Sony STR-DN1080 -7.2 AV-viritinvahvistin

Good amount of inputs, more than I could ever use, one problem i’ve found is with the DLNA, it doesnt seem to like any of my downloaded files do am unable to play multichannel music from my laptop, other than that it’s great

I couldn't be more satisfied and happy to own my Sony home sound system

I have had this a few years now and it has performed perfectly. The addition of Dolby ATMOS and 4k in more recent times has only made it that much better. An old system now, but still a great performer in these modern times.

This is a great receiver and does everything I want it to do.

My only gripe is that there are no more updates planned to keep it performing better than ever.

Keep the firmware updates coming Sony. This applies to my AG9 TV as well.

Great addition to my home cinema. Great reproduction of sound and picture.

Buy this and providing your speakers are up to scratch you won't go wrong. Superb!

bought this recently to replace 1040. seems more dynamic sound and better clarity, only small hiccup! the resolution, input and clock banner kept appearing across top of screen, very annoying! was sorted out by richer sounds who advised me in was the tv not the amp,

they showed me how to switch it off soon all good.

I am delighted with my STR-DN1080 AV receiver because the improvement in sound quality over my previous system is amazing. Why? the room where the system is installed unfortunately suffers from annoying resonances and with the previous AV amplifier (STR-DH790) or with the TV's own speakers and even with the radio, the room acoustics caused resonances at the low end of the speech spectrum, producing an unpleasant "honking" tone on male and female voices and an uneven bass and vocals on music, varying with listener position. Nothing I could do could cure this, by changing the loudspeaker positions or recalibrating the amp. or adjusting the equaliser controls. However the STR-DN1080 has completely eliminated these effects, as if by magic. My guess is that it is a combination of the new and superior Auto Calibration (D.C.A.C. EX) the stereo calibration microphone, speaker relocation and the automatic phase matching (Calibration Matching). With the new STR-DN1080, speech and vocals are now perfectly reproduced and music has smooth extended bass without holes and peaks, wherever I am positioned in the room.

FYI most of the other component of the new set up have been carried over from the old - Bowers & Wilkins M1 speakers for front L, R and centre, B&W ASW608 subwoofer, smaller Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS for surround and height speakers, Sony BDP-S580 for Blu Ray, DVD and CD, Sony KDL46HX903 TV, Virgin TiVo cable TV box (HDMI connected) and an unbranded Android TV media box with 2TB HDD connected to the higher quality SA-CD/CD HDMI input. The only difference is that the previous system used Surround Back speakers, which are now used for Height, while Phantom Surround Back has been selected during calibration. The media box is used for viewing stored home videos, photos and slideshows, extensive music collection (mp3 format) plus downloaded video and Internet radio (e.g. Jazz FM, BBC iPlayer). So altogether quite a high quality system, which all works simply and seamlessly with the STR-DN1080 due to the ARC/eARC, Bravia Sync and because the TiVo and media boxes have semi programmable remotes meaning that only one remote at a time is needed to control the TV, Amp, TiVo, media box or BD player, making for a simple to control "home friendly" system.

I do not use any of the analogue inputs or outputs, but a stereo analogue output, mixed down from the 7.2 HDMI output would have been useful for connecting to my Sennheiser wireless (not Bluetooth) headphones. Because these are low latency wireless, I can use them at the same time that the speaker system is on, which I do sometimes (by direct connection to the source analogue outputs via a manual switch). The regular headphone socket turns off the speakers, as does the Bluetooth transmitter facility. I have tried the Bluetooth transmitter facility with cheap Bluetooth earbuds, but while OK for music, the delay (latency) is so high that it makes speech on video awkward to watch. I see that STR-DN1080 features a high quality, low latency Bluetooth feature - LDAC, but I notice that LDAC does not feature in the specifications for the well reviewed Sony Bluetooth WF-1000XM3 premium earbuds, but rather the industry standard aptX, which the STR-DN1080 does not, so I wonder what is going on here? I have not used the Bluetooth receiver function for casting etc. but I do like the Sony Music Center App which is a nice alternative way of controlling the receiver from my smartphone.

The second HDMI output (B) is useful. I occasionally use it with an HDMI capture device to back up stuff recorded on the TiVo box, but in the future, will probably wire up an HDMI extension for a TV in another room so that we are able watch the same media that is playing on the main TV . It is rather complicated to set up the STR-DN1080 in this way and it is not really explained simply in the user guide:

1. On Handset HDMI Out select HDMI A+B (view Amp display)
2. From Home – Zone Controls, select HDMI Zone Power – On
3. From Home – Zone Controls, select HDMI input - Source
4. From Home – Settings – HDMI - HDMI B Mode, select Main
5. From HDMI Settings – select Audio Out – AMP + TV

Phew! and note that when mains power is switched off, Audio Out reverts to AMP (only) and if not reset to AMP + TV there will be no audio from the second TV.

