Sony STR-DH190 Stereo Receiver Reviewed

[Willem]

Yes but it is significantly lighter than the AS301. Short of tests with measurements, for me heavier weight is a good indication of a beefy power supply. And the R-S202 does not have digital inputs.

 

[KozmoNaut]

I want to see comparative measurements. They could be using a switch mode power supply (they probably aren't), or the AS301 could have an overbuilt case, which Yamaha has a history of doing.

 

[anmpr1]

Could be on Sony's "Do not repair list." I had an el-cheapo Fender practice amp that broke, and Fender just sent me a new one. Said they didn't want the old one back. I had to take it to a dealer to get it exchanged, though. These cheap things probably wind up in the land fill.

 

[Willem]

Yes measurements would be better, but short of those I take weight as a pretty decent proxy for power supply. After all, the power supply is usually one of the two most expensive components (the case being the other one).

 

[Ron Texas]

Actually, this is typical consumer gear performance.

 

[peng]

I bet this is basically an AVR with the video and a few channels removed. It most likely shares the same ICs found in their Lower model AVRs. For less than $150, it seems like a good deal for people who only need 2.1. I didn't see a sub out but that's no big deal, there are many subs in the low end that supports speaker level input.

 

[GrimSurfer]

I don't think I would be as kind to describe it as a good amplifier. It starts limiting power at 9 watts, and then failed. Imo that is a bad amplifier especially considering it was a new purchase.

Agree. In fact...

The minute it failed, it stopped being an amplifier at all!

For less than $150, it seems like a good deal for people who only need 2.1. I didn't see a sub out but that's no big deal, there are many subs in the low end that supports speaker level input.

It was a waste of $150, which is not a good deal. It broke, probably irreparably by Sony standards (and certainly by home user standards) after being pushed to its limit. No protection circuitry for the PS.

 

[peng]

Agree. In fact...

The minute it failed, it stopped being an amplifier at all!



It was a waste of $150, which is not a good deal. It broke, probably irreparably by Sony standards (and certainly by home user standards) after being pushed to its limit. No protection circuitry for the PS.

I guess I speed read excessively, didn't realize it broke.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

AFAIR JA also killed a few boutique power amps with his stress test, one of them costing 100 times of what you payed for the Sony.

Love to know which ones.

 

[Xulonn]

@amirm , you are being criticized elsewhere for calling this receiver an amplifier - can you correct that in your review? Should be a 2-minute edit.

You are also being blamed for causing the failure, because the unit is rated only for 6Ω+, and you damaged it by testing it at 4Ω. Could the failure have been exacerbated buy the impedance difference? I am curious and don't know the answer.

(Yesterday, I showed the hilarious 2018 Terry Gilliam film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" at our weekly Sunday afternoon matinee at the local expat theater. I am beginning to feel like Don Quixote in my quest for audio chivalry at AudioAsylum.com.)

 

[phoenixdogfan]

What are you talking? The decapitated panther reviews are the most fun to read ;-).

They're like playing the videos of train wrecks in slow motion.

 

[amirm]

@amirm , you are being criticized elsewhere for calling this receiver an amplifier - can you correct that in your review? Should be a 2-minute edit.

Thanks. Made the correction.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Love to know which ones.

Based on JA's transition from straight-talk to wording a discommendation like it's a resolution before the General Assembly, he's not likely to do anything to violate the Omertà or the terms of the NDAs that are likely exchanged before a mega-buck piece of gear is delivered by courier.

But, yeath. I'd love to know too.

 

[amirm]

You are also being blamed for causing the failure, because the unit is rated only for 6Ω+, and you damaged it by testing it at 4Ω. Could the failure have been exacerbated buy the impedance difference? I am curious and don't know the answer.

As I explained, the "6 ohm" thing in this unit and AVRs is so that UL doesn't test it at lower impedances and demand that it run cooler (i.e. no risk of burn). It, as with AVRs set to "6 ohm" happily drive 4 ohm loads as I show in my measurements and those performed by others such as Audioholics that there is no problem with driving 4 ohm loads.

