Sony STRDH190 2-ch Home Stereo Receiver with Phono Inputs & Bluetooth Black Electronics

5.0 out of 5 stars

Love this receiver for many reasons!

The Sony STRDH190 receiver is perfect for my needs. It allows for the setup of two speaker systems (my den and the pool speakers). It has in-built Bluetooth that allows me to play music from my PC or from my iPhone. This receiver replaced a much larger, more capable…but more complicated Yamaha receiver that I was only using 10% of its features. I was having a problem with the bass output and decided to replace it with a quality receiver with the essentials…plus Bluetooth. Great receiver…5 stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars

Amazing receiver at a super low price.

I normally don’t leave reviews for Amazon purchases but I was so blown away with this receiver, I really need to. I replaced my old Yamaha receiver with this simple, yet amazing Sony. My old Yamaha required me to download an app to receive Bluetooth, which rarely worked. The ease of setting up the bluetooth on my new Sony was impressive. The sound is solid. I love the simple interface Two knobs. The remote is also perfect.Only negatives is the black and red clips snapped off when I was installing the speaker wire. Not an issue though as the banana plugs fit snugly in there without them.Best $149.99 I’ve ever spent.

6 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Price

Great for my garage

5.0 out of 5 stars

Easy setup. Great basic receiver

AM/FM Turntable sound Nice looking unit with remote . You won’t be. Ease of installation you will not be dissatisfied with this unit. I grade it a starter unit +

4.0 out of 5 stars

Very good relation cost-benefit

Maybe I was waiting most powerful RMS or the feeling of that power it’s transmitted to the speakers.In other way the sound it’s really clear and beautiful (fidelity).

4.0 out of 5 stars

Decent inexpensive receiver, FM antenna jack not a good idea

My 30+-year old Sony STR-AV320 receiver finally stopped working, so I was in search of a comparable replacement. This model seemed suitable for my needs.It’s missing a couple of features of the old model: an AM tuner, and loudness compensation. Those missing features aren’t deal-breakers for me.There’s built-in Bluetooth, which I really appreciate.The sound is just great with my old Cambridge Soundworks speakers, noticeably better than with the old receiver (which was really never so great).My major complaint, and why I’m knocking off a star, is the FM antenna connector, which uses a small plug. That means I can’t use the FM antenna of my choice, and the one supplied is very short. What’s worse, I needed to remove the antenna to pack for a move and when I tried that, the wire came clean out of the antenna plug, so now I have to find a new antenna. I’m supposing Sony won’t replace it under warranty. Screw terminals or spring-loaded connectors for the antenna would have been much better.

8 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

I like this

I’d been using a Sony receiver for a long time — about the same dimensions as this one. But it developed a short — loud popping noise via the speakers, then “Protect” came on and everything stopped. I could probably have had it repaired, but I imagine it would cost more to do the repair than to purchase a new one. So that’s what I did. This Sony does the job well. The part that most surprised me was the antenna. It looks like a piece of string that got thrown in the box by mistake. I felt disappointed that there was no connection for my bulky, plug-in antenna, and I looked at the “string” and thought, “What’s this going to do?” Much to my surprise, the little thing hauls in stations with a clarity that my older antenna could never match. I’m very pleased with it all the way around — I just hope it doesn’t develop a short anytime soon.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Sony quality sound

The amp sounds amazing has good power 4 channels out multiple inputs. The sound after tuning it, is like a live concert in my house. Love it.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Easy!

Plug it in. Connect speakers. Turn it on.Easy set up with different media connections. I was able to connect vintage tower speakers. It is good to know the Ohms of the speakers so you know which A+B or A or B for left and right if youre not using phono plug ins.You’ll figure it out! I did and I didn’t know what I was doing!

5.0 out of 5 stars

Great for standalone stereo system!

Plenty of power. Bluetooth. Remote.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Very god receiver for affordable price

Receiver works very well with several devices, Alexa, CD player etc. Easy to use. Well designed.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Needed Something for Patio Speakers….

