Sony STR-VZ555ES

Wolf in Mutton’s Clothing

The Home Cinema division of Sony which had been a little behind in the area of AV amplifiers has launched a new item, entering yet again into the race for multi-formats, with the presentation to the Japanese press of the future integrated machine, the STR-VZ555ES.

Replacing the well known STR-VA555ES, it includes a new audio stage dedicated to the decoding of the new formats: DTS-ES, DTS 96.24, DTS Neo DP2 and MPEG-2 AAC.
In addition, contrary to the first version which only managed 6.1 formats, the STR-VZ555ES will be capable of reproducing soundtracks encoded in 7.1.



The engineers have also added some power in there as well, adding around 50 watts On each of the channels. The STR-VZ555ES will thus produce 150 watts under 6 ohms and by channel as opposed to 100 on the previous version.

We regret however that Sony has not thought to modify the design of this new integrated model, keeping the same shape and finish as the STR-VA555ES... What a shame!!!
Concerning availability, no information has yet been released by the brand.