Ever since I had my first home theatre system (Sony DAV DZ-280), I preferred to use Dolby Pro Logic (Movie or Music) 5.1 rather than stereo for listening to music, because Dolby produces a good sound stage, with precisely located vocalist or soloist (centre channel) even when listening way off the "sweet spot" position required for 2 speaker stereo. It also sounded good when previous room layouts prevented far from ideal location of the speakers (which auto calibration overcomes). When listening way off the "sweet spot" (i.e. much nearer to one of the speakers), ordinary stereo sounds as if most of the output (especially the vocalist) is coming from the nearest speaker and there is little or no effective sound stage. Now, the new "Dolby Surround" gives even better results, with clear location of the performers. I also like listening to music with "Multi Ch Stereo", which seems to give a softer but wider sound stage, with a centre channel, rather like the old Dolby Pro Logic Music. it would be good if the User Guide gave a better explanation of what it is.

The receiver is located right next to my router (cable broadband) which means that the receiver and the Android media box can have a direct ethernet connection, which takes advantage of the very high speed available and provides for excellent buffering-free video and audio streaming. However the RF hash from the router completely drowns out the FM tuner signal for the receiver and its wire antenna. In my case this does not matter because I use Internet radio, which is better anyway, via the media box rather than FM, but I suspect many users would prefer a DAB+ tuner with a coax. connector for an external antenna. One slight disappointment is that the STR-DN1080's Internet Radio Service only provides Spotify Premium (in UK), so Hi-Res streaming services, such as Qobuz or Tidal cannot be played directly by the receiver. USB playback has always been useful on Sony equipment, but the ability to interface with higher capacity (e.g. 2TB) partitioned HDDs would be better.

The Custom Presets are a very useful feature and have an excellent selection of controls. I have programmed some of them slightly differently and for different purposes than the Sony defaults. Therefore it would have been nice to be able to re-name them to suit. Also, the Remote only allows Custom Preset 1 (Movie) to be selected. Being able to select any of the four (e.g. by cycling through them like the sound field buttons) would be better, rather than having to go through the Home Menu to access the other three Presets. The Preset 1 button is still useful, since it is the most used Custom Preset.

Summarising, all the slightly negative comments mentioned above are very minor (suggestions for future improvements?) compared to the superb sound quality, which has brought back my listening pleasure enormously. I would recommend the Sony STR-DN1080 to anyone!

I bought this to replace my Sony 1300es amp, and wasn't sure if I would hear a difference(mainly updating for 4K on the new LG 75inch (getting ready for Dune later in the year hopefully).Well you can really tell a difference in the surround sound/multi channel, on movies TV and music. I use it 7.1 with JBL Control 1's and a Tanoy Sub pleased so far.

I already owned the STR-DN1050, so sort of knew what I was getting. I needed the newer 1080 model for 4K in my library, and I needed to replace my much-hated Denon AVR-X2400H. The difference in sound quality between the Denon and the Sony is extraordinary - so much clearer, more detailed and also fuller. Gone are the days of having to boost the centre channel volume due to the Denon's lack of power and precision - now every word is crystal clear and every explosion, thud, crunch of gravel pin-point accurate.

The build quality is excellent too - slightly smaller (shorter) than the Denon, but beautifully and logically laid out. My only gripe is the insistence on having the USB on the front - it spoils the looks to have a USB stick jutting out, so why not have an alternative one on the back - at the price surely that's not too expensive an option. But the front display is clear, and the whole thing is as understated as a big black metal box can be.

It's easy to set-up too - the built-in assistant with microphone works reasonably well, though it took me two attempts to get it to eventually accept that I do only have a 5.1 speaker set-up. But once set up it was just a couple of minor tweaks to get it to sound awesome.

Linked to a Sky Q box, Sony PS4 and Sony 4K player means switching any of those on turns on the amp (to the correct channel and with the previously selected sound options) and there is no lag changing from source to source - it just works, every time.

A couple of niggles, but nothing to knock a star off: the remote control feels cheap and nasty. The same remote (pretty much) for the 1050 feels better made, whereas the buttons on this feel loose and unresponsive. The amp does love to default to creating surround sound for everything - turning on Pure Direct resolves it, but it's an annoying assumption in a supposedly all-about-the-sound amp.

And that's it - it's a well-made, well-specified, well-thought out amp. Expect to pay considerably more if you want to go beyond the Sony's capabilities.