BUDGET Dolby Atmos HOME THEATER Receiver to Beat! SONY STR-DN1080 Review

Just because a product is new doesn't automatically make it the best or even the right solution for you. This is why in 2020 I argue that the Sony DN1080AV receiver is the ultimate receiver for someone just looking to build their very first home theater. And that's why we're reviewing it today. So let's get into it. Real quick, before we go any further with this review, anything and everything that you see flash across this screen or that we feature or talk about in these videos is always linked down in the description below. And I do mean anything and everything. So if you have a question about the TV stand, the artwork on the wall, the speaker stands, it's all down in the description below. Check it out. The Sony STR-DN1080 is a 7.2 channel home theater receiver. And for those of you that may need just a little bit of a refresher course, a home theater receiver is basically your home cinema's brain. It enables you to connect all of your various source components as well as power your loudspeakers. Now, what makes the 1080 so enticing at this price point is the fact that it supports the latest surround sound codec, which is Dolby Atmos. The 1080 enables you to use height channels in your ceiling or using Dolby Atmos modules atop your left and right main speakers. It also features auto speaker setup and room calibration, which is a huge plus for anyone who's just getting started in home theater. It also ensures that you get the absolute maximum performance out of any loudspeaker that you connect to it. In theory, we're going to go over that in the performance section in a little bit. It has six HDMI inputs and two HDMI monitor outputs. Why would you need two HDMI monitor outputs? Well, so that you can run multiple displays either in the same room or in separate rooms. Multiple HDMI monitor outs come in real handy if you're looking to use a flat panel TV and a front projection setup in the same room. And yes, for those of you who may be concerned or curious, the HDMI monitor outs are also independent. All of the HDMI inputs are 4K enabled and they allow for the pass-through of 4K60 at 444. Sadly, there's no 8K or higher functionality 4K here, but I argue right now in 2020, 4K and 4K60 is still plenty good. And for those of you who may be a cable cutter like myself, the 1080 is fully equipped with all of the latest Wi-Fi connectivity options. I'm talking about Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirPlay. It even is Google Home enabled and has other features like Spotify Connect built in. So for those of you that are big into the digital streaming ecosystem, this is a connected AV receiver made just for you. So I just rattled off some of the features of the Sony STR-DN 1080, but for those of you interested in more of the specs, here they are. Now, one of the reasons why I think the 1080 is still a valid AV receiver in 2020 comes down to just how easy it is to set up. Now, I have set up a lot of home theater receivers in my day, and I have got to tell you the 1080 has got to be among the easiest. So if you're a first-time home theater enthusiast or buyer, its menu system is among the best that I've seen. And it's a menu system that Sony has been using for a number of years, but it is very good and goes so far as to entirely walk you through the process. And so even someone like myself who may not require, it's just really nice to see Sony take the time and implement such a menu system here. Now, to take some of the guesswork out of speaker setup, the Sony also has automatic speaker setup and room equalization software inside. And when it works, it is fantastic. Now, I'm going to go so far as to say that I don't think that Sony needed to include so many equalization presets in our testing. The default setting, which is engineer, which is kind of Sony's house curve, if you will, sounded the best with the widest variety of loudspeakers. But it does give you a lot of options to sort of tailor the sound of whatever speaker that you connect to it. Speaking of sound, what does the 1080 sound like? Because an AV receiver is more than just the brain, it is also the brawn, the power section that drives your speakers. And while Sony claims that this is 165 watt per channel AV receiver, those are, well, not accurate. But it does have enough power to drive pretty much any loudspeaker that we threw at it. But for the purposes of this review, we did the bulk of our listening using our YAMO Studio home theater speaker system, as well as the ELAC debut reference bookshelf home theater package. And I got to tell you, the sound of the Sony after running the room equalization software in its engineer mode is one that favors dynamics and punch over anything else. And that's OK. That's actually OK for a home theater receiver, because when we go to the movies, we want to be moved. We want to feel a part of the action. And the Sony really excels here. Is it neutral or is it the most nuanced AV receiver on the market right now? No, it's not. But it's a lot of fun. The base is good. It's taut. It's fast. It's firm. It may not be the deepest, but I'm going to argue that in order to get the deepest base out of an AV receiver, that's largely going to fall to how you set up and place your subwoofer. Now, in terms of mid range, the mid range on the Sony is a little bit on the leaner side or the brighter side of neutral, if you will. And this gives dialogue really crispy inflection and it brings out a lot of detail. So maybe just maybe if you ever find yourself watching movies going, huh, what's that? You might want to take a peek at the Sony, because I found dialogue to be exceptionally clear. But some of that clarity comes at a cost. And that is in the high