Overall Rating: ( 5 reviews )

1. Posted: Jul 18 2008

   I bought this unit for 574 delivered. If you have the following items you will want this reciever a PS3 or blu ray player a TV that has an HDMI input, preferably 1080p I've read up on a lot of the connectivity issues on this unit prior to purchase. I think there is a lot of confusion regarding the new hd sound formats. I hope I can provide some help to individuals reading this post. To get True HD, or DTS master audio from the PS3 you need to do the following. Run audio from the PS3 to the receiver over HDMI. Go into the PS3 settings, make sure audio is passed over HDMI, then manually select the PCM 5.1 and 7.1 audio formats at 48khz. To test, put in a Blu ray disc, go into the audio menu of the movie and select one of the new HD formats or PCM uncompressed. If you have done this correctly the blue light on the from center of the reciever will turn on and the screen will show that multi channel PCM is running at 48khz. Here is the deal, the PS3 and most other blu ray players cannot pass a raw hd bitstream signal to the reciver for decoding, but it can decode the signal itself and pass it over hdmi in multi channel format. Your ears get the same sound either way. What this means to you. If you're using the PS3 for a blu ray player it doesn't matter if you buy the 3300 4300 or 5300 because the PS3 is going to decode and send the signal as uncompressed pcm. So spending the extra cash to get on board dolby true hd and dts hd decoders is pointless. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, but unless you're planning on running some huge speakers or really committed to a multi room setup the 3300 is the best value. I run my setup in a very large room, the 3300 can blast sound and I have not noticed any distortion at high volumes. Also, I have an older generation xbox 360 without an HDMI output. Good news if you are in the same boat as me. This reciever will accept a 1080p input through component cables and pass to the TV as 1080p over HDMI. I replaced an older Yamaha natural sound reciever that I have had over 7 years, it still works wonderfully and I am looking forward to moving it down into the man room in my basement. I was on the fence between a Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo and this Sony unit. The 3300-5300 seemed to have the best video options, and sound performance was comparable accross the brands. Once the price on the 3300 got into the 500 range I decided to pull the trigger. I love the on screen menu, the sound is great, and it has all the connectivity and functions that I needed for my gear. This is a great product and I would highly recommend it. setup str da3300es, polk audio RTI series speakers, JBL 12" 500 watt sub, Sony 50" LCOS SXRD TV 1080p, XBOX 360 with HD-DVD, PS3, and a Wii.

2. Posted: May 21 2008

   I purchased this through Amazon and could not have been happier. The product was delivered promptly and in good condition. It was a breeze to set up and has worked flawlessly. It is a great product and I would recomend it and would buy it again if the need arose.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 26 2008

   This receiver is a HUGE upgrade from my older Sony ES receiver (pre-hdmi), and is worlds better. I loved my old receiver, but it was heavier, ran hotter, had no GUI to speak of, and didn't do video signal upconversion, which meant that changing from my older s-video DVD player to my satelite provider required an input change on the TV as well. NO LONGER! Now I can just use the graphical UI on screen to select the input I want, and it just works. One small remote (the unit comes with a comprehensive universal remote and a smaller, input + volume type remote, which I use) to do just about everything. I could not be happier. One HDMI cable from my receiver to my TV. A myriad of input connections. No changing the input on my TV ever again. A beautiful on-screen GUI. This is a great receiver.

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