My Situation: I had a (good) 35 year old Sony receiver running my outdoor patio speakers – decent outdoor speakers installed with the house when it was built about 10 years ago.My annoyance was connecting an iPhone or iPad to the old stereo which I did with lightning to 3.5 mm wired connection. This of course meant someone’s phone or an iPad had to be sitting inside by the stereo – which was a pain, especially when batteries were running low. The old stereo also had lots of buttons and plenty of confusion when anybody but me was using it. It was a pain and generally a sorry setup.My first thought was to just replace my outdoor speakers with wireless, Bluetooth speakers. First, there is VERY little choice here and I settled on the Pyle 5.25 Inch outdoor speakers. Speaker replacement was going to take a little more work getting power run but I figured the Bluetooth functionality would be worth it. Got the speakers, tested them before installing and the sound quality pretty much sucked, even compared to my existing speakers that had been outside for 10 years. Bluetooth wasn’t great either. Returned.Next, I had the bright idea to just get a Bluetooth amp. This would allow me to replace the stereo mess in my cabinet with a very compact amp and I could just connect my existing speaker wires into and then connect an iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth. Again, very few options available. After reading (too many) reviews and (too much) searching, I settled on the Fosi Audio BT20A. I REALLY wanted this to work because the idea of replacing all my old stereo equipment with one tiny device was very appealing. Despite upgrading to 100 watts (I think the old Sony was 65), the sound quality was again a noticeable downgrade. PLUS, the Bluetooth connection was ridiculous. I could barely get outside with my phone before the sound started crackling. Returned.After another round of (too many) reviews and research, I decided to just replace with entire old Sony receiver (and equalizer) with the Sony STRDH190. I didn’t want another big, clunky receiver, I was a little annoyed that Sony doesn’t have a good app to run the receiver, and I didn’t like that I couldn’t turn the receiver on/off remotely from my phone. However, the STRDH190 works great. The sound is much stronger than I was getting before and the Bluetooth works GREAT – super easy to connect and I can walk around out by the pool and the connection stays strong. And that’s what I wanted – good sound and good Bluetooth. The unit looks nice, although that doesn’t matter so much because it’s still sitting in a closed cabinet. Overall, the solution isn’t perfect but Sony is quality stuff and I’m happy with the 2 big issues I needed covered – good sound and good Bluetooth connectivity.

48 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Not bad, but not what I expect from Sony

Like others have said, bass response could be better. And a lack of Loundess Contour (raising lows and highs at low volume) is a real falling point.My only real complaints. The sound is good, considering the limitations of the bass. It is clean.Speakers: at first I hooked it up to a pair of Pinnacle bookshelf speakers. They are tuned to higher basss frequencies, with mellow mids and highs. It sounded good from the FM tuner, nice and clean.Then I hooked it up to my Optimus (yeah, I have oldies but goodies) 3-way speakers (Sansui or Pioneer) with 8″ woofers. Much better, but still no real punchy bass.I run SXM from my Samsung Galaxy to a small FM transmitter for the whole house. Using Dolby ATMOS and the equalizer from the Samsung I got it to accetable levels of sound. Not as good as the Aiwa SA-A60 amp that this is replacing while it’s being repaired, but enjoyable. It also took a minute to find the balance setting under “Amp Menu”.I’m also running the sound from a matching Aiwa FM tuner, which has a warmer sound than the built-in FM.That’s what it took to get the audio close to what the Aiwa system takes as granted.My recommendation: use this where you need an audio source where you either have good speakers of full-spectrum stereo isn’t as important. It would be OK for a garage, reception area, background music in the lounge, etc. I woukld not recommend it for serious listening to rock, hip-hop, etc where bass is important. It does better with lighter music. It took a lot of adjustment to get it to sound decent. At least it’s a clean sounding amp.I got a reconditioned unit for $100. It’s worth the hundred. If I really wanted a better sounding receiver I’d go $100 more. Like I said, it gets removed and repurposed when the Aiwa gets repaired.Edit: Bluetooth. I paired it with 2 Samsung Galxies. Pairing was simple. Sound was amazing. So much better than FM. Since this is an edit, I can’t add 5 stars for pairing, but it was easy and the sound quality is above par.

