Sony STR-414L - My son´s system finally completed.

Hmmm,

You could be right, Nestor, on a closer look it does seem to have a short-wave band.
I knew it had a Long wave band, the "L" after the model name implying just that.

Jorge

My wife just called me here at work, asking me what the hell is that big box she just got at home, with what looks like to be one of those old amplifiers inside?

I can´t wait to get home and start her up ( the receiver I mean )

Jorge

Yeah, right, Jorge...................

Right, after leaving the plant later than usual for this time of the year, I was expecting to have an easy evening with my new toy. I was wrong.

I will not bother you with the details, but only now, about 23.00 hrs here, have I been able to unpack the receiver, remove its cover and have a quick look inside.

Pic #1 - The faceplate. Looks really in great shape, despite the ovious fingertip marks. Probably my own while unpacking the unit. Just one big and very noticeable scratch above the glass. All the rest is spotless.
This thing is quite heavy, which is normally a good sign.



Pic #2 - A quick look inside. Pretty nice and tidy construction for a BOTL receiver. However that was the time when Sony did make a name for themselves for above average build quality. Very clean, almost no dust inside. I guess the previous owner had it opened and cleaned more than once.
The 3 gang FM, and 2 gang AM varac is easyly seen. Oh, this beauty also has LW and SW. I suppose I´ll never use that, though.



Pic #3 - Generous encapsulated power tran, and power supply caps.
Time to power it up on its own. No smoke after 5 minutes. Not bad.
Some issues were immediatly obvious. One of the two buls for the dial scale is dead, and so are a few other smaller bulbs. Nothing my tech can´t take care about in a couple of minutes and somewhat more than a couple of my Euros.



Final note for today:
All controls have a very positive, solid and smooth feeling to them.
Volume , treble and bass knobs are detented, making them feel like real expensive modern stuff.
Speaker posts, like most of these things had then, are real lousy spring loaded contraptions, which will allow for very thin cable only. These will be first in line for upgrading.

More on this later on.

Jorge

Hooked her up, with some anxiety, I must confess. The first impressions, as deatiled bellow, are all relative to CD reproducing, that is to say, comments are relative to line level pre-amp and power amp sections.

To sum it up, this Sony beats the crap out of the NAD 7020 receiver my brother-in-law used to drive the kef Carina II´s with.

I expected a run-of-the mill sound quality, and I´m actually amazed at how good it sounds.

On good quality recordings of few instruments and voices, it sounds pretty startling. Solo Piano, as in Keith Jarreth´s "The Koln Concert" piano tone is actually very realistic, with macro and micro dynamics very well portrayed.
Scale is somewhat limited, meaning it never sounded as a real full sized Grand Piano like it (almost ) sounds in my main system. I´m sure the speakers are responsible here too.

On Big Orchestral works, particularly with a lot of simultaneous singers, like in Brahms " Ein Deutsches Requiem ", things get a little fuzzy, but then that´s to be expected. I´ve never heard that phenomenal masterpiece, with very dense orchestrations and harmonies, reproduced properly, even in the best systems. Same goes for Verdi´s Requiem, just so outrageously grand, there´s no system in the world which will do it full justice.

In Pink Floyd´s DSOTM, Both treble and bass extension were remarkable. Had I not ever heard that most magnificent of Rock albums reproduced by Horns and active tube systems, and I could probably live with this receiver very happily indeed.

Another of my favourite test CD´s, Archie Chepp and Horace Parlan´s "Two of a Mind " - which just happens to contain some of the music I love best, sounded so good I had the hairs at the back of my neck all stuck up. Sax is really fullbodied and piano very natural sounding, again with limitations in scale in both instruments.

I never expected this receiver to fare so well, especially since the reference it´s being measured against - my main system - is really quite good.

The Tuner section, is a 3 FM and 2 AM gang affair, just like my Onkyo T-5000 tuner. They sound very similar, but this Sony is clearly more sensitive, picking up a lot more week stations. I´m just now listening to Kate Bush, on my favourite station, and it sounds pretty good. I wonder how a really good FM tuner will sound. That will have to be my next ebay purchase, now that I´ve lost my initial fear of doing business through ebay. I´m already saving up for that.

I´m leaving the phono section for later, though I will not attach too much importance to it. My son will certainly not listen much to it, and even if he does, I´m sure it will be good enough for him.

As I said before a few bulbs are burnt out, but that´s about all the maintenance this receiver needs.

After I hook it all up in my son´s bedroom, I´ll post pics of it in " Member´s systems ".

Jorge

Nice review, Jorge. That Sony looks better than expected and certainly is performing so.

- JP

thats great news Jorge, glad you are enjoying her.

I haven´t listened to my main system in over a week. The poor thing has been relegated to a secondary role, not because I think it´s any worse than my son´s, but because the latter has just proven to be such a pleasant surprise.

I never heard the Carina II´s sounding so good, not even when driven by my Beard / Myiabi tube combo. The Kefs have an over-emphasized warmth in the midbass which just all but disappears with the Sony STR-414 Receiver. It´s all about synergy, I suppose, and I believe I really lucked out with this purchase.

My son can´t wait to have the system set up in his bedroom, so, tomorrow morning I´ll try and have the blown bulbs replaced and the rig finally moved to its new owner´s rightful place. Good thing the weather has been holding shiny and dry for this time of the year, for I´ll have to hang the spare dipole FM antenna on the roof for this system.

Oh, I haven´t got to trying out the phono inputs yet. I can hardly believe it myself.

Jorge

Nice setup Jorge. I'll let you use the Yorx to try the phono inputs, but you'll have to send it back.

wow, you treat your family well, especially for a son who almost traded one of your TTs for Clint's Vespa...

Paul,

Man, you do have an elephant´s memory.

I had all but forgotten that remote episode. Thanks, pal.

I wonder if my son will be as glad when he learns why he won´t be getting the system after all.

Jorge

Very good review.
I think that Sony model was made only for Europe, IMHO the "L" indicates that.
Your son will be very happy with it.

Alvaro,

You could be right in as much as this model was made for Europe only, but regarding the "L" suffix" I´m pretty sure it stands for "Long Wave" reception. It´s something you´ll see in many other manufacturers receivers and tuners, and allways associated with long wave reception.

BTW, I took her to my Tech this morning, and I should have her back early next week, with all the bulbs working.

Jorge

Than, take a pic with the lights on and show us.