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Sony STR-AZ1000ES 7.2 Channel 8K AV Receiver
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ShareSony STR-AZ1000ES 7.2 Channel 8K AV Receiver
Users say:
This Sony ES receiver is a great choice for those looking for a high end audio experience. It has a great sound quality, with Dolby Atmos and HDR support, and is easy to set up. However, some users have experienced issues with the 360 Surround Sound and the lack of USB ports.
Sony STR-AZ1000ES 7.2 CH 8K A/V ReceiverAt Audio Advice, we have always liked the entry-level Sony ES receiver model as it packs in a lot for the money and sounds very good. The new STR-AZ1000ES follows in those same footsteps. It has 7 powered channels with several possible configs for channels 6 and 7. They can be your surround b…
Sony STR-AZ1000ES 7.2 CH 8K A/V ReceiverAt Audio Advice, we have always liked the entry-level Sony ES receiver model as it packs in a lot for the money and sounds very good. The new STR-AZ1000ES follows in those same footsteps. It has 7 powered channels with several possible configs for channels 6 and 7. They can be your surround backs, your height channels, a powered zone 3, or can be used to biamp the fronts. That is pretty darn flexible! You also have preamp outs for zone 2 and 3 as well.For HDMI there are 2 connectors that support 8k and 4k/120 and 4 others for 4K. You get two HDMI outs with the main having eARC and the other for zone 2. Other inputs are a single Coax and Toslink digital with three analog audio inputs. Two of these have composite video you can link with them, but the unit does not upconvert this to HDMI so you would need to use the video out to go to a composite video input on your TV for old VCRs and such.The AZ1000 will be a great receiver for a lot of systems and we see this one being used the most to take advantage of the ability all of them have to add the wireless Sony surround speakers. We should point out it does not have any expansion capability as there are no preamp outputs.Sony ES Receiver Audio FeaturesFirst, we like the fact all of these are rated with the FTC power spec for both channels driven from 20-20,000 Hz at a low distortion number. Sony has made the jumps from each model very logical with the AZ1000ES starting out at 7 powered channels and maxing out a whopping 13 powered channels for the AZ7000ES.All four have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2. Google Assistant works with them all and they all now have the Works with Sonos official certification for seamless integration with a Sonos whole house music system.You can set them up using a web interface, the great on-screen display, or just the front panel.For immersive surround they all support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. To help those who may not want to run cables for some speakers, they all support adding Sonys wireless SA-RS3S and SA-RS5 Wireless Surround Speakers, as well as SA-SW3 & SASW5 Wireless Subwoofers. While we feel you would much prefer to add speakers that match your main brand of speakers, this is a pretty cool option for apartments or living spaces where it is impossible to run wiring for surrounds and you could use either of the wireless surround speaker options to at least get more immersion than you would without them.In that same vein, they also all let you use the speakers in a compatible Sony TV for your center channel. We would not really recommend this unless you do not have any space for a true center channel speaker.They also all have a phantom rear speaker mode that you can turn on to simulate rear speakers. This is not a simulation of your main surrounds, but the rears in a 7-channel bed layer system.Another neat feature Sony receivers have had for a while is an adjustment if your fronts, center, or both are in the ceiling. This uses DSP to pull the image down so it sounds less like an in-ceiling speaker.Finally, they all have a new feature called center channel lift. You will need to have both front heights turned on for this, but once we thought about this one, it's another reason all those distance measurements make perfect sense. Our favorite home theater systems have the center speaker directly behind an acoustically transparent screen so the voices sound like they are coming right out of the screen but most people have to place their center speaker under the TV or screen. When you turn on the center channel lift it will use both your center channel and front height speakers to effectively move the center channel image up higher. More on how this actually worked in the performance section.Sony ES Receiver Video FeaturesFor video, you get 8K & 4K/120Hz HDMI Connectivity with HDMI 2.1 and HDCP 2.3 with support for HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10, Hybrid Log Gamma, and IMAX Enhanced. Gamers will love that the 4K/120 inputs support ALLM and VRR for the best in low latency gaming.The on-screen menu for setting up the inputs is a home theater geek's dream come true. It is a big grid that lets you assign video and audio to any input with the ability to create similar ones using the same video but different audio. This is cool for those of you who like to watch sports but hear the local announcer. They also have offset levels and default surround modes for each one. Plus you can store two configurations. You can take lip sync up to 300 milliseconds and assign this to each input as well. In another pretty neat touch, you can turn on or off the subwoofer for each input and even give it a 10db boost for that input if you wish.Tips & Tricks: How To Perfectly Set Lip Sync Calibration In Your Home TheaterThen youll get to the speaker settings which is by far the best setup we have seen. Here is where you will be scratching your head wondering why you have to input all
Review summary
AI-generated content
This Sony ES receiver is a great choice for those looking for a high end audio experience. It has a great sound quality, with Dolby Atmos and HDR support, and is easy to set up. However, some users have experienced issues with the 360 Surround Sound and the lack of USB ports.