8 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

ace

great sound

5.0 out of 5 stars

Perfect for what I needed

Sounded much better than the one I replaced

4.0 out of 5 stars

no USB

Great sound and would have gave it 5 stars if it had a USB port.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Sony Receiver – Good Expectations

The product was received on time.The box had no additional protection to avoid excesive movement of the original box.I have not tried yet.What is very remarkable is the total capability of the remote control. That is a very good feature.

One person found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Works Great

Excellent sound quality through four speakers. This unit was purchased to replace a similar Sony receiver I bought fifty years ago.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Remote control dependent

I have been looking to upgrade my ancient Onkyo TX-8511 to this Sony receiver. When it went on sale I decided to pull the trigger. So far, with some adjustments to the receiver through the remote, you can achieve good results. I don’t like to be dependent on the remote. However the convenience of a decent sounding receiver with Bluetooth is fantastic. One thing to note is there is no output for a subwoofer and the speaker connection are the old school spring clips. And the bass isn’t quite as deep as my Onkyo. However, this receiver is in a bedroom so don’t really need a lot of power for my JBL Studio 530s. Also there isn’t any noticeable Bluetooth delay between my PC and this unit. I am pretty happy with this purchase so far.

One person found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Adequate- not exceptional

It’s a decent amp for the price but it isn’t very powerful. For my purposes I just need background music in the yard and this will do the trick but I have found my volume setting to be very high or at max at times. On the positive side, it has phono connection, batteries for remote, sleek design, audio output and 4 inputs. 2 channels and comes with a FM antennae.If you need a powerful amp- spend the extra couple hundred dollars or consider another brand.

One person found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Great quality and look

I love this receiver! I bought it based on the Wirecutter recommendation, even though I was originally planning to buy a used amplifier/receiver for cheaper. And I’m very glad I did, this one feels very high quality and was easy to set up. I have it attached (with speaker wire which FYI you need to buy separately for other audio newbies) to two bookshelf speakers and my Sony record player, and it works like a charm. The volume knob feels nice and the whole thing is very aesthetically pleasing. The sound quality seems fantastic (coming from someone who moved from a teeny bluetooth speaker to real speakers), and IMO it’s great for the price.

16 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Wow! Where to start

I didn’t have any great expectations for this Sony receiver, I guess I’m a bit skeptical of things at first.But, wow was I surprised, and I was not disappointed in any aspect or functionality of this receiver.(1) I tried the FM tuner while listening through the headphone jack: outstanding. Easily volume control through the Sony remote.(2) I tried my iPhone pairing still through my headphones: excellent. Immediately paired with the Bluetooth of my iPhone to the Sony. Great sound. Easy to adjust sound volume and to use forward and backward either using the iPhone or the remote. The two times I paired it with my iPhone I simply pushed the “Bluetooth” button on the Sony remote, went to my iPhone Bluetooth settings, saw the Sony receiver was ready to connect and selected “connect” on my iPhone. I did not use the “pairing” button on my Sony receiver.(3) I finally connected a pair of JBL speakers. First I turned off the receiver (not sure if I needed to, but..I tried the FM first, then I paired my iPhone again. Both are Awesome!I don’t have a turntable, so I can’t report on it. Haven’t hooked up my Yamaha CD disc changer, because it’s old and the remote doesn’t work anymore. If I can get a replacement remote for it, then I’ll give it a try.In conclusion, the sound is superb with all of the above connections that I tried. And everything was simple to setup. I think the best sound was when I connected my bookshelf speakers. I’m sitting here right now streaming my Apple playlists and I’m blown away by the quality of the sound.I have an old 2011 Yamaha receiver, though it hasn’t worked for about 4-5 years, so I’m close to ecstatic to have an excellent new receiver that also has Bluetooth.Update 4/8/23I have just hooked up my Yamaha 5-CD changer and it works and sounds superb.The reason I have no trouble with the FM reception is probably because I am within 10 miles of the radio towers of the stations I listen to. So, the fact that this Sony comes with a proprietary FM antenna is not a problem.I only use the remote to adjust the receiver, so I can’t respond to reviews that state that the dials seem cheap.If you have had problems with your speakers, I highly recommend reading the instructions thoroughly to verify the impedance of your speakers and hook them up as described in the manual.I did have one speaker that did not work when I first hooked up my two speakers, but I quickly found that one of the speaker wires was not connected properly, but it took me about 30 seconds to rectify.Update 6/19/24More than a year later I realized that I had not tested the headphone jack on the front of the receiver. So, after attaching my wired Bose QC25 headphones into an extension cable I plugged the cable into the front of my receiver. Then I paired my iPhone via Bluetooth to the receiver and began streaming my music.The sound quality was so much better than the sound that I was getting from using my JBL speakers. I’m sure it would work with any decent wired headphones. Give it a try, or maybe you already have.I speculate that it takes less watts to power the headphones than it does the speakers.Now 5+ stars!Update 7/22/24My Bose QC25 headphones died, so I replaced them with Sony MDR7506 headphones and they work great, as you might expect when combining Sony headphones with a Sony receiver!

