Like the latest Blu-ray players, the most recent home cinema amplifiers are seeing their features and capabilities increasing at an impressive rate. Where as only a few years ago a 7.1 capable amplifier would be hard to get for under £500, we’re now seeing similar home cinema amplifiers for half that price. The Sony STR-DN610 is no exception with not only 7.1 but it’s also 3D ready to really make it futureproof.
A decent home cinema amplifier should make it easy for your home entertainment system to grow as you add more devices and consoles. The Sony STR-DN610 is more than capable of this with three 1.4 spec HDMI inputs so you can add two games consoles and a Blu-ray player, an optical input for your Wii, and a digital media port for your iPod or Walkman. There is also a host of other connection options such as three sets of component inputs, five sets of phono inputs, digital coaxial and another optical input, and an RDS radio of course. Being a 7.1 home cinema amplifier, the STRDN610 has seven pairs of speaker inputs, although only the ones for the front speakers are binding posts, with the other five being spring clips. If you don’t have the room for two pairs of rear speakers, you can choose to bi-amp the front speakers instead to extract a little more output from them.
The Sony STR-DN610 is certainly one of the most striking and attractive home cinema amplifiers we’ve seen, and in comparison to the similar specced Onkyo TX-SR508, it looks completely futuristic. It also blends perfectly with other items in the 2010 range and the 3D enabled Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player is a perfect generic to propecia accompaniment to give you a full high definition, 3D ready, futureproof system.
What to consider before you buy the Sony STR-DN610 Home Cinema Receiver
We would have liked to have seen binding posts for all the five main speakers, rather than just the front two.
Why you should buy the Sony STR-DN610 Home Cinema Receiver
Slightly better value than the Onkyo TX-SR508 and even the most hardened Onkyo fan would agree that it is probably better looking. This is a fine looking amplifier with a very competitive set of features too – we can’t see much beating it in this price range. Rating: /5
I connect my optical out cord from my HDTV to the optical in on the receiver but get no sound. Is there a setting or a connection that needs to be turned on to get the sound?