frequencies, because there's a little bit more high frequency information or, dare I say, energy with the Sony if pushed too hard or if paired with the wrong loudspeakers, loudspeakers that may be inherently bright on their own. You may end up with a little bit too much of a good thing, giving the entire sonic presentation and pushing it less from dynamic and punchy into forward territory. If you like movies to be kind of more in your face and a visceral experience, then I think you're really going to like what the 1080 has to offer. But if you're someone that's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, I want I want a home theater that's a lot like an audiophile system, you know, very, very composed, neutral, things like that. This may not be the receiver for you. But again, if you are someone that values dialogue or wants to make sure that you hear everything that the actor on screen is saying or you don't want to miss any of the action unfolding on screen, then the extra little bit of detail retrieval and high frequency information present with the Sony will likely suit you just fine. Now, beyond the individual sonic attributes of the 1080, I know a lot of you are watching going, yes, but what does it sound like with Dolby Atmos content? And in a word, great. Now, I wasn't the biggest proponent of Dolby Atmos when it was announced, and I especially was outspoken about those Atmos modules that sit on top of your left and right main speakers. But having lived now with that kind of a system for several weeks, I have to tell you, it's effective. It's effective. It may not be as effective as true ceiling height channels, but for what it is, it's welcomed. And the 1080 makes it so easy to integrate speakers like that and use them to their fullest potential. So it really doesn't matter if we were watching action movies, dramas, or comedies. Every time we had the Dolby Atmos modules in our system, it was noticeable. It was noticeable and it was welcome. Do you have to have those in order to have a home theater? No, of course not. We were able to enjoy our home theater speaker system with or without them. But if you are thinking about taking the leap into Atmos and those top mounted Atmos modules are all that is available to you, they work really well through the 1080, and the 1080 makes it very easy to set up a system like that. And maybe if you're looking for additional Atmos content, you know that Tidal just released a whole slew of music using Dolby Atmos, and we were able to listen to it through the 1080. And speaking of streaming, streaming via either AirPlay or Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or even your Google Home devices through the 1080 or to the 1080 is so easy, and it stems all the way back from the initial setup of the receiver itself. But once everything is dialed in and talking to one another, the integration and the communication between your smart devices, be it Google Home, your phone, or whatnot, is fantastic and really kind of faultless. And the last thing that I want to point out about the 1080's performance is the speed with which it switches between video sources. So like when we had our PlayStation connected or a Blu-ray player connected, switching between those sources was quick and seamless. And that's kind of a big deal because not every AV receiver locks onto a signal with the same speed as the 1080. And the ARC and ERC functionality worked fantastically and flawlessly with every display that we connected to the Sony, save for one, Sony's own OLED TV. I know, that's the weirdest thing. I was expecting the communication between Sony's own TV and their own receiver to be the epitome of perfect, and yet it was the worst offender in terms of handshake issues. But outside of the Sony OLED, the ARC, ERC functionality provided your display is ERC or ARC enabled is fantastic. Now a couple of things that I did not like about the Sony or that I find to be just kind of misleading or confusing, maybe if you're a first-time home theater enthusiast, starts with the number of channels. Yes, the 1080 is a 7.2 channel home theater receiver, so it can power up to a 7.2 channel home theater system. But if you are getting into it for the Atmos capability and you want to employ those height effects channels or use those Atmos modules on top of your loudspeakers, this is not really a 7.2 channel receiver. It's more like a 5.2 channel receiver because the back two channels in a 7 channel setup are reconfigured and used for the height effect channels. If you wanted to have a full 7 speaker 2 subwoofer home theater complete with height effects channels, then you need to step up to a 9 channel home theater receiver. And speaking of misleading, and this is not something exclusive to Sony, but a lot of AV receiver manufacturers play it a little bit fast and loose with their power output ratings. But Sony claims 165 watts of power in 6 ohms across all of its channels, and this simply is false. It's not true. In fact, the more speakers you connect to this thing, the less power it dishes out. And so a lot of AV receivers, especially in the budget realm, kind of tout the dynamic prowess of one channel driven. And in this case, it's roughly 165 watts, except who listens to a home theater with only one speaker? And so the real world power output of this receiver hovers around 50 watts a channel. But that being said, you shouldn't be too afraid of that because it was able to power even difficult to drive loudspeakers like our Concept 500 just fine. And before you freak out on me and like, why would you connect something like a Concept 500 to an AV receiver like the 1080? Because I can, and it's good to test these things. And the Concept 500s are not easy to drive, and the 1080 drove them just fine. And