49 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Great quality at a great price.

This is the perfect choice for the music lover that doesn’t want to spend a fortune and is fed up with porr quality of a simple Bluetooth speaker. Pair with some Sony SSCS5 speakers which can be found around $100 and you’ll be amazed at the upgrade. Works with record players or any other audio equipment (will not be good for entertainment centers to hook up tvs) I purchased a separate Schiit Mani 2 for my phono pre amp and to be honest the difference is minimal so the built in phono amp is sufficient for most people. Can power most types of speakers but not super high end ones using 4 OHMS. Has A/B switcher so you can hook up 4 speakers in different rooms and use 2 at a time or all 4 at once. I mounted 2 speakers in my workout room and can switch between them with the push of a button. This is not a feature rich device so there is minimal EQ options (has bass and treble). Overall you can not get a better strictly audio receiver for the price.

3 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Small unit with good entry level features and sound quality

Surprisingly, it’s small size is actually a problem! It’s simply not long and wide enough to be stackable. I can’t put my turntable or my projector on top of it because it’s just too small! If you are expecting to stack this item be sure you actually have shelves or measure first.As to the sound quality…It does not suffer from the frequency gap or tinniness I found with the Yamaha amp I tried before, but the frequency crossover is not as smooth as the Insignia amp this unit is replacing.Interestingly, it seems to have some kind of volume leveling circuitry because while my PS5, Turntable, and Xbox all had different volume settings before, now they all seem to be the same.Bass is woefully inadaquate at default settings and to get a “normal” sound I have to turn bass up between 5 and max, with max my default setting to prevent harsh sounding voices in movies and videos.I don’t see a need to turn the treble up because again, that results in a harsh scratchy quality to voices like a bad telephone conneciton.Bass is slightly boomy but nowhere near as bad as the Yamaha. It lacks power and expansiveness. Not terrible, but not the home theater showcase I got out the Insignia.The overall sound profile is “clean” but on the cold side, even after adjustments.I played vinyl records, and they had a “cd player” sound do them similar to the cheap Audio Technica direct-drives. Very very clean but lacking in warmth and bass feels dampened. Static and distortion seems to be amplified instead of muffled. Overall impression is that there’s some noise and/or signal cut-off, which my pre-amp also provides to elminate hum, but seems even more severe with this unit. It does not sound “bad”, just less analogue if that makes sense.From digital sources that previously had weak signal and static/distortion at high volume, this unit seems to be processing the signal with more powerful amplification and noise reduction. For my PS5 console the sound through USB DAC is noticably improved.From a usability standpoint it’s got cheap clips for speaker wires as opposed to the big screws on the Insignia, the expected A + B speaker configuration options, FIVE inputs including the front “portable” port (why you would plug a phone in rather than using the included bluetooth or a dedicated streaming box is beyond me). Sound amplification and clarity on all ports appears identicaly, though the 4th input does feature output as well.Inputs are selected with a knob instead of a button (old school) and there’s a very loud CLUNK sound when the unit powers on.Remote works well but has some weird button placement with voluem control at the bottom, with radio tuning below it…and radio presets at the top with inputs above. Not bad, just…odd.I don’t generally have need to turn audio up to thunderous levels but I haven’t noticed static or distortion at any volume level from any source so far.Unit is very responsive to inputs from the remote. Volume up/down is very gradual so accidentally turning the volume up too high is very unlikely.The unit also comes with a two year warranty, which is honestly the real reason I bought it rather than another very old Insignia amp.If ultimate sound quality, esp for vinyl and movies through 2 channels is your thing, I would go with an Insignia over this.If you don’t want/need heavy bass response from just two speakers and use primarily modern devices with a DAC or analog out (video game consoles, bluray players, music streamers, CD player) I think this is a very good choice unless you require more/different features or a lot more power for your needs.

