AV Receiver Reviews

Hi guys. I were thinking of buying this receiver but I'm a bit worried about the HDMI2.0. Are you sure it has HDMI2.0? Sony says nothing about this on their homepage, Whathifi.com says it has HDMI 1.4. And what about HDCP2.2?

Hi Rob.
Thank you for your swift reply. I see now in the manual that it is like you said, 4096 x 2160 @60Hz, though it is limited to 4:2:0 not supporting 4:4:4 but I quess we cant have it all :) I will look forward to your results on the HDCP 2.2 compliance.

I am seriously considering picking up a Sony 1050 - Runners up are the Pioneer 1124 and possibly a lower-end Yamaha. Sound quality is a top concern, but given my low efficiency speakers (~87 dB), I am trying to keep power levels high. Recommendation?

Also, what is killing me is the idea that the Sony 1050 sounds better than the 1040, but the power/distortion measurements clearly favor the Sony 1040. I'm surprised this wasn't brought up or explained. The 1040 appears to produce at least 100 watts at well below 0.1%, and the 1050 seems to begin gaining a lot of distortion after reaching about 70-80 watts (almost at 10% distortion at 100 watts). Sure, that is less than a 3 dB different, perhaps, but the numbers are the numbers and this seems to be a power downgrade. Did Sony downgrade the transformer on this model or something?

To add to the confusion, the 1040 and 1050 have similar output in 5 channel drive mode. Was the wrong chart published in the 1040 article?

Hey there,

nice review, thanks! So you wrote that you chose "Full Flat" as EQ. Could you explain why FF and not "no EQ" and where the actual difference is? Which setting would be closer to the "natural" soud of your speakers? I got the 1050 here and I have a really hard time to decide on an EQ...I'm mostly listening to rock and heavy.

Btw, I think the Sony is a bit on the "boomy" site at least regarding the bass but that could just be me.

I need to be able to use this receiver w/wireless (Sony) headphones that have their own transceiver. I need to be able to hear through the headphones while others listen through speakers. Can I hook the headphone transceiver up to the zone 2 audio out and get sound to the headphones w/o cutting off sound to the speakers?

I've been considering this receiver and called Sony to make sure some of the Zone 2 features are what Sony's marketing claims they are after reading many reports online. They confirmed that the marketing is not entirely accurate.

Though the second zone is independent, it cannot play any audio source, nor output them to the 2nd zone speakers as simply as Sony makes it seem. While the second zone does have an HDMI output that is dedicated, that will only play audio to the receiving source...meaning that if you are trying to plug a TV or projector into the second zone, the audio will only be available on the TV or projector, not any speakers you have connected to the second zone. If you want audio over the second zone speakers, you need to dual wire the receiver with analog/RCA cables from the source. This is part of the reason why Airplay won't play to the second zone, as well.

For me this was important for two reasons. I want to be able to output from my blu ray to a projector on the patio, using the patio speakers. I also want to be able to connect my computer (via HDMI) to projector or to play music. None of this would be possible without having to by adapters for both my blu ray and computer as they don't have analog outputs. This type of setup can be accomplished with any number of receivers and requires lots of extra effort (and cables)...it's not a feature.

I confirmed this with Sony customer support today.

I have been a loyal yamaha receiver user for 30 years. They are work horses with conservative power ratings and excellent build quality. I own 5, including the first I ever bought. They all work perfectly.

But, being foolish, I was seduced by the low price of this Sony and the abundance of features.

By trade I was a sound engineer, recording artist and studio musician. The review as regards sound reproduction and features is accurate. I particularly like the remote and the mostly on screen menu.

Build quality is awful. This unit ran hot from day one. As in very, hot enough to burn your hand at medium sound levels. But it worked for about 6 months. Then it died. Now, I am very comfortable working on electronics so I took this unit apart to have a look see. It took about 2 seconds to diagnose the problem, failed transformer. It was actually discoloured. I removed it for testing and it is dead.

Sent the unit back to Sony and now the fun begins. Three months later, they haven't looked at it and when I offered to buy a transformer they can't supply it. Because, it doesn't have a part number.

I gave up 2 days ago and bought a nice yamaha, more money, lower rated power output and it barely gets warm.

Verdict: Sony makes cheap mass merchandise crap. Fine if you are from the generation that considers Bluetooth to be of good quality. Adequate for 100 dollar speakers. But so cheaply made, very evident inside, so sad. DO NOT BUY.

Good morning all. Hopefully you are still responding to this article. How would this receiver pair up with floor standing speakers? Does it have enough power to utilize the full potential of these speakers? For reference, I am interested in the Definitive Tech BP-80xxST series towers or the Paradigm Monitor series towers. I would mate the Definitive Tech's with just a center, no subwoofer, while the Paradigm's would get both a center and a subwoofer. I currently have Paradigm bookshelf 5.1 surround system. For simplicity reasons, I want to change my audio system to stereo.