Pros
- Better sound quality
- Easy to set up
- 360 sound
- Compatible with multiple devices
- Great for gaming
Cons
- Analog picture not working
- Complicated setup
- Limited 4K streaming content
Read original reviews
Description
Sony STR-AZ1000ES 7.2 CH 8K A/V ReceiverAt Audio Advice, we have always liked the entry-level Sony ES receiver model as it packs in a lot for the money and sounds very good. The new STR-AZ1000ES follows in those same footsteps. It has 7 powered channels with several possible configs for channels 6 and 7. They can be your surround backs, your height channels, a powered zone 3, or can be used to biamp the fronts. That is pretty darn flexible! You also have preamp outs for zone 2 and 3 as well.For HDMI there are 2 connectors that support 8k and 4k/120 and 4 others for 4K. You get two HDMI outs with the main having eARC and the other for zone 2. Other inputs are a single Coax and Toslink digital with three analog audio inputs. Two of these have composite video you can link with them, but the unit does not upconvert this to HDMI so you would need to use the video out to go to a composite video input on your TV for old VCRs and such.The AZ1000 will be a great receiver for a lot of systems and we see this one being used the most to take advantage of the ability all of them have to add the wireless Sony surround speakers. We should point out it does not have any expansion capability as there are no preamp outputs.Sony ES Receiver Audio FeaturesFirst, we like the fact all of these are rated with the FTC power spec for both channels driven from 20-20,000 Hz at a low distortion number. Sony has made the jumps from each model very logical with the AZ1000ES starting out at 7 powered channels and maxing out a whopping 13 powered channels for the AZ7000ES.All four have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, and Apple AirPlay 2. Google Assistant works with them all and they all now have the Works with Sonos official certification for seamless integration with a Sonos whole house music system.You can set them up using a web interface, the great on-screen display, or just the front panel.For immersive surround they all support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. To help those who may not want to run cables for some speakers, they all support adding Sonys wireless SA-RS3S and SA-RS5 Wireless Surround Speakers, as well as SA-SW3 & SASW5 Wireless Subwoofers. While we feel you would much prefer to add speakers that match your main brand of speakers, this is a pretty cool option for apartments or living spaces where it is impossible to run wiring for surrounds and you could use either of the wireless surround speaker options to at least get more immersion than you would without them.In that same vein, they also all let you use the speakers in a compatible Sony TV for your center channel. We would not really recommend this unless you do not have any space for a true center channel speaker.They also all have a phantom rear speaker mode that you can turn on to simulate rear speakers. This is not a simulation of your main surrounds, but the rears in a 7-channel bed layer system.Another neat feature Sony receivers have had for a while is an adjustment if your fronts, center, or both are in the ceiling. This uses DSP to pull the image down so it sounds less like an in-ceiling speaker.Finally, they all have a new feature called center channel lift. You will need to have both front heights turned on for this, but once we thought about this one, it's another reason all those distance measurements make perfect sense. Our favorite home theater systems have the center speaker directly behind an acoustically transparent screen so the voices sound like they are coming right out of the screen but most people have to place their center speaker under the TV or screen. When you turn on the center channel lift it will use both your center channel and front height speakers to effectively move the center channel image up higher. More on how this actually worked in the performance section.Sony ES Receiver Video FeaturesFor video, you get 8K & 4K/120Hz HDMI Connectivity with HDMI 2.1 and HDCP 2.3 with support for HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10, Hybrid Log Gamma, and IMAX Enhanced. Gamers will love that the 4K/120 inputs support ALLM and VRR for the best in low latency gaming.The on-screen menu for setting up the inputs is a home theater geek's dream come true. It is a big grid that lets you assign video and audio to any input with the ability to create similar ones using the same video but different audio. This is cool for those of you who like to watch sports but hear the local announcer. They also have offset levels and default surround modes for each one. Plus you can store two configurations. You can take lip sync up to 300 milliseconds and assign this to each input as well. In another pretty neat touch, you can turn on or off the subwoofer for each input and even give it a 10db boost for that input if you wish.Tips & Tricks: How To Perfectly Set Lip Sync Calibration In Your Home TheaterThen youll get to the speaker settings which is by far the best setup we have seen. Here is where you will be scratching your head wondering why you have to input all
Specifications
| Brand | Sony |
| Model | Str-az1000es |
| Number Of Channels | 7.2 |