STRAZ5000ES Premium ES 11.2 CH 8K A/V Receiver

Stay clear of this product. Not sure if the one I got was a lemon or if it is was bad quality assurance on Sony's side, but mine had the following problems: 4K/120Hz wasn't working only 60Hz (not a settings problem as Sony help desk verified them and everything is working fine with the devices directly plugged to the TV), front speakers were randomly loosing power (becoming barely audible), Samsung HDR10+ usage was blocked by the receiver, wireless subwoofer was connecting but not playing, unable to use my TV as a PC monitor because the receiver would fail to reconnect after the PC wakes up from sleep.

As a longstanding Sony ES customer, I'll start off with the things I do not like about the STR-AZ7000ES: 1. No HDR10+ support. 2. No QMS support. 3. No QFT support. With that out of the way, this thing is worth every penny. I have owned a number of ES and non-ES AVR's over the past several decades, and nothing sounds as good as this thing. Setup and calibration is easy. The on-screen UI is easy. The web browser is great as it does everything the on-screen UI does. The iPhone app is simple but equally as effective. The remote control leaves a little to be desired, but it's not a train smash. The STR-AZ7000ES has range and power for days. It just keeps going. It does get a little warm (okay, very warm), so I added the AC Infinity Aircom T10 to keep it nice and cool. I highly recommend this for any AVR owner, as AVR's are notorious for running hot, even when they ship with their own in-built cooling fans. The 360SSM does sound quite innovative and interesting, but I prefer to watch content without it as I have a full 7.2.4 speaker system. If you have fewer speakers, 360SSM can help fill in the missing channels. The upmixing of 2-channel stereo music into Neural X is actually pretty good. I was originally a 2-channel purist for music, but Neural X does a great job of expressing all the high-frequency instrumentation and vocals across a 7.2.4 speaker system, while keeping all the low-end in the subs. As for movies, stop the press. This thing really shines especially in Dolby Atmos that has been properly mixed and engineered in the studio. In summary - do yourself a favour and get it!

Easy to Hook Up, Sounds amazing driving my home theater speakers, best bang for your buck, it does have Bluetooth and WiFi, it also features a setup Microphone which automatically, it has multiple HDMI ports allowing you to hook up whatever device you want, has an amazing remote control where the buttons light up which adds to its Functionality of making it easier to use in the dark also the buttons on the I love the function of the cover plate for the front of the receiver as it gives a clean esthetic when the buttons aren’t being used another function it has is a 5v USB port on the front and an Ethernet port on the back so it’s definitely got all the bells n whistle for a functional system!

So I upgraded to this receiver from a low end Denon and WOW, it sounds very impressive. The sound is very clean and fills my room so much better. Good Dolby Atmos tracks like the 4K UHD Disc on Blade Runner 2049 have never sounded better. This is my first high end receiver in almost 10 years and I am blown away by how far technology has come. Setup is also miles beyond anything Denon/Marantz offer. The visualization and menus are fantastic and it has a lot more calibration options which really seems to make a difference. That being said, at higher volumes, there is a constant hiss coming from all speakers which gets worse when you turn on 360 Surround Sound which is a key feature of the amp. I first read about this hiss in a review on another site and it's discussed all over the internet for all of the Sony ES receivers. Fortunately, when watching content, it doesn't seem to be much of an issue as long as you have 360 SSM turned off. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't. It definitely gets dramatically worse when you up the volume but only above normal listening levels. So if you're sensitive to a little hissing, this is not the amp for you. I found it wasn't particularly audible at normal listening levels and I can ignore it. Apart from the hissing, this is a dream receiver.

Powered 5.1.4 not easy to drive speakers quite well (Focal Sib Evo Atmos 6 ohms). Ultimately changed my speakers to KEFLS50 metas for a 5.1 setup instead and they still work great. I'm not an audiophile, but a casually high tech user won't be disapointed with what this is capable of. There are 3 trigger outputs which are great for ensuring everything necessary turns on when you power on your TV. This receiver integrates extremely well with an A95L, probably would work perfectly with any Bravia TV. The TV detects input sources through the receivier and can switch directly to them just fine.