Sony STRDH190 2-ch Home Stereo Receiver with Phono Inputs & Bluetooth Black

JLJ United States

Shockingly Great: Do Not Be Skeptical Of The Ultra Low Price

Do not allow the extremely low price on this Sony STRDH 190 stereo receiver to in any way prejudice you against considering it as a wonderful entry-level stereo receiver. I have purchased thousands of products on Amazon over the past 25 years, and I cannot think of any item that pleasantly surprised me more profoundly than this one. I also purchased the matching (style) Sony turntable PS-LX310BT which works perfectly with the STRDH 190 receiver. Sony's lowest priced receiver now sells for the astounding bargain price of only around $200, though I caught it on sale for closer to $150... and as impossible as this is the believe, it has in recent years gone on sale for as little as $99(!) I have no idea how Sony makes a profit at these price levels. Now I know, most people would think, "there is just no way a $200 receiver is high quality"... but I am telling you, that is dead wrong in this case, and you should prepare to be blown away by what you get at this crazy low price point. This is NOT a no frills unit. It is feature packed. It has connections for TWO PAIR (four total) speakers, and PLENTY of clean no-distortion power to drive all four speakers to loud and clear volume levels. It also has an A/B speaker switch to play through speaker set A, or speaker set B, or all four speakers at once. It has a phono stage pre-amp which is actually very good. Seriously, it is much better than the phono stage pre-amp built into my Emotiva integrated amp for which I paid $1,000. It plays vinyl loud with no distortion. You will NOT need an external phono pre-amp. It has excellent Bluetooth wireless connectivity built in... no trouble getting it to instantly recognized sources and play them perfectly. You can play all the music on your iPhone or other digital device, wirelessly. It has a huge allotment of extra connections, ... a whopping FOUR inputs... so you can also hook up a CD player, and another external device of your choice, and another one after that, and another one after that! (WOW). And that's is not counting your PHONO input which is actually a fifth input connection. Astounding accommodation of external sources at this (or almost any) price point. If you are a dinosaur who listens to FM ... it's got an FM receiver with 30 station presets, and an output to hook up a proper external FM antenna, and a long-wire FM antenna is included in the package Sony says the "HiRes" audio produced by this unit is "superior to CD quality"... though I am not sure how to measure that claim, especially if the extrnal source you are using is a CD player. It comes with a very high quality remote control, with real buttons, and many features. You can actually program each of your external sources to appear in the illuminated display as the specific names you want, rather than a generic default source name like "CD". The low price may raise an eyebrow, and the fairly light weight (much heavier on one side than on the other curiously) nature of the unit may also cause doubt... but only until you set it up and start listening, and your jaw drops. I would put this sub-$200 receiver up against any receiver on the market priced under $800, (and probably several of them priced at twice that much!) and I believe you will not be disappointed in the sound quality of Sony's entry-level unit. You certainly will NEVER find another receiver anywhere near this price point with so many features and inputs... all of which work flawlessly. This is the greatest bargain in the world of affordably-priced HiFi equipment. It is easily worth multiple times the asking price.

KEITH F LUSCHER United States

LOVE IT - Great Performance and Great Price

Speaking as a self-described "audiophile" (but a true audiophile with deep pockets would likely laugh), this was one of the best gifts I've given to myself in recent years (as I have a fairly large music library of nearly 600 albums of 1/3 vinyl, 2/3 CDs and some cassettes). Bought mine back in March--used to be $200, but when I saw it for $150 any hesitation went out the window and I grabbed it. I have been in love with it ever since. Fabulous sound and power (do you really need more than 100 watts per channel?), great remote control (not used to that, believe it or not), and it lives up to Sony quality. Powers my vintage components perfectly: > MCS Series 6202 Belt-Driven Turntable (had it since early 80s) > Nacamichi BX-300 Cassette Deck > Sony DVP-NS725P Disc Player (DVD but used mainly for CDs - audio-only connection) > LG TV connected via optical-to-analog adapter > KEF Reference Series 103/3 Stereo Speakers Interesting observation about the way the ports are labeled on the back: what would traditionally be identified as a tape deck port (with IN/OUT) is just "Input 4," and while it's connected to my tape deck for playback, the REC-OUT is connected to a USB audio adapter to digitally record anything (mostly vinyl of course) to my laptop for mastering and iPod/digital library access. The Bluetooth connectivity is awesome as well with powerful range - great for playing music from mobile devices (phone and iPod Classic with BT adapter). The front line-in 3.5 port, identified as a "Portable" is also a great feature. At first, I was surprised that there was no input for optical, however since digital-to analog adapters are inexpensive and readily available, I think it's best to leave it that way. Would rather have the option, rather than an optical-only port that would otherwise go unused unless one had a component that required it. HOWEVER, if I were to make any improvements, it would be to add a USB Out port (preferably on the front), for digital recording on a PC. However again, since adapters are inexpensive and accessible, and for the price I paid for this device, I ain't gonna complain. Front level analog balance, bass and treble controls would also be nice, but you have access to all that through the menu. If you feel due for a simple, powerful and awesome stereo receiver/amplifier upgrade without breaking your monthly budget, this is a winner.

Ink Independent United States

Overall Excellent - Thorough Review - READ ME

I'm not an audiophile per se, but I do have elevated listening preferences. I enjoy finding the value in devices, and system configs. So that's the reason I tried this more budget-friendly receiver. Aesthetics: The look is very sleek and modern, which is great but sometimes I miss the nostalgia of more knobs. There is no base/treble knob and most everything is controlled by remote. That's fine I suppose, just be aware. The volume knob is very large and traditional which I love, but is also very stiff and not buttery smooth like you might expect. Perhaps that will break-in. Sound Quality: Wow, this sounds incredible. There is definitely a DSP happening that is noticeably awesome. It's referred to by Sony as Pure Direct. If you want to by-pass this, you can, but you'll hear right away the difference is major. I'm using simple Klipsch bookshelf speakers, and my expectations are surpassed on how much they come to life with bright and rich sound. Definitely a nice pairing for those shopping for speakers along with this unit. Overall the SQ is gonna be tough to beat without spending exponentially more. Remote: The remote is nice, sleek, and has what you need to quickly access. No complaints there. Installation: Takes minutes, super easy. Didn't follow any instructions due to my general confidence hooking up home audio gear. Overall: I highly recommend this one, and I'm picky. Initially, I fully expected to return this receiver, but plan to keep it. The only thing that may change my mind, is if I miss the nostalgia... then I'll have to go vintage. But no way a vintage receiver will sound this good. Props to Sony. Well done :) A+

pete United States

Nice amplifier for the cost.

I had been using my Marantz model 22 receiver now for a couple years now with the TV, dvd player, and youtube music from my tablet. I like lots of knots and switches on my audio gear, I'm an engineer. I was getting tired of the seemingly endless up and down to adjust volume and whatever. And my inputs on the Marantz were maxed out. I searched Amazon to see what was available as a possible replacement that had a REMOTE. This Sony caught my eye. Relatively inexpensive, plenty of inputs, and specs I could trust, not a 3x4x5 box offering 220+220 watts of unlimited power! Ordered it and been using it for over a month now. Only 2 knobs, how good could that be? Well, it's remote let's me control everything without getting up. Plenty of output power, 100+100 watts of true RMS power. I didn't plan on using the Bluetooth but I tried it with the tablet, keeping the tablet by me, and it really impressed this old audiophile. I really don't have any negatives about it, even the fm sounds great. It was heavier than expected but not as much as that old Marantz. I even popped the cover. The build quality was what I consider good. I only wish I could find a service manual with the schematic for it.