Sony STR-DN1010 Review

 
    The STR-DN1010 was the first AV receiver announced with 3D pass-through capability, and it was a step-up feature over Sony's STR-DH810. Since then, however, 3D compatibility has become commonplace, trickling down to receivers as inexpensive as Denon's $250 AVR-391 and Pioneer's $230 VSX-520-K. That largely tells the story of Sony's midrange AV receiver, which is certainly an improvement last year's STR-DN1000, but lags compared to competitors, which offer more HDMI inputs, better sound quality and easy iPod/iPhone connectivity. Even its once best-in-class graphical user interface has now been surpassed by the new menus found on the Yamaha RX-V667.

    The STR-DN1010 goes for a minimalist look, with a glossy front panel uncluttered by the usual knobs and buttons that tend dominate AV receivers. There's a power button the left, a large volume button the right (with a mute button), and an input selector button rocker--and that's it. If you do need them, they're still there, underneath the flip-down panel that runs along the bottom. There are a few buttons for changing sound modes, plus an AV input and the port for the automatic speaker calibration microphone.

    The STR-DN1010 is a full-sized AV receiver, coming in at 16.9 inches wide, 12.8 inches deep and 6.2 inches high., so it might be a good choice if you have a tight AV cabinet.  As with most AV receiver remotes, the STR-DN1010's clicker tries to do too much by being able to control other devices. That means anytime you press "BD" to select that input, the remote will then start trying to control the Blu-ray player, rather than the receiver. As always, it's worth considering an upgrade to a quality universal remote.

    Although the graphics are barebones--it's far from the eye candy you'd find on, say, a Blu-ray player--we do find that it's a worthwhile step-up from the blocky text interfaces.We found it relatively easy to assign and rename inputs, and the visual nature of the menu was most helpful for visualizing setup tasks like speaker setup. Overall, we prefer the more colorful look and faster response time of the Yamaha RX-V667's menus, but the STR-DN1010's are a step-above the norm.

     Sony comes with a full suite of the new HDMI features offered this year. Like nearly every receiver this year, it supports 3D pass-through, which means it can pass a 3D video signal from a 3D video source to a 3D HDTV. The STR-DN1010 also supports audio return channel functionality, as well as standby pass-through. the STR-DN1010 includes onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DST-HD Master Audio, plus decoding for Dolby ProLogic IIz. While the Sony does have a "Night Mode," it doesn't have nearly as many sound options as competitors, many of which feature a full suite of Audyssey sound processing options.

    Four HDMI inputs are the minimum we expect at this price level, although many competitors offer six, including the Pioneer VSX-1020-K, Onkyo TX-SR608 and Yamaha RX-V667. The rest of its analog video connectivity is better than average, but that's less of a concern to us now that nearly every home theater gadget features HDMI. Altogether the STR-DN1010 can switch between seven HD devices at a time. We were more disappointed that the STR-DN1010 doesn't have a minijack input, especially since it also doesn't have out-of-the-box iPod connectivity.  

   My Rating: 3/5