Sony STR-DA5800ES AV-receiver

The STR-DA5800ES is an AV receiver unlike another. With it Sony has prevented the clear - there is Bluetooth or no AirPlay streaming - but pushed the envelope in regards to usability and leading edge signal processing. It is remarkably forgiving but offers uncompromised audio quality. For a lot of AV enthusiasts this will seem like great news really.

The STR-DA5800ES chooses its design cues straight from its forerunner, the STR-DA5700ES. It is a chunky layout in the superheavyweight course, separated with a stylised tiered fascia that is aesthetically considerably overly fussy.

Besides the typical seven-channel environment array, you will find front height channels that are elective.

Connectivity is excellent. Four of the HDMI input signals can show previews while high speed substitution, aka Quickly See is facilitated by five input signals. Sony has nominated two of the HDMI input signals (3 and 2) as optimal sound connections, perfect for SACD operation and picture playback. In repose, HDMI passthrough is also offered by the receiver.

As using the STR-DA5700ES, this new receiver has a built in network switch. But Sony's engineering team this time around, has gone from its own strategy to lessen system sound, shutting down the LAN points each independently when they are not in use, thus cutting down the flow of electric current that was redundant.

The STR-DA5800ES is at home networked than another AV receiver you can get. After on the internet it is possible to play with your personal content or take advantage of IPTV services and Sony's catch up. Very for an AVR, there is more video content than sound on tap. Sound-only recreations are mostly restricted to internet radio and Sony's Music Unlimited subscription service.

A la mode functionality contains 4K upscaling, which might or might not prove of use in the longer period, plus Ultra high definition passthrough for those intending to get a 4K source.

Select Watch and you are greeted with hires images signifying the inputs each. It is like browsing a Smart TV.

The stereophonic calibration mic plugs to the leading fascia and takes only 30 seconds to finetune amount loudspeaker space and phase. The outcomes tweaked or left level may be overlaid using the features of the Sony engineering room in Shinagawa.

What is especially apt is that significant processing grunt to compensate for those physical limitations that affect real world listeners is applied by Sony - few people have an ideal listening room at our disposal. A center loudspeaker Raise Up function effectively lifts the center speaker's vocal height, frequently placed too low due to physical constraints. Conversation intelligibility seems to enhance by transferring the evident supply of the center loudspeaker. The scale changes from 0 - 10.

No room for front height loudspeakers that are physical? Subsequently attempt this AVR's Virtual Front High Loudspeaker function instead - adds atmospherics that is uncertain. This ambience is really created from no particular height advice, and the primary stereo mix, but it is astonishingly powerful. More chimps were definitely relocated by the mode during Caesar's incarceration pencil sequence into my rafters. Virtual Loudspeaker Move can be obtained for all nine channels, letting you make a soundstage that might otherwise not be possible to get.

Able to incorporate scale that is subtle to the soundfield, the latest algorithms of Sony find a lot of room to work inside the STR-DA5800ES' nine-station environment. HD-D.C.S. is one sound treatment even purists will not discover sucky.

It's possible for you to choose from three Dynamic, Theater and Studio. The former recreates the type experienced with near field mixing, and that i found it especially powerful on Game of Thrones (a show which loves a combination that is particularly competitive). The Theater style is somewhat more grand, bringing a sharp dialogue to pictures. Dynamic could be ruinous and is entirely more obvious. The opening monologue seemed as if an Autobot recorded it.

Naturally there is also various music styles. Of special interest really are a threesome of concert hall treatments according to measurements taken in places that are real. The Berlin Philharmonic Hall mode relies on readings taken in the home base of the orchestra, while the Concertgebouw mode recreates the slappier reflections of an enormous plaster-walled hall. The Musikverein alternative emulates a wooden place in Vienna. They do supply a fascinating approach to transfer two channel sources right into a persuasive kind of multichannel while a major advocate of venue treatments never been I.

Build quality is extraordinary. The AVR features a 'Alloy Support Horizontal FB' (Framework and Beam) chassis, which links each side of the carton and was created to offer greater stability when managing LFE that is excessive. An alloy strut runs around the underside of the chassis giving added support, so A Good Day to Die Hard played at Benchmark Amount should not shake this pup.

It just comes on when certainly needed, although there is a cooling fan onboard; Sony says that 'natural air cooling'. Within my experience it too cold.

In total flight, the STR-DA5800ES proves exciting. It manages theatrics that are large using Patrick Stewart's ease. There is a fourth generation wideband power plant on the job here, plus it provides transients that are stellar. The receiver never rasps leaving intelligibility and detail untarnished. As a multichannel film machine that is high octane this ES main is a blast.

Step forward the Sound Optimizer, which fights the decreased slam that comes when you must lose volume (both high and bass frequencies are not easy to perceive at degrees that are low). The equilibrium discovered at higher volume using a frequency weighting curve is quite cleverly reinstated by the Sound Optimizer. A clear awareness is returned to the Star Trek universe when it is not going at full tilt when engaged.

File compatibility is outstanding across a network and from USB media. While there is no support at present for DSD, the quick-ascending download that is high quality format, Sony guarantees this should come at some stage throughout summer time.

The Sony is not incompatible with the audio codecs that are common, plus Dolby Pro-Logic IIz and DTS Neo: X, yet it does not proffer any kind -processing. Still, there is enough flexibility in the set up choices to efficiently recreate some -processing features that THX offers (little loudspeakers, 80Hz crossover, center station EQ etc) should old-schoolers would like to test.

The STR-DA5800ES is an inspired upgrade on the STR-DA5700ES of last year. The end result is a receiver that is flat out exciting, invigorating and creative to hear. What Sony has realized with virtual channel positioning edges on the ground-breaking, thus without the space to execute an idealized home cinema for every one of us, this is worth. A stunning performer.