Summary:
Denon has always offered a quality product without breaking your bank. That history continues with this A/V Receiver. It offers a variety of connection options, a good sounding preamp section, a solid digital decoder, a fine and sweet sounding amp section.

Yes, there are some disappointments:
1. Though the amp section of the receiver is sweet sounding, it is a wimpy 85 watts (not a robust 85 watts).
2. The amplifier also has some barely detectable distortion. I couldn't hear it until I plugged in my Rotel amp that has much better specs. Shouldn't bother you unless you have access to better equipment..even then it isn't terribly bothersome.
3. Preamp outputs are limited to Main Speakers, center & sub. Main speaker pre-out does not differentiate between front channel sounds from ohers when in Surround operation.
4. The remote, though better than many, is still awkward to use. No explanation in the manual about some buttons. Door that hides the set-up functions is clunky and breakable.
5. Needs additional video output for Picture In Picture operation.
6. Switching sound fields using the remote is cumbersome. To get from Dolby Surround to Direct Stereo, one must press the proper button on the remote 8 times to cycle through other sound fields to get to the one you want (9 times if you want Stereo with tone controls).

Still, this is a product worth owning. Not a world beater, but mostly solid performace at a reasonable price.

Strengths:
Quality sound good versatility

Similar Products Used:
NAD, Rotel, ADcom

Price Paid:  $700.00 from A/V environments

Summary:
No contest,best A/V rcvr anywhere near this price. Much warmer sound than Sony ES,Yamaha,or Sherwood. The only way you can do better is by spending MUCH more money,but then we're talking about another group of product. D-A converters are the same as those in much pricier pieces of gear. Was not a blind follower of Denon,especially considering thier spotty customer service history,but I kept going back to this one. Have never had a problem with this or any other Denon product,but I know of others who have. This is a great performer,throw in the low price and you can't lose. Buy one used if you can find it.

Strengths:
5 Channel stereo,expandability,warm sound,remote,great sound even at low volume levels

Weaknesses:
no rear pre-out

Similar Products Used:
Variety of Denon and Marantz

Price Paid:  $200.00 from The Wiz

Summary:
Great deal if you don't need DTS, more powerful then some of the newer Sony's out there. Couldn't really afford a powerful 100 watt unit and sound was important because I needed to replace my intergrated NAD amp as my music player. The bass is punchy and powerful on a tiny pair of mission 700. Not the best out there but the quality to price ratio is way up there if you can pick up this older Denon model on a discount.

Strengths:
Build quality, clean powerful sound

Weaknesses:
No DTS

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Brandsmart

Summary:
Good sounding receiver that I got a deal on. Open box for $300 right as it was being discontinued. ot overly powerful but at first I was using a pair of 4 ohm Acoustic Research speakers and it provided plenty of power. Even with 4 ohm speakers in all 5 positions (AR mains, M&K center & rear) it never complained. I have since upgraded to Vandersteen 2Ce speakers and the receiver is lacking with these 8 ohm, less effecient speakers.
I have added a 5 channel Parasound amp to power the two front (bi-amped) and the center. I have a matching two channel amp but I cannot use it until I get pre-amp since there is no rear out on this receiver????

In the lower priced receivers I prefer Denon for amp quality, 5.1 sound quality and solid construction. Much better sounding and more powerful then a similiarly priced/featured Sony.

Strengths:
Good sound quality, excellent DD set up and control. Remote, 6 channel input

Weaknesses:
no rear line outs. No DTS

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha

Price Paid:  $600.00

Summary:
I am running my 2700 with B&W 602 series 2 speakers. I have run the system in a large room and small room listening to mainly 2 channel music, and have been very happy with the sound. If you have a cheap CD player, then the Burr-Brown decoding chips will bring new life to your music. It took the new Nakamichi MB-10 CD player to finally surpass the sound of the onboard decoder.

I listen to 2 channel music in direct mode with the Sub turned off and the bass is deep and the imaging is wonderful. I think that some of the people that are having bass problems may want to try something like Audiquest type 4 speaker wire, it made a big differance in the sound on my system and its fairly cheap.

As far as movies go, the sound is also wonderful. You should be able to find one of these units used out there for little money. I think its an incredible performer in 2 channel direct mode, and you would have to pay around 1000 to get any improvement. When you throw in the surround performance, you really understand the value.

As a side note, the sound softens after the amp is hot, so let it warm up before you listen. Also, the toslink sound quality is a little lower than the coax digital input.

Strengths:
Transparent and balanced sound

Weaknesses:
slight lack of headroom, and I mean slight in DD with all speakers in full range.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Nakamichi AV-8