The sound quality is the first aspect I'll praise: Two channel direct sounds great. Like many receivers, the tone can be defeated, and it has this "Direct" mode for stereo listening. Regular stereo mode allows the bass and treble to be adjusted at 1 db increments.
Also, the 5 Channel stereo mode is the best I have ever heard. It has something special about it. My first experience with this type of processing was with RSP's Circle Surround Decoder back in the Late 90's, I think. The people at Denon have this thing down. On two channel sources, front to back panning effects can be heard (especially on cable or satellite programming) and they sound realistic, not contrived as some post-processing can. Also, the stereo image doesn't collapse into the front like with other models I listened to.

It handles all of the major surround decoding shy of the new HD formats, but as of the writing of this review, those are still scarce.

It has the usual DSP programs one can expect from such a receiver, some with adjustable parameters for simulated room size, etc...

It has a very legible and useful display that can be dimmed and turned off altogether, which is nice.

All of the inputs can be renamed which is a great feature, especially if you would like to those correlate with those of a user programmable universal remote.

There is a useful "fade" control used to balance volume levels between front and rear speakers in 5 channel stereo and surround modes.

The two-zone control is great, allowing the user to reassign the surround back channels to a separate room / zone, and has a variable or fixed level line to that zone. It can send video the 2nd zone as well.

It does have an "Auto Setup" function for the speakers, but I have not used it, I prefer to leave that to my ears.

Not really a weakness, but the remote control is a little odd. It is two-sided, with less commonly used functions located underneath a plastic door in the underside of the remote. It has a strong IR signal though, and even worked well in the room during bright conditions.

Also, no phono in is provided. This is actually nice, because you can purchase a higher quality aftermarket preamp if you so desire.

The Denon-AVR 1907 is a great receiver.

This receiver does a great job with all of the sources it is connected to. It has a pretty wide range of functionality and requires a moderate level of knowledge of home theater connectivity / operation, but that aside it's great. I am one of those people who enjoys that type of thing.

Customer Service

Haven't needed any so far. The store where I purchased it is most competent with customer service.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite.

Excellent sound and feature set for the money, plus real wattage delivered as claimed.

Complicated set up for folks with less experience with these units.

The Denon AVR-1907 is one of the middle priced home theatre receivers around these days, yet might seem less impressive against some of the entries from Yamaha, Onkyo or Sony. I bought this for use as a stand-alone home theatre unit that could also do double duty as a processor combined with a Rotel amp. I'll review the receiver on it's own of course. Sure, there are receivers out there for 3 grand, but they really don't make sense since they have yet to truly match the sound quality of separates for the same money. I consider the high end for a receiver to be 800-1200 dollars. After that you really should be looking at a separate amp/pre combo, which will also be a better value since the amp will always be usable down the road. The 1907 provides you with 7 channels at 85 watts each. It's also XM ready, though I'm a Sirius fan. It includes an odd two sided remote that does a good job, but many folks opt for all-in-ones and will leave this in a drawer.

Setting it Up
Like many home theatre receivers, the 1907 is quite complex and it's a good idea to read the manual carefully, even if you're familiar with this stuff. That said, I found setup fairly easy and I left the amp on for a couple of days before really doing any critical listening. The Denon 1907 ships with a microphone that allows it to setup it's own volume values for each speaker. You just place the mike in the seating position. I tried this for fun, and it did a reasonable job. Still, to get things "right" I ended up tweaking things my way as most people will do. The amp is fairly low key in appearance and nicely understated.

Listening Tests
I tested the 1907 with my SVS speaker system that included a pair of SVS powered subs. This 2000 dollar speaker set was bought for home theatre only in my dedicated sound/theatre room. Test DVDs included Magnolia, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Saving Private Ryan and Monsters INC. The Denon drove the speakers nicely and without audible compression/strain to very loud levels. More importantly music and dialogue did not have the thin quality of some other units from Sony or Yamaha. It's a small difference, but once you hear it it's hard to go back. Denon's approach is still quite musical in the digital age and I found the 1907 better sounding that my recently returned Outlaw 1070 which exhibited a typical midrange harshness that I hear in many lower end units. The Denon however was smooth, silky and easy to listen to. My SVS subs are self powered and so thunderous that they often steal the show, but the Denon did what good audio gear should do: It disappeared and let the material shine.

On Music
Switching over to two channel stereo, I pulled out a pair of Paradigm 20's and went through a few CD's of Lyle Lovett and Nora Jones. The Denon was less revealing then some separates I've heard of course, but the sonic character was very pleasing and musical. Tossing in Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was as much fun as would be expected from any find amp. If I could note a flaw it might be that the Denon is not always going to be as bright (on some speakers) as some listeners might like, but a single notch of treble is all that is required. Soundstage was notably shallower than high end combos, but at this price point I'm picking nits for sure. The 1907 is an obvious example of very good amplifier technology trickling down to the mid-fi market, just as it has with speakers in recent years.

Final thoughts
I don't know if this is the "best" unit for around 500 bucks, but I do prefer it to Onkyo, Yanaha, Sony and so on and other amps costing a few hundred more. My only other picks for a reciever would be the Rotel or top of the line Pioneer Elite line. Some will want HDMI switching and bump up to more expensive Denon units. The sonic character of the Denon's are all in the same camp, so I don't think you can go wrong. A friend of mine is powering a good set of B&W speakers with a lower end Denon amp and he's quite happy. With so many home theatre receivers out there finding one can be a daunting and doubtful task, but the Denon's seem to have found their niche of sonic quality that makes them popular and I can hear why.

Capt RB

Customer Service

Not required thus far.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo, Rotel, Outlaw, Pioneer, Yamaha, Marantz and so on.

very hard to set up. Did not sound like I thought it should.

I took this unit back after trying out.

Customer Service

did not use

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 5960