Sony's New ES Receivers - STR-DA4400ES Tops Line... So Far

Sony’s new ES line of receivers may bring to mind the words of the Who’s Pete Townsend: Meet the new boss – same as the old boss. The company’s new ES line of audio/video receivers looks suspiciously like last year’s new ES line of audio/video receivers with a slight rearrangement in features to price points. 

The company’s ES line, due to ship in August, has a long and solid reputation as Sony’s rendition of high-end quality audio gear. Back again to make audio/video controls more intuitive is Sony’s slick Xross Media Bar interface made famous by the PS3 and PSP. Along with a slew of other features that may not constitute an upgrade but might attract new customers to Sony’s upscale ES handle. 

This year it’s the STR-DA4400ES that tops the line. No 5400ES has been announced so far, which would be the obvious successor to last year’s STR-DA5300ES. The 4400ES will sell for $1500 when it’s released in August, a slight savings from last summer’s flagship that listed at $1700. 

The list of features include items which have become standard in Sony’s ES receiver line including: Faroudja DCDi upconversion supporting 1080P/24p, a wide range of audio support that includes the new Dolby TrueHD and dts HD Master Audio. Back again this year is Sony’s Digital Media Port bringing compatibility to external media players like iPods, Bluetooth adapters and satellite radio. 

Sony’s complete ES line offers listeners a full 7.1 channels. The 4400ES comes stuffed with 7 channels at 120-watts, six HDMI inputs and HD video support for two zones but audio support for up to three zones. 

The budget conscious that still demands ES quality can turn to the STR-DA3400ES that runs for only $1,000. It’s rated at 100 Watts-per-channel with 4 HDMI inputs and only one second zone HD video. Bottoming out the line is the STR-DA2400ES a basic 7.1 channel, 100 WPC receiver with four HDMI inputs. The 2400ES sacrifices all the other cool features including the Xross Media Bar interface. But it’ll run for at the bargain price of $800.