New Sony ES 8K AV Receiver Line STR-AZ7000ES STR-AZ5000ES STR-AZ3000ES STR-AZ1000ES

[mattsrs]

Thanks for confirming @mattsrs evaluation. I wonder if this is an issue with the 3000/5000ES since the 7000ES has been reviewed online to be a top notch product.

I don't think for issues like this 7000ES would be any different tbh

 

[kalexan9]

I don't think for issues like this 7000ES would be any different tbh

My reason for that assertion is the fact that Youtube reviewer Andrew Robinson gave the 7000ES a glowing review where he described the 7000ES as an evolutionary step forward and mentioned only the center channel bug. Also, AVS forum reviewer Erik Wesley(?) gave the 7000ES a solid review as well and made no mention of the issues that you and another member here documented. I hope this gets sorted out soon with my pending purchase of a 7000ES.

 

[GXAlan]

I don't think for issues like this 7000ES would be any different tbh

Agree, except all the reviewers had the 7000ES.

What we don’t know is if the review units have newer firmware than shipping firmware and since these are going out too early, the launch day firmware update is missing…

 

[mattsrs]

Agree, except all the reviewers had the 7000ES.

What we don’t know is if the review units have newer firmware than shipping firmware and since these are going out too early, the launch day firmware update is missing…

It is so frustrating that you cannot see what room calibration does to the EQ chart. In my case, I am pretty sure my microphone was messed up and added noise to measurements which led to that terrible sounding outcome

 

[4MusicFirst]

Good thing my move date to the new house and media room has been pushed back to May, so I won’t need the 5000es until then, hopefully the bugs will be worked out by then..

 

[GXAlan]

It is so frustrating that you cannot see what room calibration does to the EQ chart. In my case, I am pretty sure my microphone was messed up and added noise to measurements which led to that terrible sounding outcome

That for sure is pretty frustrating. Took Audyssey the iOS app to even begin to get some info. Same issue with Yamaha. The Apple “we know what is best for you” problem.

Now that we have a second one where the calibration doesn’t seem to save to memory, it’s very likely that there is a batch of bad units (think about capacitors and Denon) or there is a launch day firmware update coming. The review units were clearly marked as review units, so they would have gone extra QC probably.

I bet the Sony technical team is getting their units shipped in the same batch as everyone who ordered directly from Sony!

The one good thing is that this at least suggests that supply chain shortages are less likely to be an issue. I imagine Sony’s buying power is enormous.

My worry is that the mic had a short (super long cable and the cheaper current mic model uses thinner wires) which may have led to hum which would be worse than just “noise” like a noise floor.

 

[mattsrs]

That for sure is pretty frustrating. Took Audyssey the iOS app to even begin to get some info. Same issue with Yamaha. The Apple “we know what is best for you” problem.

Now that we have a second one where the calibration doesn’t seem to save to memory, it’s very likely that there is a batch of bad units (think about capacitors and Denon) or there is a launch day firmware update coming. The review units were clearly marked as review units, so they would have gone extra QC probably.

I bet the Sony technical team is getting their units shipped in the same batch as everyone who ordered directly from Sony!

The one good thing is that this at least suggests that supply chain shortages are less likely to be an issue. I imagine Sony’s buying power is enormous.

My worry is that the mic had a short (super long cable and the cheaper current mic model uses thinner wires) which may have led to hum which would be worse than just “noise” like a noise floor.

Yea I was surprised by how thin and fragile the microphone cable is

 

[techsamurai]

If this is some kind of hardware issue, Sony will fix it. They are not going to be happy at all with a defective high-end product. They have zero tolerance for issues.

 

[symphara]

My reason for that assertion is the fact that Youtube reviewer Andrew Robinson gave the 7000ES a glowing review where he described the 7000ES as an evolutionary step forward and mentioned only the center channel bug. Also, AVS forum reviewer Erik Wesley(?) gave the 7000ES a solid review as well and made no mention of the issues that you and another member here documented. I hope this gets sorted out soon with my pending purchase of a 7000ES.

