I bought this used receiver for $54 without remote control from eBay to replace my trusty 20-years-old Onkyo stereo receiver. Big mistake. Without remote control, I cannot manual setup FM/AM and cannot store FM/AM stations in its memory bank. I had to get a used Denon RC-1048 remote from eBay again for $30. I can get a refurbished Denon AVR-587 online for $110. I think I paid too much now. It's my fault - I didn't spend enough time to do my homework.

Anyway, I bought this receiver not for home theater movie watching but for audio listening from CD as well as FM/AM radio listening. I keep telling myself I should be happy with this receiver for the price I paid, but there are problems.
1. As I mentioned earlier, radio station setting problems without remote control. By getting a remote $$$, I resolved this problem.
2. Bad radio reception. On my old Onkyo, I had no problem to get all FM/AM stations in Houston with indoor antenna. On this Denon AVR-587, receptions for most FM/AM stations are poor. I'm pretty disappointed.

As for audio listening. I setup this Denon with a pair of 20-years-old Celestion 3 and a 20-years-old JVC CD changer (Yes, yes, yes! 20-years-old. I'm not only old and also cheap:)). I should probably spend more time to listen to this Denon. Anyway, here is what I found so far: Music from Onkyo seems to have more bass than from Denon; however, music from Denon provides more details on high frequency. My guess is this will not be a problem with a subwoofer. (Since I'm an old fashioned guy (and cheap), I don't trust subwoofer which could tainted music from my Celestion 3.) I'm only a causal music listener. I'm somewhat OK with music from this Denon so far.

Long story short, if you can live with radio reception problems (or if you have an outdoor antenna) and not an audioholic, you may be happy with this Denon. As for me, I've not decided to keep this receiver or not.

Great sound, low noise, cool running, low price, excellent build quality, ergonomically designed and easy to use and control the many, many operating parameters (once you are familiar with its features).

Comprehensive owner's manual takes a couple of readings for some features; control of some parameters is somewhat involved until one is familiar with th unit.

What a surprise! I picked up this receiver at Circuit City on a closeout sale at a ridiculously low price. When I got it home, hooked it up, and listened to it I could scarcely believe my good fortune. The bass is tight, the mids clear, and the highs are just right. The FM reception has very good selectivity, sensitivity, and quieting. There is almost no background hiss or hum even through high efficiency headphones at the highest volume setting with no program and the inputs left open (unshorted and unterminated). It runs cool, and has plenty of power for anything but actual theater levels. The subwoofer output can be active with two-channel material as well as with multichannel programs. I have many old and new receivers, and this one sounds as good as the best of them. I have ranked the Denon AVR-587 with four stars simply because I realize that there are some other units out there that have more power and/or more features. I doubt that anyone could reliably differentiate this unit from the very best in reliably amplifying music. On a value basis, I give it my highest rating.

Customer Service

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Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE 825, 845, 895, 995; Yamaha HTR-5790, 5940. In features and performance, the Denon AVR-587 is closest to the Yamaha 5940. Both are excellent receivers at very low prices.