Sony STR DA3400ES 7.1 channel 700 Watt Receiver

I have lived with a previous Sony receiver since the late 1990's. As HDTV and 7.1 surround capabilities began taking a foothold I knew I wanted to upgrade again to something that would last another decade into technical change.

I turned to Sony again because of the flawless track record of my previous receiver. Having read a lot of reviews, I was concerned about ease of set up and user friendly menus and remotes. Also, I wanted the capability to add external amplification in the future if I decided to go that route.

The upper end ES series of Sony products seemed like the place to look, but prices were prohibitive except at the very bottom of the series. I would have probably purchased the STR DA24000ES until I saw this receiver come to Ebay at a very comparable price.

It was easy to set up out of the box and fit my old receiver's space in the rack almost exactly. Cabling, while there was a lot of, was not difficult. If you have wired stereo and surround receivers in the past, it isn't difficult. At this point I am wired traditionally with standard RCA cords, but have purchased HDMI cords to switch over to that cable system on a weekend when I have time.

The automatic surround setting created by the special mic that is included is truly amazing. No changing settings yourself and trying to guess the correct levels for proper balance. I purchased some mid-surround speakers from Ebay also during the upgrade and wired the room for 7.1 surround. WOW! Even though the techno-blogs say that all movies are not recorded in true 7.1, the interpreted signals by the 3400ES are amazing. My family and I started hearing things in movies we had never heard. In some scenes you are literally IN the scene with the audio track accurately placing sounds all around you. Amazing.

I also had gotten a Sony Blu-Ray disc player in planning for the future. With my old receiver I was unable to get auto-switching of 1080 video and the surround didn't always decode correctly. With the 3400ES all those functions are direct through the remote as you changes inputs. The upscaling of my old DVD carousel also comes through clearly. All surround signals decode simply and the unit is easily operated.

This is a smart machine. It is not a beginners toy and not at an entry level price, but if you are planning for the future, interested in a Sony based system, and want amazing performance, I am not sure I have read about a greater experience than the DA3400ES, especially if you are able to find the "deal" on Ebay.