3 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Keep your expectations inline with the price point on this receiver, and you’ll be happy.

We bought this Sony receiver to replace an older, but much more capable Sony receiver that has developed an overheating / shut down failure. The only thing we need this receiver to do is to play albums in a spare bedroom / home office sized space. This new receiver was selected for that, and only that role. If I was planning to plug in anything but an analog input into this receiver, it would fall short of expectations. So, don’t do that This is a very basic unit, with very basic capabilities.All we needed for this use case was a 100 watt receiver to run her Audio-Technica record player through 2 Polk Audio speakers that once upon a time were used in our first home theater.This receiver is more than adequate for running albums in her office. Docking 1 star for the inadequate FM antenna port, and the high school level fidelity / sound quality we are currently getting. This just ‘sounds’ like a 150 to 200 dollar receiver, and you won’t be blown away by the quality of the sound, nor should you really expect it and because it is in that price range, it’s worth a solid 4 stars.I would run this in my garage, spare bedroom, pretty much any space that has a 2 channel speaker setup. I am detecting some hiss in the output side but don’t have a thousand dollar tool to measure the levels. The sound quality is acceptable, but not fantastic.

4.0 out of 5 stars

Great sound with a couple of shortcomings

I have this receiver connected to a pair of Polk Audio XT15 speakers, and it sounds really good. The remote control buttons for pause, and to skip to the next track work with my Fire Tablet’s Amazon Music App, which is nice. There are two things I don’t like. I wish it had AM radio, and I wish it had either a 300 ohm or 75 ohm connection for a better FM antenna than the single piece of wire antenna connected to a non-standard little plastic connector that won’t work with any other antenna. Overall the receiver was a great value for under $150 for something to stream Amazon Music to. Edited to add that I just realized this receiver doesn’t have a tape monitor function, which means you can’t connect a graphic equalizer if you want to.

3 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly good quality for the price. Has everything I need. 2 year warranty from Sony.

