Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 23
From: Toronto, CANADA
Posted: 2012-06-05 08:28
Hi all!
Long time lurker, first time poster! I've always been a fan of Sony products and growing up, Dad tried to buy as much ES gear as he could afford.
Right, so down to brass tacks: the year is 1999 and DVDs have successfully won over VHS. Mom and dad decide that the home theatre needs an upgrade as HDTV is right around the corner. Part of the package was a Sony STR-DB830 receiver--dad said several reviews stated that this model was 'ES' without the ES price tag; $1000 (and a pile of boxes in the car) later and we had a state-of-the-art home theatre setup (driving Boston Acoustic and Sansui speakers)!
Fast-forward to now: an STR-DA5ES has popped up for sale for not a lot of coin (around $150) with a couple repairs being required, and the DB830 *just* gave us its first 'PROTECTION' error yesterday. Dad sometimes forgets to turn off the receiver, so it will sit on for days at a time before anyone notices. I left it off to maybe cool down and it was fine for the rest of the evening.
And here's my question: the STR-DA5ES is in a price range that I can afford and I think it might make a nice gift for my parents/family, but would it be that great and/or noticeable of an upgrade over the current receiver was have, or are there any more desirable/better-performing units out there?
Thanks!
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2012-06-05 18:35
Member Quote
On 2012-06-05 08:28, thefragger wrote: Part of the package was a Sony STR-DB830 receiver--dad said several reviews stated that this model was 'ES' without the ES price tag; $1000...would (the DA5ES) be that great and/or noticeable of an upgrade over the current receiver?
thefragger- Welcome...Its always good to have another actively posting Canandian Member! What your Dad said about the reviews stating that the DB 830 being 'ES' without the ES price tag is very true because in 1999 Sony built the DB 930 along with the DB 830 with an excellent build quality to launch their new DB line of Receivers going so far as to use some high quality critical parts that the ES Class Receivers have lesser quality iterations of.
So down to brass tacks: Setup and wiring are such major determining factors when it comes to overall sound quality that once you get the $150 DA5ES repaired it will most likely sound about as good as the DB 830 did set up in the same way in your folks' Home Theater.
----------------- A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
Joined: Feb 28, 2003
Posts: 9156
From: Chicago,IL, USA
Posted: 2012-06-05 20:52
Hello thefragger,
Greetings and welcome! Glad you decided to quit lurking and join in. I too lurked on this forum for a long time and by the time I registered it felt I already got to know the community. Although a lot of those members are gone we still have a great group of people who share their knowledge and experience willingly.
IMO, the STR-DA5ES, the STR-DA4ES or the STR-DA7ES would all be a good replacement for your Dad's STR-DB830 receiver if he has a 5.1 system Home Theater. If he has a 7.1 system I would go with the DA4ES or the DA7ES receivers.
There is a good chance that the protect error that your Dad's DB830 is having is caused by cold solder joints. This issue plagued the DB930 series and is well documented here. If you might be interested in repairing the receiver a good place to start would be to look at THIS thread.
Best of luck on your decision. Please let us know how things work out.
Joe
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2012-06-05 23:15
Joe did an excellent job of making some very solid recommendations as far as Sony ES Class Receivers that could very competently replace the DB 830 in thefragger's folks A/V System, but as the person who published the resolution to the Cold Solder Joint Issue on page 3 of the thread that Joe linked to I have a very clear first hand knowledge garnered from my own experience and that of others that the contents of this particular subject in the thread unfortunately have nothing to do with problems related to the 'Protect' error, but rather address complaints of output relay chattering and inoperative buttons on the front panel of the DB 930 as described by foilio on page 2 of that same thread...
Member Quote
On 2012-03-11 05:17, foilio wrote:
I am a new member to this site and forum and also new to the Sony DB930. I must say I've only had the receiver 2 weeks and its sound and capabilities are astounding! I'm really pleased in how it handles my home theater set up.
However, just today I have come across a problem. I cannot turn on the amp via the power button on the receiver itself? The way i can turn it on is with the remote control. Once the receiver is on the preset + - buttons below the power button do not work either, so the only way to change stations is via the remote again. I've googled this problem loads and there are no other cases of this happening it seems. Is it a case of dry solder joints as this discussed in this thread? Or is the way the remote has been programmed?! I realize this is an old thread but i'd really appreciate it if any of you veteran DB930 owners could enlighten me on this problem? Thank you very much in advance.
The solution to this problem which I described on page 3 of the thread resulted from my Tech diagnosing the problem and touching up the solder joints in my DB 930 Receiver, but there was never a 'Protect' error message involved.
