Review: Sony STR-DA5600ES 7.1 Receiver With 4-Port Switch
You may never go back to separates: excellent audio, flawless 3D pass-through, useful Ethernet switch, perfect Control4 integration

Seriously? Do we really need another 7.1 receiver? Integrator Joe Whitaker, the first to review the Sony STR-DA5600ES says he likes the product so much that he bought the review unit and became a Sony dealer.

Sony manages to bring plenty of innovation to the new receiver, available only through specialty A/V retailers and custom integrators (sorry AVSForum DIYs).

It sounds amazing, but it also networks beautifully via an on-board four-port Ethernet switch, and offers the best Control4 integration Joe has ever experienced with a third-party A/V component.

The audio performance of the receiver is rivaled only by the video, with Faroudja processing so good that it made Joe's old VHS movies look respectable. With the unit’s nearly flawless 3D pass-through, even the purists may never know that a receiver sits between the source and a display.

Perhaps the biggest treat of them all: The free Apple app for controlling the 5600ES is one of the best control apps on the market.

The integrated unit, which pumps out 130 watts of power to seven channels, will retail for only $1,900 when it hits the market this month.

Here's what Joe has to say about DA5600ES's Zone 2 performance an handy 4-port Ethernet switch:



The rear panel of the 5600ES looks pretty much like other receivers in its class except for one notable addition: a very handy four-port network hub.

Unfortunately, Sony follows the age-old practice of many receiver manufacturers: The powered zone 2 is shared with the rear surround outputs. For many consumers this configuration doesn’t make sense.

Most consumers (certainly all of our clients) will want 7.1 surround from this receiver. Maybe half of those consumers will want to use zone 2. But very few will be using the front high speaker configuration.

Sony seems very amenable to changing the configuration so that the powered zone 2 is shared with the front high speaker output; few customers actually use bi-wire speakers or stacked front sound fields.

While Sony falters slightly with the zone 2 configuration, the company makes up for it with an integrated four-port switch.

I started with my incoming LAN connection from a switch. From there I tested the feature with multiple devices, including a Control4 HC300 automation controller, Sony PlayStation 3, Control4 Media Player, Netgear EVA9000 media streamer, Control4 iPod dock, Control4 7-inch touchscreen, and even a Dell PC.

To test how well the 5600ES switch works, I used one LAN port for control, and the others for simultaneous streaming content.

At one point, I was playing ShoutCast on the receiver, Netflix on the PS3, a stored movie on the Control4 Media Player, and even typed some of this article while using Remote Desktop to a PC in another room.

Guess what? Not a single hiccup! Try doing that with HDMI’s Ethernet channel!

I was stunned at the quality. After all, you might not expect a network hub built into a receiver to be anything more than marketing “checklist” item.

This feature is an instant winner for those single-room setups that have only one incoming LAN connection and multiple devices that need data at the receiver end. Additionally, I did hook up another small switch to the hub on the receiver with little noticeable loss of streaming and control, although I wouldn’t recommend going crazy stacking networking equipment.

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