Sony STR-DA7100ES Receiver Review
|
|
Pros
- ‘Phase Audio/Noise’ functions in Setup menu
- Upconversion of all inputs to HDMI
- Nice aesthetics
- Zone 2/3 remote control included
Cons
- Potential HDMI upconversion issues with 480i input
- HDMI switching limited to 1080i
- Unintuitive menu system & remote control
- No on-the-fly channel trims
- Remote lacks some basic features
- Confusing digital assignment of coax/optical inputs
- Only 2 component inputs
Sony STR-DA7100ES Introduction
Sony's ES line of products has a long heritage of being the best the company has to offer. This is the first official review of a Sony ES receiver by Audioholics so we wanted to see how their latest model, the STR-DA7100ES, compared against some of the newest competition within the market. Our focus was on usability, power handling, and features - the trinity of performance and rating criteria that are expected of any new product review.
Aesthetics & Build Quality
The Sony STR-DA7100ES is a beautiful
looking receiver in my opinion. This product is as distinctive as it is sturdy looking. We popped the
hood and quickly located the massive transformer which takes up about one-fifth the entire volume of
the chassis. A single 10,000 microfarad 100V filter capacitor is all you can see from the top, but 14
hidden caps underneath combined with 4 MOSFET transistors per channel makes sure that this digital
amplifier has plenty of power where it's needed.
The STR-DA7100ES features an 1/8" thick brushed aluminum faceplate that has a nice retro, aggressive stance. This is probably a result of the polished aluminum accents on the volume and input knobs and a graceful concave shape which appears just below the angularly recessed LCD display and input LEDs gracing the top of the unit.
Confused about what AV Gear to buy or how to set it up? Join our Exclusive Audioholics E-Book Membership Program!