sony str-va555es review

Picture courtesy of Ozan G. Yolcu.

Average Ratings

Value for Money	10/10
Reviewer Rating	9.3/10
Overall Rating	9/10

100% Recommended3 out of 3 Reviews

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By Dave. on 12th Dec 2002

Dave.'s Ratings

Value for money	10/10
Overall value	8/10
Dave.'s recommendation

Good Points

Excellent sound and superb build quality. What more can I say - it does it's job wonderfully well, and is a joy to listen to.

Bad Points

Not the most intuitive piece of kit to setup - definitely not for the faint hearted. The remote control, although good for controlling the receiver itself is completely hopeless as a universal remote (which it is advertised as). The sony remote's cannot be used to control other parts of the system without continually opening and closing the flap, and the lack of any useful buttons for other pieces of kit also reduce its usefullness. In the end I had to resort to buying a third party universal learning remote in order to make my system usable - kind of a shame for a receiver of this price to have such a poor remote, when Sony have done so much better in the past - oh well.

General Comments

The sony STRVA555ES is a very good receiver, and is the first in this price range, that I consider good enough to replace my current 15 year old stereo amp. Apart from the dreadful remote, I would have no hesitation in whole-heartedly recommending this receiver to anybody.

Total Respect: +6