I was pleasantly surprised with what you get, for such a low price. FM tuner, Bluetooth, Phono input with ground, 4 inputs for other components, with one of those having an output jack as well, remote control, and a 2 year parts/labor warranty from Sony. I have a JVC turntable connected to the phono input, my television connected to input 1, a Teac cassette deck (for playback only) connected to input 2, a Sony single disc CD player connected to input 3, a Tascam CD player/recorder connected to input 4, (using the 1 and only output jack offered there) to have recording capability, and a vintage pair of Boston Acoustics 8 ohm floor speakers. I agree with others that the speaker connection terminals have a very small opening, and not really designed for heavier gauge speaker wire. A google search provided this info: “Thick wire (12 or 14 gauge) is recommended for long wire runs, high power applications, and low-impedance speakers (4 or 6 ohms). For relatively short runs (less than 50 feet) to 8 ohm speakers, 16 gauge wire will usually do just fine.” For my setup, my speakers are 8 ohm, and located much less than 50 ft. from the receiver & each other, so 16 gauge wire worked out fine, and fit in the terminals easily. Freshly spliced 14 gauge wire should fit, if inserted carefully. 12 gauge wire would be too thick to use, and may likely break the speaker terminals. It has it’s own proprietary FM wire antenna included, and you cannot use any other type of antenna (there are no other FM antenna connections). I picked up over 30 channels, but I’m likely within 15 miles of most of them. If you live far from your FM broadcast stations, the small wire antenna could be insufficient. There is a power button, volume control knob, and input selector knob on the front of the receiver, along with a few other settings. Most adjustments however, are made from the remote. The inputs are labeled Phono, FM, Input 1, 2, 3, & 4 on the display & the remote, but you can customize them to display whatever you like, from the amp menu, accessed from the remote. I changed mine to TV, Tape, CD Play, & CD REC, quite easily. You can adjust the balance and other settings, from the same amp menu, from the remote, including increasing the output volume of the phono jack, if so desired. You can adjust the volume, bass & treble, store 30 FM preset channels, access Bluetooth, and numerous other features from the remote. The instruction manual is clear & concise, explaining all of the many features, without being overwhelming. Keeping in mind that this is a 2 channel “home stereo receiver”, it more than meets my audio needs. It produces a clear, nice quality sound, that you will likely not find in another $128 “new” receiver. If you’re looking to vibrate the walls, or need to feel the bass instead of just hearing it, then you probably need to spend more, and look elsewhere. Otherwise, it really is quite nice. I’m pleased so far, and hope it will prove to be durable. It looks great, and appears to be a quality made item.

55 people found this helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars

Thanks Scot Heinze for the in-depth review. Here is my additional notes:

Scot wrote an informative review. I am taking a different approach and I hope for them to build on each other.Background, My first component system was a Dynaco amp & FM tuner (both kits) and about 40 years ago replaced it with a receiver from Radio Shack (STA 2290) – Yes, I can already sense what you are thinking. Rounding out the system was a Sony TD-352D 7″ open reel tape deck, BSR EQ 3000 frequency analyzer, Aiwa AD-F7800 cassette deck, Hitachi DA-500 CD player and a Dual 1219 turntable. (the turntable, reel-to-reel deck and speakers date back to my college days in the early 1970’s).The receiver, after going unused for about 3 decades ran very hot maybe 30 years of being married to a 4 pack a day smoker contributed, plus a household of cats), so I started the project to get the system back up. That search led me to this Sony receiver.Pros:1. The Sony is sleek, minimalist all black unit (versus the brushed aluminum finish on the STA-2290, with all the buttons and AF-FM tuner).2. Bluetooth input.Cons:1. Inputs are pretty generically labeled, so one has to guess at the input levels (I wanted to connect an Amazon Dot, and originally used the AUX input on the front).2. Physical speaker connection is the worst I have seen (I even broke off one “connector” trying to get a better bite on the wire. Adding screw terminals and/or some plug would have been better.3. While on the topic of speakers, I had added some powered JBL 305P Mkii speakers, but I found no place to connect them.4. No provision for wireless speakers (bluetooth or otherwise). Thru the help of others, I see that there is an “output” clustered under the label for “input 4”. Old school may have labeled it “line out” and put it by the speaker connections.5. Switched power. There are a lot of devices that one might want power added to, once the unit was “turned on” yes, with a remote, the power to this is always on, but activating an “switched” power outlet makes it easier (and more energy friendly) to shut everything else off at once.6. No digital media port USB-A at a minimum) for a thumb drive with MP3 files on it or a memory card.

23 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars

Muy buen producto

Llegó atrasado, pero en perfectas condiciones. Muy buen reciever.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Headphones (in panel jack) mute the speakers–never saw this before. Basic functions ok.

It has the basic receiver functions with the added bonus of phono in, which I may use. It sounds good and remote is well laid out. BUT, there is a speaker connectivity issue.Unlike any AV receiver I have owned in 40+ years, plugging in headphones via the front jack mutes the speakers! This unit has 2 sets of selectable (on/off either set) outputs, so why automute? It’s not unusual to have a set of headphones plugged in all the time, but Sony dropped the ball here.

One person found this helpful