Right On The Mark

This is a great home stereo for your general use and packs enough power (former young male military party-type) and pure sound (very low thd, great range, no weak areas) to keep me totally happy. Sounds GREAT on my Bose 301. I replaced my Onkyo TX-38 (paid $300+ back in 1987 at Best Buy or Circuit City) with the Sony STR DE197 ($149 in June 2006 at Best Buy) after the Onkyo finally "gave up the ghost" (transforer failing again). I am more satisfied with the Sony than I ever was with the Onkyo. Read the specs but let me be simple and say the Sony totally hit the mark for a two speaker "stereo". I consider myself an audio purist but with a "beer" budget on my cashflow as on my time. Admitedly I don't care for home theater (3+ speakers and channeling) but that's because I'd rather be outside doing something rather than inside watching movies. But I port the VCR/DVD/TV through the Bose 301 and, again, it sounds better than the older Onkyo ever did. If I had read the previous reviews and believed them, I would have spent an extra couple hundred dollars unnecessarily to get a more "preferred" model according to the review-ers. This is my opinion, but I feel I made the right call and now I have more money for my other endeavors. Recommended to my friends.

I listen to a wide spectrum of music and all sound great to me: Classical (Vivaldi, Yo Yo Ma), Rock (Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani), contemporary Christian (Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore) as well as route the TV and DVD. Oh, and for TV and DVD, the manual says it has a "midnight mode" to more flatten the audio during late night hours in order to avoid waking the neighbors. I haven't tried yet. But the bass boost works wonderfully in order to punch up the base - my Bose 301's sit 6.5 feet off the ground - not the ideal for bass reflection so I've used the bass boost a couple songs and it shakes the windows appropriately and clearly(and makes the kids laugh and me smile).

I bought the Onkyo because of the "audiofile" brand name. That was in 1987 the year when I graduated high school. I'm no longer out to impress anyone with "audiofile" brand names, I just want the best sound I can get without unnecessarily overspending on "style". I thought I'd always buy Onkyo for the rest of my life, until I saw the current prices, compared the sound of this Sony and personally couldn't justify the difference (I'm sure there are plenty of differences.)

Here are some specifics I've cut/pasted from reputable retailer:
-200 watts total power: 2 x 100W, 40Hz - 20kHz power rating @ 8 ohms
-Frequency response: 20Hz - 50kHz +0/-0.5dB with bass boost bypassed
-THD (Total Harmonic Distortion): 0.09%
-Inputs: video1, video2, CD, tape
-Outputs: 1 analog line output (Video 1), 1/4" headphone jack
-A/V UniCommander Remote with phosphorescent glow keys

Want more specs? Link to Sony Manuals/specs/warranty via following:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=STRDE197
(I reason that this link could change at Sony.com, so if it doesn't give you expected results, you may need to search for the str de 197 model at sony.com)

True audiofiles (of the high-end sort), will surely find plenty of flaws. But I am totally satisfied with this being right on the mark as marketed and I am totally satisfied with how this sounds on my Bose 301's.