Indeed, nothing bad happened when I tested the unit's power versus THD. It did not even go into protection mode.

Speaking of protection mode, it was put in there to protect the amplifier from being damaged. You should be able to short out the speaker outputs and nothing should break.

Also, I put a fan on the unit during the testing.

Certainly a lot of people would be using these units with 4 ohm load without knowing if their speakers dip that low.

Having blown other amps despite using them within their spec , the failure here is really running the unit at 1% THD for a long time. The protection circuit likely doesn't have temp sensors for the power supply which may have led to its demise. This is not a usual use case and hence the reason I also gave "good" panther award to it.

 

[JJB70]

I find it sad to think of the hifi equipment Sony once made, and what they can do today when they want to (some of their headphones are excellent, their noise cancelling tech matches Bose as being the joint best you can get IMO) when I look at stuff like this. The performance seems pretty reasonable for the price but it should be able to withstand a stress test without collapsing in a heap. I don't know about the US, but here it'd still be covered by a statutory warranty obligation on the seller.

At this end of the market spending a little bit more often gets you quite a jump up in terms of quality, design and performance and companies like Yamaha seem to do budget amps much better. Or alternatively, Behringer amplifiers may feel low rent and they may not measure especially well but their audible performance is fine, they offer a lot of power and in my experience they're tough old beasts which can take a lot of abuse despite costing peanuts for the power they provide.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Certainly a lot of people would be using these units with 4 ohm load without knowing if their speakers dip that low.

Correct.

They're double insulated so that people won't electrocute themselves when they operate the thing as soon as getting out of the shower. So, using such logic, having circuit protection is a wise idea.

It's not like Sony is new to the consumer electronics game.

On a personal note, I'd have preferred reading about that unit catching fire (like a $20 Chinese drill I tried to use to bore a 1" hole in a slab of iron wood. Once the cheap POS started smoking, I put on a set of insulated gloves and went for it. The flames actually shot out the sides, similar to what you'd see come from a flash arrestor on an M16 on full auto).

 

[LTig]

Love to know which ones.

Just a quick search:

• PS Audio BHK Signature 300 ($ 15,000 per pair)
• Constellation Audio Performance Centaur Mono ($ 54,000 per pair): JA: "However, although I switched off the signal generator as soon as the Centaur clipped into 2 ohms, the amplifier wouldn't pass a signal after this test. Obviously, I had broken something. (The possibility of damage with this very stressful test is why I leave it until the end of testing.)"
  It was just a fuse though: "When he received the amplifier back after the review had been published, Peter Madnick let me know that an internal fuse had blown, that the amplifier wasn't damaged."
• Dan D'Agostino Momentum monoblock ($ 55,000 per pair)

 

[m8o]

Why do most DACs in A/V Recievers SUCK BIG DONKEY BALLS SO BAD?!

 

[tktran303]

I had a receiver that went kaput when my wife accidentally disconnected the speaker cables whilst vacuuming. The cables from the +ve and -ve speaker output terminals touched each other, leading to a short which blew the MOSFETs. And that was the end of that unit.
This was a Linn Classik CD Receiver that I was given, which costed a cool US$2000, back in 2000.

Taking into inflation, and perspective, I think some are being excessively critical of this unit.

 

[peng]

Why do most DACs in A/V Recievers SUCK BIG DONKEY BALLS SO BAD?!

If you include the entry level models, then that may be the case. Many mid range AVRs such as models at or above the likes of the Yamaha RX-A1080, Denon AVR-X3500H, Marantz SR6013, and the competing Pioneer and Onkyo equivalents are equipped with either AKM's AK4458 or ESS's ES9006/7. Those DAC chips will not likely be the bottleneck, and the volume control ICs and perhaps some OPA ICs in the signal chain could be the culprit. In some cases, it could also be noise (e.g. from the power supply) that dragged down the SINAD that Amir measured.