Sony STR-DN840 7.2 Channel 1050-Watt A/V Receiver (Black)

I set this up on a home theatre with a 3D BlueRay, XBOX360, Wii and my FiOS Settop Box (cable tv). The HDMI works really well. Power up the source, receiver and then TV and all the signals seem to work well. CEC worked fine between my Vizio M series TV and this receiver. With that said, I suggest getting an aftermarket Harmony One or similar remote and setting up macros. The remote that comes with the receiver isn't great for running externals unless all your components support CEC, which only my TV did. It seemed like any input through RCA would only output through RCA outs on the receiver.A real drawback for video/audio going out to my TC. This was the only disappointing feature as coordinating input to TV and output by connection type is just a hokey thing to have to deal with. I bought RCA to HDMI converters for my XBOX360 and Wii and use only HDMI inputs to the receiver. I can imagine any other configuration. It was $60 for two so I would add that to the price when thinking about this purchase. I don't know how other receivers in this price class handle video output over HDMI from non-HDMI input connectors. The on-screen interface is archaic (pre-atari graphics) but it is well laid out and usable. I got setup on Slacker and it sounds great, no problems there. I have apple products and had no problems with the AirPlay. I use it all the time. There is a feature on these receivers to setup multi-receiver party streaming, I haven't used it but it looks interesting if you have a large entertaining area with multiple audio. Oh yeah, plenty of power for the cost. Hooked it up to some old Yamaha floorstanders and sounded strong. I use it to drive a Focal Chorus setup and have not complaints about the sound quality for home theatre. The 3D pass through works w/o any problems. I have a 3D BluRay hooked through the receiver and out to the TV and no problems or configuration required. Overall I really like the features and have had a good experience.

I replaced a Harman Kardon AVR 335, which I thought was pretty nice. This Sony STR-DN840 blows it away. I replaced it to get HDMI ports... not really expecting much of a noticeable improvement in sound quality. I'm powering the same Harman Kardon surround speakers with a Velodyne MicroVee subwoofer. The Sony, outputting 150W per speaker vs 75W for the HK Receiver, is clearer and just sounds incredible. Now I can really hear the dialogue while watching TV and movies, where before I had to pick the best sound mode to get a decent sound effects/voice balance. The sound just seems to separate more crisply, and if I was just listening with my eyes closed I'd figure I had upgraded all of my speakers. I don't know how much is due to the higher power/channel. I like the remote. Speaker setup was extremely quick, and the non-annoying sound tones used for the auto-config is better than the usual sound assault. Yes, the method for entering the network password (selecting the letters/numbers/symbols from the remote) could really confuse people, but I figured it out pretty quickly. I was looking forward to the Bluetooth comm directly from my iPhone, but what I really like is how easy it was to wirelessly network the Sony and play music sitting on my computers . In Windows 7, I just enabled homegroup sharing and the Sony sees everything and I can skip the iPhone and play directly from my whole collection. Another sweet feature.... I can actually push music to the Sony from iTunes. Getting HDMI is what I was after... but the connectivity options and sound quality are what are insanely nice. The instruction book is so-so. I didn't really need to use it to setup everything above. Room for improvement overall, but the features and awesomeness make this an easy 5-star. BTW, I have had no HDMI or other issues so far.

Ok... this is a very good receiver. It works well and functions well. Sound is very good and the sound fields are great. Howerver, do not think that because it has bluetooth, Airplay, 4k, BluRay, etc that you are getting all the connectivity that you might think you are getting. It has bluetooth, but only for connecting your phone/midi player to the input. It does not include the bluetooth transmitter, so it WILL NOT work with bluetooth earphones without a dongle. It has great Blu-Ray support, but only one of the inputs gives you "better Blu-Ray sound". Only one port gives you 4K pass through. In fact, you have to look at the function of each of the HDMI inputs to check the capability. AirPlay is audio only. To get video you will also have to purchase the Apple TV box. Nice receiver... but buyer beware... the connectivity is not all that it should be.

This receiver is designed to be a very good home audio product. I bought it to replace an older Sony receiver to gain more speaker power, more features, more connectivity and more HDMI connectors. Unfortunately, from the beginning the unit I purchased randomly turned itself off while in use, randomly turned itself on after being turned off, randomly stopped providing video signals to the connected TV, routinely produced various subwoofer distortions and failed to correctly control other Sony products via the Bravia Sync feature. Sony's solution was to get this defectively manufactured unit repaired.