This is the second time I see Andrew Robinson’s endorsement in this thread. Is it worth anything? I’ve heard some stuff he raved about in the past and let’s just say I had the opposite opinion. Does he back his positive review of the 7000ES with anything, like a REW chart?

 

[GXAlan]

This is the second time I see Andrew Robinson’s endorsement in this thread. Is it worth anything? I’ve heard some stuff he raved about in the past and let’s just say I had the opposite opinion. Does he back his positive review of the 7000ES with anything, like a REW chart?

Sound quality is opinion.

Actually completing the auto setup without errors or saving configuration selections is pretty objective.

Shane Lee also liked it.

Also a fact that end users have it and Sony ES technical support which is a higher end group doesn’t have one yet.

 

[ban25]

So I received my AZ3000es yesterday as well and I completely agree with you. I had all kinds of issues. I currently have a new Yamaha RX-A6A that I have 2 more days to return if I want. After setting up the AZ3000es, had the same "black screen" issue where unit turns on but it just shows a black screen saying game. No auto set up like other receivers. So I press home and scroll thorough the settings just to see what's there before running auto calibration. First problem I saw was that "ZONE 2 is enabled and powered on out of the box". That made no sense to me at all. Turned that off and started watching tv. Sound was horrible. Sounded badly muffled and like the bass was completely maxed out. Then I did auto calibration. Went through with no errors. Completed the process and selected engineering type and saved. Started watching tv again. Still sounded really bad. Went in to settings to see what auto cal did and there's nothing there. So i redid calibration, same thing nothing there. I factory reset unit, powered off and redid. Same thing. Auto cal says it's saved and unit is calibrated but when you go into settings or try to use some features, it says you need to run auto cal. Now i call Sony. After an hour on the phone with the tech, he says I'm not sure what's going on it's definitely not correct. So he sends me to the higher support that handles just ES receivers. I tell him what's going on and he says wait, you have a new AZ ES receiver? Are you a dealer? I say no, I'm a regular customer. I told him i pre ordered on Sony website and received today. He says, that he's shocked i had it and that Sony tech support and dealers don't even have them yet and that they aren't being released yet for 2 more weeks. So he ran the the set up and some other things, did confirm that the unit is indeed not working properly. He did say again, that I shouldn't have the unit yet because they have not been released yet and as of right now there is no tech support for them yet and the Sony techs have not evaluated the units for real world issues yet. So unfortunately I will be returning the unit because there's clearly massive software and possible hardware issues with no time frame for a fix. If I hold on to the unit and wait for a fix, I'd miss the return window. Sony tech said they aren't being shipped to dealers until at least March 15th. You're not looking at a software update for at least a month. I really a shame because on paper it looks great and I have always like Sony products. The AZ3000es looks great, good build quality, fantastic warranty but clearly not ready to be released yet. Way to many issues right now. There were more issues I found that I didn't state here but I'm not going to write a book here. My unit was all steel frame. You said it was all plastic on the outside? Anyway, I'm returning and going back to the Yamaha RX-A6A.

This confirms my fear that these products would face a rough launch because Sony is essentially re-entering a market that they have not participated in for several years. So they have new software that has not been exposed to customers, their customer service organization is not up to speed on the new products, and they may face a higher defect rate due to a new production line. Basically a perfect storm of teething issues for a 1.0 product.

 

[techsamurai]

This confirms my fear that these products would face a rough launch because Sony is essentially re-entering a market that they have not participated in for several years. So they have new software that has not been exposed to customers, their customer service organization is not up to speed on the new products, and they may face a higher defect rate due to a new production line. Basically a perfect storm of teething issues for a 1.0 product.

That is concerning if that's the case but they are Sony which you can't say about any other company other than Yamaha (the Yamaha folks working on grand pianos wear 3 sets of gloves to make sure they don't leave any residue). Their attention to detail is second to none.

 

[ban25]

That is concerning if that's the case but they are Sony which you can't say about any other company other than Yamaha (the Yamaha folks working on grand pianos wear 3 sets of gloves to make sure they don't leave any residue). Their attention to detail is second to none.

