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

[mattsrs]

If it was me, I would want to see a very thorough review of the room correction first. With the X4800H you are getting tried & true solutions in the form of Audyssey and Dirac. With the Sony, who knows what you're getting? Some soundbar tech?

Fair point. I am intrigued by the 360 reality audio tech in Sonys and what Andrew Robinson and other reviewers said about ability to pin point exact location of audio effects (especially in FPS games). Problem is my 4800h return period ends in mid March so cannot wait long enough to see in depth Sony reviews. May bite the bullet and get the Sony to try for a few weeks and decide between the two

 

[ban25]

Fair point. I am intrigued by the 360 reality audio tech in Sonys and what Andrew Robinson and other reviewers said about ability to pin point exact location of audio effects (especially in FPS games). Problem is my 4800h return period ends in mid March so cannot wait long enough to see in depth Sony reviews. May bite the bullet and get the Sony to try for a few weeks and decide between the two

Let us know here if you try it also. Also, if you're able to do so, it would be great to get some sweeps with REW and a UMIK-1 to see what the frequency response looks like before & after for the Sony. Another thing to try is 360ra encoded music from TIDAL. I asked Andrew about it but it seems he is no longer subscribing to TIDAL.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

If it was me, I would want to see a very thorough review of the room correction first. With the X4800H you are getting tried & true solutions in the form of Audyssey and Dirac. With the Sony, who knows what you're getting? Some soundbar tech?

Agree 100%. I'm shocked that people in here would be comfortable using this new iteration of Sony's room correction software given the fact that it doesn't provide a mechanism to verify the before/after.. Historically, I've loved every piece of ES gear I've ever owned, and I really do believe in Sony's ability to deploy SOTA engineering and design when they feel like it, I just don't feel very comfy with a "black box" solution like this where you don't get to look under the hood.

 

[chelgrian]

Fair point. I am intrigued by the 360 reality audio tech in Sonys and what Andrew Robinson and other reviewers said about ability to pin point exact location of audio effects (especially in FPS games). Problem is my 4800h return period ends in mid March so cannot wait long enough to see in depth Sony reviews. May bite the bullet and get the Sony to try for a few weeks and decide between the two

Sony 360 Reality Audio is really a branding name for MPEG-H 3d audio. I've been unable to work out just what subset of MPEG-H the Sony system implements.

The only place MPEG-H 3d audio has hit is in South Korean TV standards everywhere else is has lost to Dolby Atmos so far.

It does help Sony's cause that all the streaming services that support immersive audio consume ADM files which can just as easily be encoded in to MPEG-H 3d for distribution as be encoded in to EAC3/JOC or AC4 for Dolby Atmos distribution.

 

[musicsoul]

Dear all,

just discovered new Sony AVR´s:
-> https://www.sonypremiumhome.com/compare-products.php
-> https://www.sonypremiumhome.com/pdfs/230111-FY23-ES-Receiver-Specs_FNL_Launch-Event_1-30-23.pdf
-> https://www.sonypremiumhome.com/pdfs/Sony_FY23-CI-Brochure_ES Receivers_FNL_1-31-23.pdf

Picture from https://www.avsforum.com/threads/sony-is-back-with-its-all-new-es-8k-av-receiver-lineup.3266678/

Any idea and/or experience how the Digital Cinema Auto Calibration IX and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping is performing?

Best regards

I currently own the Denon 4700 and wish I was able to purchase the current Sony 5000 instead.. I use to own the
Sony ES STR-DA5ES( back in 2003) and I can honestly say it's was the best audio device I have ever owned!!

 

[mattsrs]

Sony 360 Reality Audio is really a branding name for MPEG-H 3d audio. I've been unable to work out just what subset of MPEG-H the Sony system implements.

The only place MPEG-H 3d audio has hit is in South Korean TV standards everywhere else is has lost to Dolby Atmos so far.

It does help Sony's cause that all the streaming services that support immersive audio consume ADM files which can just as easily be encoded in to MPEG-H 3d for distribution as be encoded in to EAC3/JOC or AC4 for Dolby Atmos distribution.

Good point re 360 Reality Audio. I think based on the reviews so far, its not the question of Atmos vs MPEG-H 3D audio but rather how well Sony's upmixer (360 reality audio or whatever they call it) places details of sound in a movie scene or video game at the right place (spatially)

 

[TraumaDisaster]

I want to try out the 360 Reality Audio but I dont know if there is an actual button selector to choose the 360 upmixer on top of other formats.

I also want to try out the 2 center channel option, one on top of the screen and one beneath.

