plasma TV, along with simple s-video and composite video outputs too.
There is an antenna connection for it’s radio, which is RDS with 30 presets available. All in all, this has all the sockets to connect to you home cinema, along with binding posts for speakers and two speaker outs for two sets of front speaker. You also get some Sony modes, like studio EX (which add the rear centre virtually) and AFB, along with some other useful modes to tinker with the sound. It looks fairly basic, and is quite easy to operate, the front containing little buttons, and a function selector and volume knob. A front panel flips down to reveal some more buttons.
Build/looks
This certainly looks fine, shinning in glory and is hidden easy in darker rooms. The front is built heavily, easy to use and works wonderfully. Each button and selector knob have a touch of class, the function knob feeling with a smoothed dampness. Which makes it easy to operate and fun to use. The display is quite bright, it looks crystal clear, and seems to have just the right sized text. And the on-screen display looks cool and attractive. And the whole unit seems quite compact, only about 15cm to 20cm high, and the usual 40cm wide, at the expense of depth. The internals have little room to breath so heat is exerted through the vent in the top, so place it as high as possible; not under any other equipment. It is quite heavy, though you not likely to move it once its in place, and the case work feels strong and robust.
Sound/performance
This area is the most exhilarating part of this beast. Powering my living room speakers with a genuine 100w power. I used some bipolar speakers once, and with the Virtual 6.1 engaged the centre rear (virtual) channel was not so distinct, so use some standard speakers toed in for this mode. The 6.1 mode works pretty well, although not quite as real as a proper channel. It adds a little most ambience to the sound so films like The Bone Collector have a bit more rear-height. I use this unit for all sorts: its connected to my VCR, DVD player, and Tape deck. It has quite a good performance with stereo music, I still prefer a proper stereo amp instead though, but it sounds quite good with CDs, clear and has quite a lot of attack to bass and midrange. It is very easy to use funnily enough, and the LCD remote is just another example of the class this ‘555ES’ is in. Its processing performance is very good, in fact extremely good, it has smack bang speed and agility to decode all those signals within milliseconds. It’s a great junction for video and/or audio sources. The RDS radio is out-of-this-world having a real talent for clarity and detail despite the complexities inside the case. As for movies, the front and centre merge together to give a full bandwidth presentation. The rears add a hair-on-your-neck-raising experience. Listen to some DVD’s like The Matrix and the screaming high frequencies just tingle your senses. You really must treat this like royalty, give it some good speakers, and it will perform more than twice as good as any cinema. True the rear has more direction than a cinema but play some surround music on DVD and you can hear the directness of the music work extremely well.
Bass has quite a powerful presence, the surging power from those big Nazi tanks in Saving Private Ryan have quite a heavy handed feel, as long as you own some big speakers for fronts you’ll feel the -MAD!!- vibrations through your chest. This is the sort of product that makes you watch a movie again and again, not for the story, but for the agility the 555ES has with speed and presence, the movement or pans of sound from front to rear or centre all have a sort of smoothness.
Play some brash recording like Muse Showbiz CD and the stereo ability shows through, the pounding bass lines have quite a surge, and it never gives a harsh or bright sound, so ear painfulness is a result.
Conclusion
The operations is a breeze, the performance is extremely good, the 555ES is worthy of a good home cinema system. If there was a complaint then the remote seems happy to shut off when you don’t want it to, and the fact it doesn’t do EX is a bit off putting, especially since there are so many cheaper ones which do. Still this is a world-class receiver from who-else but Sony.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1100
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MichaelHatton
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