This very temporary issue was far from a plague as my DB 930 ran perfectly for 10 years before these symptoms involving the controls on the front panel manifest themselves and the simple procedure of touching up the solder joints on the circuit board outlined in the picture below completely solved the problem...
----------------- A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 23
From: Toronto, CANADA
Posted: 2012-06-06 09:08
Ah ha! Thanks for all the pointers--so I'll basically pull the top + bottom covers off of receiver and touch up all the cold joints, sounds easey peasy.
One part of the protect error was that there were static clicks and pops before the protect kicked in (forgot to mention that earlier!).
I'm curious: why would the DA5ES be bad for 7.1?
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2012-06-06 09:37
thefragger- I hope that touching up the cold solder joints on the DB 830 will do some good, but it is not generally meant to solve kind of problems that generate "Protector" errors. You might want to also check out Joe's post on 'Troubleshooting "Protector" Error on Receivers' for help in diagnosing the full extent of the problems that are causing the protector error in the DB 830.
The reason that the 2001 model DA5ES is not suited for a 7.1 channel Home Theater is because it is a 6.1 channel Receiver. OTOH the 2003 model DA7ES has a full 7.1 channels.
----------------- A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2012-06-06 09:55
According to The Vintage Knob the Sony TA-F6B is quite High End...
High-end DC intergated amp with ruler-flat frequency response up to 100Khz... but which looks like a nuts'n'bolts steel block.
High-end because, inside, there is a PLPS - lots of power in a 12kg lightweight enclosure ! The F6B is by necessity partly related to the pre-Esprit TA-N86B (same timeframe) and naturally to the lineup that replaced it (TA-F80 / F70 / F60) but was quite affordable (unlike the former) and built in 1970s fashion (unlike the latter).
High-end because the attenuator is a 4-gang ALPS, high-end because of the SEPP-OCL, LEC transistors and dual-FET circuits. High-end, too, because the TA-F6B was, alongwith the TA-F5 and TA-F4, the very first audio unit released with a Pulse Locked Power Supply.
@the fragger- Where did you find such a classic treasure?
Joined: Feb 28, 2003
Posts: 9156
From: Chicago,IL, USA
Posted: 2012-06-06 10:22
Hello the fragger,
My point is if you are interested in checking out the protect problem a good place to start would be to look for a cold solder joint. the fact that it went into protect mode after staying on for a couple of days and that it corrected itself after cooling down suggests an issue with heat. A cold solder joint could act exactly like that and these receivers are WELL known for having cold solder joint problems. Another possibility would be a capacitor going bad. You could look to see if there are any caps that are bulging or showing signs of leaking. It costs nothing but some time to open the lid and have a look as long as you feel comfortable about looking inside.
Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 23
From: Toronto, CANADA
Posted: 2012-06-06 10:35
Thanks Joe--that does make sense with regards to the heating/cooling cycles, the static my speakers threw out before the receiver went into protect was a bit disconcerting, but it seems to have corrected itself (something that the manual says shouldn't happen).
Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 23
From: Toronto, CANADA
Posted: 2012-06-06 12:45
So, what I'm taking away from this thread is that the DA5ES isn't head-and-shoulders above the DB830?
Maxxwire Moderator Premium Member Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
Posted: 2012-06-06 18:45
thefragger- The DB 830 Receiver is seldom heard of here on the Forum and that makes it hard to compare it to other Sony Receivers with absolute precision, but from what I have seen the parts quality that Sony used in the DB 830 was directly comparable to the majority of the DA5ES Receivers I have seen although in the multitude of DA5ES Receiver build qualities I have seen I have noticed that Sony made some examples of the 2001 model DA5ES with house brand caps instead of the Nichicon brand caps seen in the 1999 model DB 830. That said, the DA5ES would still qualify as a very competent replacement for the DB 830 as would the DA4ES or the DA7ES.
I am another very satisfied DA4ES owner - I bought mine new 8 years ago and other than the function select knob being a little erratic it works great.
This topic thread spans 2 pages - You are currently on page 1 NEXT>> (1 | 2 )
Advance
Features
All logos and information in this site are property of their respective owner. The
comments are property of their posters.
This website www.agoraquest.com, Claudio Meira and Agoraquest, LLC is not tided in any form to the Sony Corporation
(www.sony.com). This unoffical website is just place where Sony products are reviewed among the general public. Sony is a registered
of Sony, Inc. "PlayStation", "PlayStation2", the PlayStation "PS" logo, and all associated logos/graphics.
"Agoraquest, LLC" and "agoraquest.com" are associated exclusively with agoraquest.com, and are NOT associated in ANY way with Sony
Electronics, Inc. To view the privacy policy, please click here and to view the terms of use,
please click here. If you have any further questions, please contact using our online form.
Posted: 2012-06-05 08:28