I also want to try sending it a signal from my denon3800 to see if it will add Spatial 360 on top of the 3800's auro upmix. Currently, I have a 3800 sending to another 3800 getting 7.8.8 in auro3d and it's great for me.

 

[Doctors11]

Here's the owner's manual.

STR-AZ7000ES/STR-AZ5000ES/STR-AZ3000ES | Help Guide | Front panel (with the front cover attached)

 

[Randomdude]

Hi guys there is a dramatic difference in size and weight between the STR-AZ1000ES and the STR-AZ3000ES. Do you think that in addition to the higher power that there will be meaningful improvements in sound quality for movies and stereo music?

 

[techsamurai]

Hi guys there is a dramatic difference in size and weight between the STR-AZ1000ES and the STR-AZ3000ES. Do you think that in addition to the higher power that there will be meaningful improvements in sound quality for movies and stereo music?

The 3000ES is a bit of a mystery as it's the only 40lb AVR to cost under $2,000 in 13 years that I can recall. The last one was the Onkyo TX-SR876 which cost $1,600 and had THX Ultra2 certification. The 906 was even crazier and it was just a bit more expensive. It had a massive toroidal along with separate power for audio and video stages. Crazy stuff! Say that to Denon or Marantz today - they'll charge $20,000 for it.

If it's only 1-2 lbs lighter than the 5000ES, I suspect it will have the same power. However, the price in difference is not that significant that I would consider the 5000ES just for the pre-outs for future upgradability.

 

[TonyJZX]

the 1000/3000 do not have full pre-outs... this will count it out for many

i agree with a lot of people here... i dont have much faith in these manufacturer RC systems

at this price i couldnt put my faith in whatever the hell Sony are doing here... i'd bet on dirac tbh

i mean people here dont even like audyssey that much

 

[techsamurai]

the 1000/3000 do not have full pre-outs... this will count it out for many

For the 1000 typical buyer, I really doubt those people have an external amp.

For the 3000, if it hits 100 watts for 7 channels, it'll be fine for most folks buying a $1,700 AVR. It would have been definitely nice to have that though. They should have included it for the LCR at least. All AVRs over $1,00 should have pre-outs for the LCR minimum and please gold-plate them on the ES.

i agree with a lot of people here... i dont have much faith in these manufacturer RC systems

at this price i couldnt put my faith in whatever the hell Sony are doing here... i'd bet on dirac tbh

i mean people here dont even like audyssey that much

Yeah, I guess someone has to measure it. The reviewers would probably have picked up on that to some extent. If your treble is 5db hot, I'm sure you'd be scratching your head and saying "please let this end and what is going on?". Ditto with bass. To be honest, if Sony's mic is better and they play longer frequencies, they may simply beat other systems just on that.

 

[mattsrs]

Sony shipped my AZ5000ES. Will get to me tomorrow!

 

[techsamurai]

Sony shipped my AZ5000ES. Will get to me tomorrow

Sweet - what's your current setup?

 

[mattsrs]

Sweet - what's your current setup?

Denon AVR-X4800. Got this to compare and decide which one to keep

 

[ThELiZ]

Denon AVR-X4800. Got this to compare and decide which one to keep

Really looking forward to your impressions. Especially on the EQ side of things

 

[techsamurai]

Denon AVR-X4800. Got this to compare and decide which one to keep

Yeah, anxiously waiting for your comparison. Do you have a list of stuff you'll demo?

 

[CyrusTheGreat_600BC]

Denon AVR-X4800. Got this to compare and decide which one to keep

Has anyone sent one to Amir as well?

 

[mattsrs]

Yeah, anxiously waiting for your comparison. Do you have a list of stuff you'll demo?

Really looking forward to your impressions. Especially on the EQ side of things

Just ran a couple L and R REW measurements on my 4800h with Audissey in Reference mode and will do the same after I setup the Sony. I have a playlist for testing my Audio gear but I think this Sony will shine in movies and games so gonna play some Call of Duty and see how well it does. My set up is 5.1.2 but all in wall/ ceiling. Fronts are Kef R series in walls that came to life after I replaced my RZ50 with 4800h. Curious to see how well the Sony can drive them

 

[techsamurai]

Just ran a couple L and R REW measurements on my 4800h with Audissey in Reference mode and will do the same after I setup the Sony. I have a playlist for testing my Audio gear but I think this Sony will shine in movies and games so gonna play some Call of Duty and see how well it does. My set up is 5.1.2 but all in wall/ ceiling. Fronts are Kef R series in walls that came to life after I replaced my RZ50 with 4800h. Curious to see how well the Sony can drive them

Perfect, you have REW measurements! Try some movies too especially ones with a lot of surround sound.

So you switched from the RZ50 to the 4800h? I guess you didn't like it?