Sony STR-DH 770 Unboxing and First Impressions

“That looks retro, dad.” were the exact words my daughter uttered when I first hoisted our new Sony STR-DH 770 out of its well-insulated box. She’s not too far off. At first glance, the Sony STR-DH 770 (or Sony 770 for short) looks eerily similar to the first Sony receiver I purchased, over a quarter century ago. Despite the technological advances, the 2018 model seems familiar. Like its ancestor, there’s a big volume knob in the front of the unit, and a slew of input and output ports in the back. The lettering and layout are nearly identical to the unit I remember unboxing as a college student during the fall of 1991.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s open the box…

Inside the box is the receiver, a remote control, 2 AAA remote control batteries, a quick start pamphlet and a user’s manual.

Also included is a microphone, which can be used to calibrate your audio setup based on the distance you sit from the front speakers.

Like its older cousin, the STR-DH770 features a solid build quality. It’s noticeably lighter than my old Sony receiver due the use of industrial plastics over metal.

The STR-DH770 home theater receiver retails for approximately $349, but can be purchased for under $200 online. Specs wise, the STR-DH770 comes loaded with some smart goodies. Out of the box, it supports 7.2 channels (surround sound), Bluetooth, pass-through 4K and features 4 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output (all of which are HDCP2.2 compatible). This particular unit supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD.

Below is a shot of the front and back of the unit. The front of the unit features two knobs. The smaller of the two lets users select the audio input. The larger of the two adjusts overall volume. The knobs turn silky smooth, with just a slight hint of resistance. The unit itself measures 15.4 x 19.4 x 9 in and weighs about 20 pounds. (Translation: make some room for this bad boy.)

Taking a closer look at the front, we see a USB port, a 1/4 inch headphone jack and a calibration mic port.

There is a plethora of ports on the rear of the STR-DH770. The unit supports ARC – which allows both audio and video signals to travel through one HDMI cable, without the need of utilizing a separate optical audio jack. Nevertheless, an optical output jack is available on the receiver if your TV lacks ARC support.

As mentioned before the STR-DH770 has 4 HDMI IN and 1 HDMI out, with full 4K HDCP 2.2 support. This technology was designed to prevent illegal copying of 4K Ultra HD content by creating a secure digital handshake between each of your devices. If a 4K TV senses a 4K video source, it needs to authenticate to complete the digital handshake. If not, you won’t see a 4K image.

There are plenty of speaker ports available, including Front A, Center, Surround, and Surround Back/front High / Front B. For our modest needs, I’m employing two 27 year old EPI speakers from my old Sony receiver for the Front A channel and an equally old BOSE bookshelf speaker for the Center channel.

The included antenna wire plugs into the Antenna port, allowing your receiver to pick up FM and AM stations in your area. Composite video in/out and audio ports are also present, should you need to route an old VCR or camcorder through. There’s also a dedicated subwoofer out.

Set up

Set-up was very easy, thanks to the included Quick Start Guide. After the speakers were connected to the unit using standard speaker wire, I plugged the ST-DH770 in and fired it up via the front mounted On switch. Placing the supplied microphone by my sofa, the receiver calibrated the speakers to account for viewer distance. This took less than a minute and was drop dead simple. The only snag I ran into was using my needle nose pliers to remove the wire’s sheath without cutting the wire inside. I’m pretty rusty in that department.

Once the speakers were calibrated, I used the STR-DH770’s front mounted Bluetooth button to connect to my iPhone 7. Pairing was effortless. Within 10 seconds, I was blasting Jimi Hendrix tunes from my iPhone through my stereo. Nice!

Finally, I connected our Blu-Ray DVD player and Nintendo Switch to the HDMI ports in the back. I had to hear for myself how movies would sound on this unit.

Sound

Sound is subjective. I am NOT an audiophile. I am just a 45 year young guy with average ears. But I will say that, to my ears, the sound was a massive and impressive upgrade over our Samsung TV’s built-in speakers. I popped in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” Blu-Ray and was blown away by how clear and full the audio sounded – especially over speakers that are nearly 3 decades old. It made for a very pleasant and enjoyable movie watching experience.

Playing Mario Odyssey with the Switch hooked up to the stereo really added dimension to the audio, enhancing the already amazing visuals of the game.

One really neat feature with the STR-DH770 is its ability to automatically switch input sources when switching between Blu-Ray, TV, or Nintendo Switch. I really, really like that!

Final Thoughts

So…. does buying a stereo receiver make sense in this era of HomePods, Sonos, and other manner of modern players? It does, if you plan on using one for a home theater setup. I am very pleased with the Sony STR-DH770. It wins on price (under $200), build quality (solid), versatility (4K support and lots of ports), ease of use and, most importantly, overall value. It comes with a 2 year parts / labor warranty. I really couldn’t find anything wrong with the unit. So what if it’s “retro”?

-Krishna

Krishna April 11, 2018 budget receiver, Sony receiver, Sony STRDH 770 receiver, surround sound receiver