Sony - STRAZ5000ES Premium ES 11.2 CH 8K A/V Receiver - Black

This receiver is surprise me. First of all the sound output is awesome due to its built in 32- DAC. Secondly, I have been accustom to using marantz and onkyo receivers in the past and familiar with DIRAC and was worried about calibrating my system accordingly. Luckily’ the built in calibration system that utilize its 360 spacial is on awesome.. Half the work is done for you and it is FREE. No need to buy dirac live or bass control. With that being said bass control is none existent with gain your only control, but who cares when it measures everything. Lastly, based on calibration regardless of speaker placement or missing speaker this receiver has the ability to make the SOUND like you have a 5.2.4 or 7.2.2/7.2.4 set up in the correct placement even though your placement is off or missing speakers (atmos) need at least two ceiling / upfiring / height speaker. Confused? My front L is about 5 ft from C channel and R speaker is about 7 due to my living room lay out. Surround and rear surround. Went testing this function i disconnected my L surround and R rear surround but had 2 middle ceiling speakers as my height. Then recalibrated system and picked the phantom setting and miraculously sound was coming out from nowhere and sounded like you had the 7.2.2 system. Enough to use 360 spacial calibration. I reconnected my speakers and did another recalibration and i couldn't hardly tell the difference when watching 4k content. The model is awesome for price. If you can get the sony az7000es but if you are on a budget get the 5000 not the 3000 as a minimum. The sony az3000 has missing output's , do your research and decide if you need it or not. I also want to mention my rear surrounds are the wireless speakers Sony SA-RS 5 ( comes with up firing atmos ) because i didn't want to run too much wires. Cons: Display is dim hardly see unless you’re in front of it ( at least its bigger than marantz peep hole ). Wireless function can only support one pair speakers and two wireless subs( I had two wired sub so I didnt care too much about it ). Had issues with the first pair of sony sa-rs5 connection where my right rear surround keeps cutting in and out so i exchange for new pair! New pair didn't cut out or haven't had any issues yet. It has only two sub outs. (Added y connector to one so i could run 3 subs) Lastly EQ is limited gain only treble or bass In conclusion ( MY OPINION ) : awesome and easy calibration that is on par to DIRAC. However, DIRAC is still awesome due to individual speaker fine tuning. Usually reserved for audiophile's. For everyday listeners you will be happy. Plenty of power but in my set up i have an external 3 channel amp for my martin logan xt f200. Didn't want to over use receiver for all 11 channels. Easy to use set up! Inexpensive for the receiver’s bells and whistles! Buy it. Try it. If it’s not for you then return it! Give it a chance you wont be disappointed especially if your still hung up on deciding which receiver or want to try something new. Happy Hunting!!

Before this receiver Ive tried out the denon avr-x4800h, the avr-x6800h, the avr-x8500ha, Pioneer Elite vsx lx805, the yamaha rx-a1080 and rx-a3080 and this is the only receiver that makes my combination of B&W , Martin Logan, Paradigm, and SVS system sing like it should. So musical out of the box without any autocalibration. IMAX Enhanced DTS:X and Dolby Atmos are just as good. Again out of the box ! I cant wait to do Sony's Auto Calibration to really see it shine !! 360 Reality Audio is a really cool feature and sounds great. It almost reminds of my dads old Pioneer quadraphonic real to real 4 channel system from back in the day, especially listening to smooth jazz, you are definately in the middlle of it. First receiver Ive ever owned that sounded this good out off the Box !! I agree with Andrew Robinson, this is the best sounding receiver out there !! I wonder if the extra power of the 7000es would be even better. Might have to check it out sometime . I'm totally good with what I have now . Sony ES is Awesome !!!

[Employee of bestbuy] Went from a Marantz 6015 to Sony i was nervous at first but wow the clarity thats comes from this is great. The interface is modern simple, calibration was easy to setup Sony’s 360 reality audio is immersive i was very skeptical but after trying it out I changed my mind. The thing keeping it from having 5 stars is no independent subwoofers, It’s driving me nuts i will keep testing it.

Came from a flagship Marantz that dropped an Atmos channel. This AVR has met every expectation I had when researching. Sony doesn't seem to get a whole lot of love in this department, perhaps because they lack an assortment of HT speakers to go with these receivers. I've seen some negative reviews of this AVR complaining of popping noises. Not sure where that comes from as this unit is 100% quality in every way possible and has enough features to please even the most demanding audiophile. Absolutely flawless so far. This AVR will rival any other 11.2 species available. Music, especially Atmos music is extremely immersive. Just sit back, close your eyes, and melt into the sound that is so crystal clear it just gives you goose bumps. When it comes to movies, it in no way disappoints. The same immersive mind meld takes you right into every scene as if you were there. I have this set up in a 7.2.4 atmos configuration with ceiling speakers and used the auto calibration. Haven't changed a thing from that point and the sound is soooo beautiful to the ears. It just makes you go WOW. I play all music and movies from a PC with an RTX 3090 direct to the receiver. Sony hit this one out of the park. It's powerful, it's loud, and its just 100% awesome. I would have to dig deep and search hard to find a complaint but the only one that might come to mind is that it doesn't have independent sub outs. Thats a pretty minor thing though. I dont really find myself having to get out of my recliner much to nudge the subs. I can live with that. Just love this AVR and can't stop entering the mind meld with all the time I have available. If you're on the fence with this AVR, know you can't go wrong with it. You'll be very glad you did. Now you'll have to excuse me, the mind meld is calling.

Well where do I start. The unit build quality alone is impressive and the sound quality is lack of a better word is amazing! Im coming from the STR-AN1000 and before that was the STR-AN790 all impressive receivers. What stood out to me is the clarity of little sounds that in the movie would travel around you and just how precise the receiver would process the sounds. Currently running it in 7.2.2 and with Sonys on screen setup it makes it simple and visually easy and it will suggest speaker arrangements if it to loud in spots or just to close to a speaker. All in all I’m super happy with the unit and I’m loving more time.