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By: Robi
16th Dec 2020
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"Sony STR-D1090"
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I've had mine for 30 years almost: in that time its been simply brilliant. Finally something has failed so I get the failsafe signal that usually means the speakers have shorted or similar, but with other speakers is does the same. There's no simple capacitor failure and nothing else I can see: the transformer checks out as in spec outputs. No local techs will touch it [obsolete money pit they say] so I keep looking for a used one so I can keep my system operational.
The sound fields in this unit are amazing: they really do trigger the right responses. Play Hot August Night in stadium mode and you'd swear you were there.
It's a great pity there are no longer these sorts of units built. I'm making do with an STR-K840P for the moment, but had to fool it into running an A, B and A+B speaker system. It's not bad, but not the same.
Maybe I'll get lucky and find some electronics whizz to fix mine, or find a used one.....
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20 people liked this review.
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By: Tiger
30th Apr 2015
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"Sony STR-D1090"
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This was my very first receiver and cost $599 new at Sound Advice, back in 1994 or so, even though I bought it used with a pair of Sony SSU-551AV speakers (which handled 275 watts each). I thought it only had 120 watts per channel in 2-channel mode, but I just found out that it had 185x2 at 8 ohms and 235x2 at 4 ohms!! No wonder I was so freaking impressed when I hooked it up years later to a pair of 4 ohm KEF C75's... I could turn the volume up 90% of the way without distortion... seriously!!! Those speakers and that receiver pressurized my bedroom so much that the deep bass was punching me like a body blow from Mike Tyson! LOL... I have wondered for years just why it sounded sooo darn good with only 120 watts per channel. Now I know. It also made those Sony SSU-551AV speakers slam like I've never heard before... they have an awesome 12" woofer but some cheap-looking & sounding paper-coned mids and highs. The bass was freaking phenominal... sounded like some young punks car with way too much bass. I played the cd "Techmaster PEB" on this setup and nobody could believe that those Sony's didn't pop their woofers on the first deep note. Those speakers to everything that the cd could throw at them... every ultra-deep bass note cranked up near full volume, without blinking... the bass was not distorted, however, the mids and highs were starting to come apart at super high volume. I was even thinking of simply upgrading the mids/tweets but the cabinets were so plain Jane that it didn't seem worth it. I also considered disconnecting all but the woofers, laying them flat on their backs with some rubber feet attached and use them as subwoofers under my bed or behind the couch.... yeah, the bass was that clean & strong.
I own much higher-end equipment now, but will always have really fond memories of that STR-D1090.
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30 people liked this review.
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By: Bob
8th Jan 2012
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"Sony STR-D1090"
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This is a great unit with extremely powerful bass response. It has many features, so it's not as simple to use as an integrated amp. I use mine for stereo sound only and it must be said that this fine unit is only a hair's breadth away from being an 'ES' component!
The 10 3-tier function/channel/sound field buttons on the front look fantastic and, despite being clear plastic, they don't show your fingerprints. However, when TUNER is selected, you have only a short time to select the desired station before the buttons exit the 'channel select' mode and return to 'function select' mode. There isn't much time to listen to the newly selected station!
But, all things considered, this is a magnificent beast! It's built like a tank (almost as heavy as a tank!) and the sound quality is fantastic, even at very high volumes!
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87 people liked this review.
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