another thing with respect to speakers and the 1080, the auto speaker setup and room equalization software that's built in is great when it works. In fact, more often than not, when you initially go to set up a new speaker system for the first time, this software flat out fails. It just does. Now, thankfully, it's easy to just reset, start over, and usually the second or third time is a charm. And so it's kind of a minor inconvenience, really, that it doesn't work the first time. But when it works, the effects are noticeable, they're welcomed, and the minor annoyance that is, it sometimes gets it wrong the first time isn't enough to turn us off here. And I know I brought this up in the performance section of this review, but it does bear repeating. The Sony 1080 is a receiver that needs to be carefully paired with the right loudspeakers. If you currently have loudspeakers or are shopping for loudspeakers that you know to be maybe on the brighter side, depending on how you set up the Sony with those speakers, you may find that its sonic presentation leans even more to the bright side of the spectrum. And so you need to be careful. It is something that we have to call attention to here, because this is an incredibly dynamic and punchy AV receiver that I happen to really like, but I also understand that not every loudspeaker on the market right now is going to be a perfect fit for it. And lastly, if you've been reading specialty AV publications on the internet or tuning into YouTube, you're probably well aware that people are starting to talk about 8K. And the Sony 1080 has zero 8K support. But at this price point and in 2020, I think that that's fine. Because while 8K may be a topic people are talking about, we are still likely years away from its mass adoption. In terms of comparable products, obviously there is no shortage of budget AV receivers on the market right now. I directly compared the Sony 1080 to my Marantz Slimline NR1509 AV receiver, and this has been updated. There's a 1510, there's a 1600 series, and now I think a 1700 series, and they're all relatively the same. But directly compared to my 1509, it's not really a comparison. I actually think the Sony 1080 is light years ahead of the Marantz in almost every category, especially when it comes to usability and user interface and setup. I even actually prefer the sound of the Sony to the Marantz. The Marantz definitely has a far more mellower presentation, a warm, almost romanticized sound. And that's great for two channel listening, which is also why I hung on to the Marantz this long. But for home theater, it doesn't excite me the way the Sony does. And so, yeah, I do prefer the Sony in this instance. Now, I have also been living with a Yamaha Aventage A3080, and that's almost a $2,000 AV receiver. And it is fantastic. And that review is coming. So it's not really fair to compare the 1080 from Sony to that Yamaha because they're really not comparable. But Yamaha does make an awful lot of receivers in and around the 1080s price point. Now, I'm not going to go so far as to say that they're going to sound the same as the Yamaha that I have. Suffice to say that, yes, if you do decide to go up market and spend a little bit more on your AV receiver, the Yamaha is a great example of you get what you pay for. Lastly, and I know we just got done talking about 8K, but it has to be noted that Denon and Marantz just released a whole slew of 8K-enabled AV receivers. And there's even one that is comparable in terms of specifications and price to the 1080, which I will link to down in the description below, which honestly, I have not heard these products firsthand. I have not tested them. So I have no idea how successful they are in their 8K claims or if it is purely just a marketing gimmick. But it should be noted, it should be noted that there are 8K receivers starting to hit the market and some, some are even as affordable as the Sony 1080 reviewed here. So to wrap it up, who is the Sony STR-DN 1080 AV receiver for? I argue it is for the first time home theater enthusiasts, because while not perfect, it gets the basics right. And it is so approachable so that if this is your first foray into home cinema, maybe you're stepping up from a soundbar or a two channel system, this is probably going to be the logical first step for many of you. And it really does. It checks all the boxes. It does everything you need. It's not full of stuff you're never going to use. And that is why I advocate for it and why I think it is still so popular. So that's it, guys. That is my review of Sony's STR-DN 1080 7.2 channel AV receiver with Dolby Atmos. What did you guys think? I know this is a slightly older piece, and yet it continues to be popular. And I argue it's popular because it is so easy to use. It sounds great. And well, frankly, it has everything that you need for a home theater in 2020 and nothing that you don't. But what do you guys think of it? Let me know down in the comments below. If you've liked this video, please do give it a thumbs up, like and subscribe. All of that matters. And it helps support this channel. So thank you. Follow me on Instagram at Recovering Audiophile. And if you want a little bit more behind the scenes, look at what we do here, including scenes that may not make every edit or video. Consider becoming a member. Click join down next to the subscribe button. Read all about that. Outside of that, I got to get out of here. Start editing this bad boy. So thank you for watching. And remember, the only person that has to like the sound of your system is you. So happy listening. Thank you for watching. And we'll see you on the next video. Bye. Even the stuff we just like pan over. If you see it, we link to it. It's not an accident. Anyway, I digress.