Product Reviews

This is the 4 th in a line of Sony receivers. This and the last Sony receiver both DUMPED the picture. In other words, new HDMI cables all around did NOT allow video to pass through the receiver!!! Why???? Please contact me with a fix.

I purchased this receiver a couple months ago,sound is very good and detailed,I've been a Harman Kardon faithful fan and owned 3 of their higher end line,so when i turned on my sony receiver my expectations were lower since my ears were used to the Harman Kardon punchy performance but sony knows how to please,I'm happy i purchased a sony,no regrets at all.my only complaint is that the input selector knob is defective i guess because it keeps sliding off really easy and is very loose,other than that I LOVE IT.

I like most features of this unit, but there are a couple of things that should be different. When I use my Sony Blue Ray player or other devices, I have to reset it back to TV before I can continue watch normal TV programs

I've had this for a year and half and it's the best AV amp i've had.It's easy to use and sounds great.Music in multi surround gives even old songs another dimensiion. This model was replaced by the Atmos version which is the one i'm getting next.

I have had this receiver for over 2 years now,and have not had an issue 1 with it,I had a much more expensive Amp die right after warranty ended.It was on a Sunday that just happened to be the night of the first episode of the new GOT season,so I was in a hurry to get a new AVR,I went to Best BUY and bought this one as it was 1 of the best they had in stock. I had stopped using Sony AVRs back in the early 2000s as they just werent cutting it for me and my system.There was a Sony Rep at the store and he convinced me to give them another try..Only using Sony TVs is a plus,as is the UHD-800 4k Blu Ray player,they sync together perfectly,when i turn on my TV the amp comes on,if i put a disc in my player,it automatically switches inputs to the player,when i shut the player off it goes back to the TV/cable input-very nice. I am using this in a 5.1 bi-amp setup,with the biggest and best of the Klipsch RP series.The auto-calibration mic works awesome,better than i could manually set it up.The power of the system is more than enough,I have never taken it to full power as it gets painfully loud,yet crystal clear.My TV is a 70 Sony Bravia,which is big and beautiful,I would rather sit in my living room than go to the theater,many times do I look behind me due to the great imaging of their surround sound. As for inputs and outputs,there are plenty,and setup is so very simple,get banana plugs for the ends of your speaker wire,and dont skimp on your wires,they make a huge difference in what comes out of your speakers,do not expect full room filling powerful sound w/large speakers using a 16 gauge wire,bigger is better-the lower the gauge number,the larger and better the wire will be. The build quality is superb and very strong,as seems to be the norm lately w/Sony,very solid and well thought out,look at the UHD-800 4k disc player if you want to see one of the best built pieces of video equipment I have ever seen,I will gladly sacrifice some frills (like an display on the front of the player-there is none,some are put off by this,i dont care) if its results are the better,stronger construction of their equipment.I have a 40" Sony Flat screen,that was 1 of their first models out.My goodness but this thing weighs a ton,it weighs more than my 70",it is well over 10 years old and still works perfectly,it got moved to my bedroom as it is only 1080p,and is hooked up to a different brand 5.1 AVR,which at the time was 1 of the best,the 860 blows it out of the water in every way possible,but for a bedroom system it is fine. When I bought this,I did not initially buy the extended warranty,as i wasnt sure I would keep it,within 2 weeks-even though I had 45,I was back at BB,buying the 5 year extended warranty,yes I liked it that much,and wanted the extra coverage on it as it is a keeper for sure. Eventually this will be made into my bedroom system,and i will be stepping up to an 11.2 channel AVR that will be Atmos compatible,then I can still bi amp my L&Rs,have my front elevation speakers for Atmos,and add in some side surrounds,as Sonys sync so well together it will more than likely be another Sony,if their quality continues along the path they are on.They are right on par w/all the big names you hear when you talk AVRs,it is very nice that Sony has joined those ranks,if you dont need Atmos,and are on a budget,look for 1 of these,as it is an older model the price should be right around $300,although I didnt pay a whole lot more than that,due to sales and some unrelated issues w/the store,not the product,i think I paid $350 for it,which was a steal,especially at the time as it was a new model when I bought it. There are functions on this that I havent figured out YET lol,but for my usage I have figured out enough w/out a manual,and thank you Sony,I am a believer in saving trees anywhere possible,if it was only new enough to have Atmos available with it,but sadly (not really,I LOVE buying-not paying for it,but buying-new audio equipment lol)it doesnt,so there will be 1 more upgrade coming up,no hurry though as there isnt enough available media w/Atmos YET.So that means probably 4 more speakers being added too,at least 2 but maybe even 5,I have the R115-SW from Klipsch,which throws out bass down to 18Hz,I dont have it above 1/2 volume,and it is a house shaker,but 2 of them would look so cool and even out the bass,although it images fine,this would be more for looks than anything,I am very OCD about things,and 2,1 on each side of my stand,would even it out and look so much better,plus-CAN you ever have to much bass??? They have an output for 1 so why not utilize it??? -Yes I am single,no kids,just a dog,so there are never any arguments when I purchase something new. I guess the only con I have,which I have w/pretty much everybody,is a lighted remote,or at least glow in the dark button,it is a simple remote,so not hard to navigate by memory/touch in a dark room,but lit remotes would be so awesome,as the less outside light the better,but pretty much nobody does it so it isnt worth removing a star. The wi-fi isnt the most stable ,but i hard wire all of my components,so that isnt a big deal either. OOOHHHH the composite/bitstream audio input is also very nice,as it is the best option to hook up your DVD player,I should say 4K blu rays,but composite audio opens up Atmos and DTX,which using an HDMI does not transfer as much information,so do not disregard it if you are able to use it-the UHD-800 has HDMI out for video,but has HDMI or composite/bitstream for audio out,I thought strange at first until I researched the benefits of using it,I also do not use ARC as from my understanding is not needed w/a good AVR. So there is my basic lol review of this 5 star older amp,I look at more expensive amps,but just cant find a reason to upgrade yet,or for a cpl of years.Thank you Sony for such a very high quality piece of equipment,at a very reasonable price range,you have gained me back amongst your ranks as a true fanboy of your products. I even chose your HDR-AS30VB 2K dash cam over the gopro at the time (gopro 1 or 2 era) as it had a far superior picture,not as many un-needed bells and whistles it still takes beautiful videos ( the quality is better than most any new 1s as well as I have tried a cpl small dedicated dash cams,the HRD is so very much more,w/a plethora of goodies to go with it),the suction cup windshield mount is the best and sturdiest I have ever seen,the steady cam setting and that makes for very stable videos with little to no shake,the stereo mics are also so much nicer than a mono mic.Your products and accessories have come a very long ways over the years,please keep up the good work,the quality is much nicer than a few bells or whistles,that you will not miss,if you even use them at all. OK now I will end this,what ended up being a multi product review,all above mentioned products are worth every penny spent,and their longevity is amazing,they are not disposable products,plan on a nice long relationship with them.

