Sony STRDH790.CEK 7.2 Channel Dolby Atmos/DTS: X 4K HDR AV Receiver - Black

Product Information

No matter what space or setup you’re working with, the flexible SonySTR-DH790 works with your speakers to make sure you get all-round stunning sound. The Sony STR-DH590 is one of my favorite entry-level receivers. After spending some time with that unit, I was curious to see what the step-up model, the Sony STR-DH790 had in store. Suffice it to say it didn’t disappoint. As for music, again the results were very strong so long as I remained within the capabilities of the receiver and used speak­ers suited to it… and switched the sound of stereo music to ‘Stereo’ or ‘Direct’ or to ‘Pure Direct’, rather than the silly ‘All Channel Stereo’ default. The Sony STR-DH790 is a solid receiver. Can you get a better sounding receiver? Yes, but not at this price point. For all intents and purposes, the 790 is an entry-level receiver with a little more power and punch. I really enjoyed the Sony STR-DH590 but, considering that for a few dollars more you get the added benefit of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, I would recommend the Sony 790 over its little brother.

When you’re not watching movies, this flexible Sony is just as happy streaming music from your smartphone or tablet. Simply connect via Bluetooth and enjoy your stored music and favourite streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer. A neat extra function is the ability to power the receiver on from your smartphone, too. When you start up the receiver it presents a kind of basic user menu across the screen of your TV. This can overlay whatever video signal is being throughput, even UHD HDR BT.2020 stuff, and it can be invoked at any time with the ‘Home’ key. The four options are ‘Watch’, which lets you choose one of the four HDMI inputs, ‘Listen’, which lets you choose from Bluetooth, the FM tuner (there is no AM tuner) and SA/CD analogue or digital, ‘Easy Setup’ which invokes a settings wizard, the inappropriately-named ‘Sound Effect’, and ‘Speaker Settings’ which allows manual adjustments to speaker settings.It accommodates a standard 7.2 surround sound speaker configuration, which provides a room-filling sound in large spaces. The best part is that you can even start off with just two front stereo speakers thanks to the S-Force PRO function. The S-Force PRO is a surround sound technology by Sony that helps create a virtual surround sound field by using only two front speakers

The 790 has a lovely rich tone, that adds an extra warmth to any music. Action scenes and ambience have that extra dimension (now) thanks to the addition of Atmos. Signal-to-noise ratios were excellent in the ‘Direct’ mode as you can see from the tabu­lated results. By way of comparison, whereas the Sony delivers an excellent 105dBA S/N re­sult in ‘Direct’ mode, it managed only 80dBA in 2CH mode under the same test conditions. The rear panel also houses HDMI inputs, antenna connections, and an enhanced audio return channel to seamlessly connect your compatible television. Overall, the appearance of the Sony STR-DH790 is above-average. The brushed metal face and turned-finish knobs offer a touch of class to an otherwise utilitarian design. relatively unprocessed and want the other speakers to conform, tonally, to them. ‘Engi­neering’ makes the sound match ‘the Sony listening room standard frequency charac­teristics’. (I got that from the online manual. The information you need is split between the printed one in the box and the online manual.) Finally, in ‘Sound Effect’ is a Pure Direct setting. An advantage that AV receivers offer is the ability to tune the system to suit your specific listening environment. Al receivers carry some form of built-in tuning. The Sony STR-DH79- uses one of the least sophisticated varieties of the program, Digital Cinema Auto Calibration (DCAC) six-band EQ. It uses a mono calibration microphone to receive specific tones from each speaker to adjust for distance, height, and speaker size.The STR-DH790 processes DTS:X, HD, HDMA, ES, and 96/24 object-based audio signal information codecs. The average consumer will find these formats to offer crystal clear and surprisingly lifelike audio. Tuning Capabilities

With support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, you get surround sound like they have in movie theatres. Rich, lifelike and all-encompassing.

Product Research

The more advanced stereo microphone, 16-band EQ system of Sony’s Digital Cinema Auto Calibration could make this receiver more user-friendly and also more valuable for people seeking fine tuning capabilities. Video Capabilities Sony STR-DH790 connections The easy setup option is the one you want for the initial setup process, as it works with the included calibration microphone to automatically tweak settings under the hood like speaker sizes and distances, speaker levels, and equalizer settings.