Power Price Reliability

None besides not having 7.1

Awesome receiver overall. Remote was awesome, mine was so good someone took it! I have had receiver powered on since I pruchased this floor model 10 years ago. I only turn down the volume when I leave. This bad boy powers my accoustimass Bose 16 system currently, but used to power my 901 seperates quite well, and I have left it running at -20db for over 4 hours at a time during parties an such. Cant beat the value, but wish I had remote back.Im going to search for one now that I think of it. ...

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Onkyo,Denon

Audio is great for music and Movies.

Not responding to remote commands.

I bought this receiver after I graduated high school and the 200 disc player that goes along with it. I am here to address the remote not working. It is actually the receiver not responding to the commands from the remote. I have Sony universal remote programmed for my TV, DVD player, VCR, Cable, and receiver. The receiver will not respond to the Sony remote, but the rest of the equipment will respond just fine. I thought it was the remote as well, so I purchased the Sony and found the same problem, so I'm assuming its the receiver. But a great receiver overall, I am upgrading to the new VR 7070. I was pleased enough with the 209 that I wanted to stay with Kenwood and go for the THX select.

Good power/price ratio. Inputs. Reliability.

Remote quirkiness.

I have been very pleased overall with this unit. I replaced my old Sony receiver with this one so I could have surround sound. My old receiver was only putting 20 watts to the back speakers and was not cutting it. This one really did the trick. I have had no problems with my VR-209. Although it is not the best thing out there, it is (or was) definitely one of the best values around. This is one piece of equipment that I actually have had no regrets about buying. There are plenty of inputs, and it sounds an works good; that's about all you can ask for. As a previous reviewer mentioned, the remote is a little quirky and will occasionally stop working for a minute. I still don't know why that is.

Similar Products Used:

Sony

Decent sound quality for the price. Very affordable, especially at the time, considering it was the advent of Dolby Digital and it was the first receiver to break the $300 price barrier.

Terrible remote and remote system, the receiver's remote sensing capabilites fail miserably in all regards

Overall, I have been fairly pleased with the performance of this receiver. The treble response is bright without too much sizzle. I have noticed an occasional bit of high frequency distortion in the rear channels during quiet movie passages, but it hasn't been overly annoying. I am not a fair judge of this unit's bass performance because I am using it with an extremely impressive powered subwoofer (Definitive Technology PF1500 15" w/ 250 watt amp). In addition, despite the fact that the receiver is minimally designed, the layout is smart and its functionality is adequate. Expansion is a little lacking, but tolerable. Up to this point, it has functioned well for me, but I am beginning to max out its connection capabilities. In Kenwood's defense, it was the lowest priced receiver on the market at the time to offer Dolby Digital processing which was exactly why I purchased it. Unfortunately, all of my experience with this receiver has not been rosy. I must echo some of the comments of Brian, Wendel Schultz, and Jeffrey Barnes. The remote system for this receiver goes beyond annoying to completely disfunctional. Right from the start, I was not impressed with the remote which came with the receiver. It did not function in a logical way from my point of view, but I put up with it because I was planning on purchasing an all in one remote to run my entire system. I ended up choosing an All For One Cinema 7. On a side note, this is a great little remote, available for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart. The remote design was not the primary problem. What typically occurs at least once a night is a "black out" period where the receiver will not recognize any of the remote commands. Since owning this receiver, I have actually used it with three remotes, the original Kenwood remote, the All For One Cinema 7, and a Sony programmable five device remote. The receiver exhibited the same problem with all three remotes, which could only be resolved in one of three fashions -- tapping the receiver's front panel, selecting functions from the receiver's front panel, or waiting 15-30 minutes for the receiver to reset itself. I discussed this with a Kenwood sales rep to no avail. This has tainted my attitude, and may parent's attitude, toward Kenwood products since their receiver exhibited the same problems. Hopefully, Kenwood's current model line-up is better.

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Pioneer, Denon, Sony, Onkyo (some units personally owned, others owned by friends and family members)

Cost, Power, and Clarity

The Remote, Set up and Volume seperation between the different inputs.

I can't think of a better mid-sized sytem reciver for the money. Sure you could get the sony with the little speakers as a system but when you turn it up the sound it flatens out. The Kenwood sound is full, rich and consistant thought he entire volume range. Great A/V Reciver!!!

However, The remote leaves a little to be desired not enough to not buy the unit. It is enough that it will take you a month or two to get used to it.

The only other problem I've had is while watching Cable and switch to CD the CD is almost twice as loud. The unit does have a input att. function but it is turned off if a E.Q. is in use.

All in all a great unit.

Good power for low-end system.

Remote control is terrible.

It's good for the money and the quality for a lower-end system.

Price, DD 5.1, overall value

Remote control

Sounds great hooked up to my dvd player. Great value and have never had a problem with it.

Cost, power (I got it on Ubid.com for about $140)

Bass and treble controls

I would not reccomend this receiver for music. I haven't used its digital decoding, but music is not too great. I have it set up in my room with 2 Ultralinear 4-way speakers. My main gripe is the bass. The bass boost feature is a joke. I just can't get th9is thing to pump out enough bass at my listening levels. My speakers Have dual 10" woofers, so don't say it's my speakers. This receiver would probably be fine if you have a subwoofer, or normally listen at loud levels. Other than that, I would not reccomend it for music. I am now upgrading to an H/K AVR70! :)

Similar Products Used:

None but I am upgrading to an H/K AVR-70

Complete 5.1 Dolby Digital decoding. Several Inputs including one optical and one digital coax. Universal remote (when it works). 2 switched plugs in rear of unit.

REMOTE. The remote is a nightmare. The boasted 100 watts is a bit out of proportion.

I have mixed feelings for the VR207. It was a good price on an entry-level Dolby Digital receiver (no DTS decoder). I like the many inputs you may have as well as the true 5.1 decoding you get. It really makes DVDs come alive. There is even a separate channel for the subwoofer (not amplified). I liked the price, which was the main deciding factor as a poor college student.

Looking back, I would have gladly parted with another hundred dollars for a better unit. The unit can't reproduce music too terribly loudly. There are not seperate bass/mid/treble controls. You must toggle in a circular fashion from one audio source to the next, instead of one-button operation to choose CD player, etc. The remote ticks me off. If you drop it or bump it, you must reprogram it. I know all the codes of all of my peripherals and how to program that stupid thing by heart. I have had to about once a week for the past almost year. When I replaced the batteries, it stopped communicating with the receiver itself. Manual volume and source selection the past little while. (Waiting to hear back from Kenwood on that one.) When the remote worked, I could control everything in one place, which I really liked.

For the entry-level pricing, it is a good little workhorse, but I would save your money for another month and get a better unit. I know I am looking around for something a bit better, after not even a year of owning it.

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Old stereo receiver. Nothing in today's marketplace.

The VR209 has one MAJOR oversight. The sub output is electronically crossed over at 90 Hz ONLY in Dolby Digital mode. In stereo and Pro-logic modes, full frequency is output, requiring you to either lower your subs crossover manually, or even having to switch sub inputs first if you were hooked into it's bypass input. I tried two different units, both exhibited the same design flaw. This is an unforgiveable oversight. I got around the problem by using an external electronic crossover hooked into the tape loop, along with some fancy switching. The VR209 is fine if you don't use a sub, but otherwise, look elsewhere. The layout and ergonomics of the remote are great, but switching functions between sources continues to be an aggravating experience for me, even after several calls to Kenwood's very good customer support line.