I bought this refurbished in the summer of 2017 for $250. Best in class for that price.

I have had this receiver for over a year. Haven’t used much because when u turn up the volume watching a movie it will flash protected and shut down, I have used all the support pages and even contacted customer care, followed all their steps and it still does it. Very disappointing.

I love everyhtin about this Receiver EXCEPT it's chromecast built in ability. It only supports Multi-channel Stero which sounds extreamly poor and pathetic on satalite speaker setups that utilize a subwoofer.

Pleased overall, but disappointed that the 860 will not support 10 bit images. Apart from that, good sound field and a reasonable control set, the 860 is a solid performer.

The software has been updated recently. But there is still no sound in the subwoofer when the build-in casting funtion is used. Will there be a new update that solves the problem? When done, I give 5 stars *****

This receiver has performed ok with good sound clarity, however it only lasted a little over a month. The ARC does not work well at all, sometimes it syncs but most of the times it does not. Based on my experience with this product I would not recommend it. My assumption was when purchased this Receiver is that it would work well with my Sony TV...not...my old Yamaha receiver worked better.

This is a great receiver in all respects except for the Bluetooth audio. It met all my requirements... it drives my 5.1 speakers (Bose) and also drives a pair of outdoor speakers. Perfect for when we have a party going on. The sound really is excellent and setup was very easy. The Bluetooth audio doesn't work very well though. I've tried the Sony with three different Bluetooth headphones and all have the same problems. The audio often gets out of sync with the video and sometimes the audio becomes choppy. Sometimes a complete system off and on will solve the problem but often it does not. Fix the Bluetooth audio and this would be a truly superb system.

I have had a Sony Sony STR-DB940 for the past 25 years without any issues. This one has only replaced it due to no HDMI control on the old one. I am very pleased with it overall if i was to make a suggestion it would be to still have an LED or some sort of light to show it was in surround mode as the scrolling display cannot be seen unless you are looking close to the display. but overall great recommend it to anyone

Good unit for everything else but if you use FM it's crap

Replaced an older different brand receiver with this one, and what a difference. The whole system came alive with better overall sound. My old 15" Altec Lansing speakers really started showing what they were capable off with no need to add a sub-woofer. Sony products have always been good and the quality is certainly in this product.

I bought this product about a month ago and am very pleased with it. It might have been an advantage because I already owned a modern Sony tv but setting up the system was very easy; it did most of it for me

Only had this amp a matter of weeks but sound is brill.. wud defo recommend paired with a pair on tannoy speakers sounds great. Set up is easy and amp very easy to use...

Have owned the A/V Receiver for about a month,and am very pleased with the performance. Easy set up. Turn on Sky Box and the receiver and TV start as well. Found a good price on the internet. Also downloaded the manuals before purchase which ensured I had prior knowledge. Thus was able to purchase the High Speed HMDI Cables (ARC) before Order arrived.

I bought the sony to replace a denon 1910 that had developed a fault. Cost a hundred pound less but sounds just as good in surround mode but it is with music the sony really shines compared to the denon. The smart features are great (wi-fi + blutooth) and easy to set up. In short this is a great AV amp especially if you also listen to music.

