Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Poor audio quality October 6, 2008
Based on other Amazon reviews, I decided to give the STRDG720 to an 82-year old friend who couldn't hear his TV well. I thought it would be a good application for a budget receiver. My mistake was loaning him my 5-year old Sony 1000ES first ("Elevated Standards" line). He loved the bright, crisp sound of the 1000ES and even started listening to digital music stations on cable. When I swapped in the 720, he said it didn't sound nearly as nice (of course he was right). Even an elderly man with faltering hearing could tell the difference. It sounded thin and artificial. I returned the unit, and he kept the loaner.
The lesson is you can't make decisions based simply on watts/channel and %THD. If you could, why would Sony have an entirely different ES line where the "budget" model costs $500 more than this one?
The hardest part in comparing receivers is knowing the quality of the components inside, which aren't broken out in detail or published. Often there is a direct correlation to weight. The Onkyo 606, which has excellent reviews for audio quality, weighs 7+ pounds more (according to specs posted on Amazon). That weight can be attributed directly to higher quality components.
If you must go with Sony, consider the 820 (I think another reviewer in a different forum mentioned it was high current and contained better components), or jump to the 2400ES. Sub-par audio, even with lots of video bells and whistles, is a deal breaker for me. I've learned you get what you pay for. I think most people just don't know what they are missing. When music or a live concert played on your AVR brings a smile to your face, you know you made the right decision. This was a disappointment, but I am to blame for expecting more in this price range, and especially from Sony, who is not known for audio quality in their lower end consumer models.
 madskillz October 6, 2008
yes the sony is nice have some good and bad I think the sound could be better but after listen to a devon Ill take this with fling grapes , hdmi, dolby truehd, hdmi audio, home theater, hdmi switcher, blu-ray, 1080p, hdcp the good
Great value, but can channel A and B play together? October 4, 2008
Great value on a nice receiver. However, as best I can tell, I can't play speakers A and B at the same time. Could this be so???
 Sony earns my money again September 30, 2008
I researched several different receivers including Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha and ended up going with this one because of price, features, and performance. I upgraded from a 5 year old Sony receiver w/o HDMI inputs. I kept my old Sony surround speakers and JBL center channel and let me just say I didn't know they were capable of sounding so incredible!
If you have a PS3 for blu-ray you don't need a receiver with TrueHD or DTS MA...it will decode those signals and send them to the receiver. But you need HDMI for them and some receivers out there don't carry audio through HDMI (Denon AVR-1609). THE SONY 720 WILL CARRY AUDIO THROUGH HDMI.
I watched the beginning of Transformers last night and the sound was absolutely jaw-dropping!! I got a VERY affordable receiver that will do what the high-end units will do. I can't believe what I've been missing all this time. I guess I'll have to watch my BD library again, darnit.
Very highly recommended!!
Sony HomeTheater Receiver September 19, 2008
I had to update my previous receiver due to the fact it did not have HDMI controls. I have my PS3, HD DVD, regular Xbox and Sony Bravia Projector hooked up to it and all components work great. I still have my old sony surround speakers, but upgraded the center and sub to Yamaha's NSC225 and YSTSW315, respectively, and the receiver pushes them well. I would recommend this receiver to anyone.
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