Sony STR-DN1070 review – CNET

The Good The Sony STR-DN1070 proves itself a worthy all-arounder with a dynamic performance in both music and movies. Its six HDMI ports offer compatibility for the latest 4K sources. Useful features include multiroom streaming, three separate powered speaker zones and wireless support for AirPlay, Google Cast and Spotify Connect.

The Bad Unlike many receivers at its price, the Sony doesn’t support Dolby Atmos or DTS:X surround formats. Sony’s wireless multiroom system isn’t as compelling as Yamaha’s.

The Bottom Line Lack of Atmos is more than eclipsed by excellent sound quality, making the Sony STR-DN1070 one of the best receivers at this price.

How hot are you on “the latest and greatest” versus “tried and tested”?

The Sony STR-DN1070’s feature list is prodigious, but one glaring omission is support for the newest object-based surround formats, Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. Other midpriced receivers, like the Onkyo TX-NR646, are careful to check those boxes, but Sony ignores them. If you’re OK with that — and we certainly are — it’s an excellent choice, anchored by superb sound quality for the money.

Of course, the Sony can still do plenty of other cool stuff like stream AirPlay, Google Cast and Spotify Connect, offer a generous three powered zones, and handle 4K/HDR video. That good-enough feature set, along with great sound, makes it one of our favorite receiver recommendations so far.

The STR-DN1070 is available for $599 and a prickly $1,399 in Australia (June) but UK pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed.

Design

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The poor old receiver: it’s difficult to make a big rectangular box “sexy,” and most designers don’t even try. The DN line has remained unchanged since 2012, but as receivers go, the 1070 is still relatively modern, with an uncluttered face and pleasing LED display strip through the middle.

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On the right hand side of the receiver go the control knobs for volume and source selection and across the front are scattered a few other controls, though frustratingly there’s no Menu button. The fascia also includes an HDMI port and headphone jack.

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The receiver’s menu system is just as friendly as previous iterations and should be very familiar to users of other Sony gear including televisions. It offers a clean Settings page and a logical, easy-to-read menu system once you drill down further.

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The remote control is button-packed but reasonably ergonomic, with big, convenient keys.

Features

Though sound quality has changed, in other ways the STR-DN1070 is only an incremental update on the STR-DN1060. It shares many of the same features, including six HDMI inputs (five on the rear and one on the front). These ports are able to deliver the benefits of this year’s 4K Blu-ray players, and 4K streaing devices like the Roku 4, with support for HDCP2.2 and HDMI 2.0a/HDR content from the major studios. The Sony comes with 4K upscaling too, if you think you need that (but really no one does — your TV often does a better job).

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Despite boasting nine channels rated at up to 175W/ch (up from seven last year), the receiver still doesn’t offer the immersive formats Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. Instead it offers the option of up to three powered zones, which is one of the few receivers we’ve seen to do this at this price.

The lack of X and Atmos is not a deal-breaker in my opinion, since there’s still less than 60 discs for both formats so far. On the other hand if you want as much future-proofing as possible, or you’re interested in “immersive audio” and the extra speaker hardware it requires, you should probably choose a receiver that supports those formats.

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