That's debatable. I've worked with their software organizations professionally for many years and I'd say they are about average for most Japanese companies.

 

[techsamurai]

That's debatable. I've worked with their software organizations professionally for many years and I'd say they are about average for most Japanese companies.

Emphasis on "average for most Japanese companies". Japanese people are so fastidious about quality, it's not even funny. At a famous Japanese sushi restaurant, the owner had his son make eggs for 6 months before they were good enough to be served. Compare that to most chefs at expensive restaurants that can't bother to make pasta to order

 

[ban25]

Emphasis on "average for most Japanese companies". Japanese people are so fastidious about quality, it's not even funny. At a famous Japanese sushi restaurant, the owner had his son make eggs for 6 months before they were good enough to be served. Compare that to most chefs at expensive restaurants that can't bother to make pasta to order

Actually I find most Japanese software houses to be behind the times relative to their western peers. Their engineers are solid, but their processes are lacking. For background, I studied Japanese for 2 years, worked with a Japanese publisher, and have been to the country over 30 times.

 

[techsamurai]

Actually I find most Japanese software houses to be behind the times relative to their western peers. Their engineers are solid, but their processes are lacking. For background, I studied Japanese for 2 years, worked with a Japanese publisher, and have been to the country over 30 times.

For sure, they are very inflexible when it comes to change. You seem to be quite familiar with them. What's your favorite place and thing in Japan?

 

[kalexan9]

This confirms my fear that these products would face a rough launch because Sony is essentially re-entering a market that they have not participated in for several years. So they have new software that has not been exposed to customers, their customer service organization is not up to speed on the new products, and they may face a higher defect rate due to a new production line. Basically a perfect storm of teething issues for a 1.0 product.

Regardless, I see ANY former regular manufacturer who re-enters the market a good thing. Even if it takes them a cycle or 2 to get up to speed we all should welcome it. Over the years we've lost Harman/Lexicon, Sherwood, Pioneer (exists in name only now), we almost lost Onkyo, and we thought Sony was lost. Who wants a state of little competition and just a handful of player? We already are seeing the result of lower quality production and prices that are almost double. The only way to combat this is healthy competition and returning to the days of having more of a choice. Onkyo shook up the industry 2 years ago with, not just a revival, but being the first main stream maker to include Dirac at an affordable price, and pressured D+M to step their game up. I say welcome the return to true competition even if it means having to be a little patient.

 

[mattsrs]

Actually I find most Japanese software houses to be behind the times relative to their western peers. Their engineers are solid, but their processes are lacking. For background, I studied Japanese for 2 years, worked with a Japanese publisher, and have been to the country over 30 times.

I second this. Look how outdated and crappy Lexus/Toyota infotainment were before they moved software dev to US last year

 

[GXAlan]

Basically a perfect storm of teething issues for a 1.0 product.

Agree. Although let’s see what happens when Crutchfield is actually shipping them out. The fact that none of the major retailers or tech support has gotten it suggests a mistake/error at Sony shipping & logistics. If I'm not mistaken, the original JBL SDP-55 required the retailer to open up and update firmware. Sony ES typically is sold by premium dealers who might be able to do this in the first batch of manufacturing.

I second this. Look how outdated and crappy Lexus/Toyota infotainment were before they moved software dev to US last year

The one thing about Lexus/Toyota infotainment though, was how reliable it was. The GPS never lost signal. You never suddenly had volume jumping to 100%. It just wasn't ergonomic (the mouse thing) nor was it attractive.

My Sony STR-ZA5000ES (prev gen) wasn't particularly fancy from the ergonomics either -- but it's was a true workhorse and that's why I gave it to my parents who need reliable HDMI-CEC and zero hassles. But as ban25 stated. We have new platform, new factory, and a big lull in development even before the pandemic.

 

[kalexan9]

Looks like someone over on AVS forum is really digging his Sony AZ5000ES and praising it over the Denon 6700H that it replaced. Seems particularly impressed with music.