It's a fantastic amp let down by a few stupid issues: 1) Non standard FM connector. Why not coax for connection to FM aerial? 2) No gapless playback on USB media which means breaks in music playback when one track finishes and the next starts. 3) Remote control designed by team that can't have had any contact with amplifier designers. Amp has 4 custom presets but remote only has 3 buttons plus missing button for 'Video' input on remote. The amplifier comes so close to 5 stars.

Bought this to replace an old 2400 which had all but died. Full of loads of amazing new features and superb sound. really pleased I stayed with Sony.

My third SONY reciever. I can't fault it. Sound and features.

I wanted to go Sony to replace my old Pioneer receiver and had certain size restrictions, this one fits the bill perfectly. I'm glad I chose it as it works a treat and matches up to the Bravia TV I've got. Setup was a doddle and the quality of sound is amazing. I've not yet tried using my iPhone/ipad with it, that's the next stage.

I've used this product for a few months now and it does an great job with everything I throw at it! The sound quality is just crystal clear and the audio performance is unmatched at this price level. The SongPal app is a great feature that I use on my android phone and tablet to control the STR-DN860. I can control everything from the app including streaming FLAC from my NAS, switching source input, audio settings and more! Airplay, bluetooth and Google Cast support and very welcome, no matter where I am in the house, whatever device I'm using, I can just send the audio straight to the receiver. I would recommend this product to anyone that's thinking about buying a receiver, you won't be dissapointed!

This is a smashing unit, sound wise and features wise, streaming music from itunes to the amp is great, sound quality is great even my wife noticed the difference over our old amp. My only disappointment is when used with a W8 series TV do I still have to mess around with two remote controls, through in a PS4 and you have even more fun, would love to see these product integrated so for example press TV button and both amp and TV turn on.

Replaced my 840 with this 860. Can't express how good this amp is.

As a sound machine the DN-860 fulfills the task admirably. I've played a variety of audio and it plays all flawlessly. Flac via USB, Alac via itunes and everything my PC could throw at it. Well done SONY. The menu system takes a while to get used to but once you are comfortable with it, it does the job. Build use this is quite a solid unit.

It is easy to set up as the instructions are say to follow (which is a definite plus in my book). It is easy to use and it integrates nicely with my Sony TV. I find the sound quality is excellent and cannot see any reason to spend any more money than this for a receiver. Very good value for money. Thoroughly recommended.

I’m enjoying many things about my STRDN860 AV unit. However, even though it supports WIFI. I wanted to be able to connect to internet sites (i.e. Netflix) to stream videos, but the product is not capable. That is very disappointing.

Has the features I need for my setup and it really does work pretty well. There have been a few issues with using Bluetooth headphones but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Sometimes the sound doesn't transfer to my headphones but I've figured out that a restart will usually solve the problem. I did have some problems getting my LG HBS730 headphones to reliably connect and I did submit a question to Sony via their support website but I never heard back from them. I figured it out on my own and I've switched to an Ausdom M06 headphone and it works quite well. I really like their iPhone app for controlling this receiver. It allows me to be out on my deck and turn on the receiver, select my outdoor speakers, and pick the music or radio I want to have playing. This is the main reason I bought this particular receiver and it works very well for that purpose.

simple remote. sounds great with the klipsch speakers

The Sony 7.2 stereo receiver was easy to set up and configure. I especially appreciated the way the speaker wires could be attached easily. Works with Bluetooth or connected to CD or DVD player ( or iPod).

Setup was fairly easy, even though the material that came with the unit could have had more detail. I went to the on line manual but the link on Sony's site did not work. I'm sure that will be fixed. Just two disappointments which is my fault because I did not study the details in the ad. There is no switched AC receptical on the back of the unit. I used that for my powered subwoofer. Now I have to remember to turn the subwoofer on and off manually. Also, the fm receptical is a tiny circuit board type male plug instead of a coax plug. Hopefully, someone will come out with an adaptor. Of course with streaming music available, maybe fm is on the way out?? Other than that I really love this receiver. Another great Sony product.

Amazing amp.. I would recommend only if you can figure things out without a manual. That being said, support is horrible.. It did not come with a manual.. Just a quick start guide and a few other non-helpful things. It took a long time for me to figure out which app to get so i can control it from my phone and I STILL don't know how to access media on my server through the network feature... why? because there is NO DOCUMENTATION!!! Massive fail Sony.. how hard is it to include a piece of paper that says go here to download xxx and go here for the manual.. All that being said its a wonderfully engineered amp.. and once somebody writes a manual for it I will change my review to 5 stars.. P.S. Sony did not even put the companion apps in the download section for the amp?? how hard is it to tell the web department to do this? fail.

Having arrived a little while ago, I have only just set it up it what will be my entertainment room. SO far I have been getting intermittent menu faults, where features of a menu and sometimes entire menus (such as Network and System, along with screen) just display not available or not in use. making it impossible for me to set up the system, join my network, worst of all when searching for a manual (as there are only basics supplied with it) There is noting in the support section, nor on the web. Hopefully just a bug that will be ironed out after an update, but so far I am very disappointed.