Price Paid:  $620.00 from Ken Kranes B.PARK CA

Summary:
WITH THE DENON REPUTATION IN THE HI FI WORLD THE ONLY THING YOU CAN EXPECT IS A GOOD RECEIVER LIKE THIS, REAL 85 WATTS P/CHANNEL (5 CHANNELS) ,BRIGHTNESS SOUND SPECIALLY WORKS WITH ROCK AND ALTERNATIVE MUSIC(THE ELECTRIC GUITARS AND PERCUSSIONS SOUND REALLY GOOD),THIS RECEIVER HASNT THE CLARITY OR THE WARMESS OF THE SR4200 AND 6200 FROM MARANTZ BUT IF YOU LIKE THE BRIGHT SOUND DENON IS A GOOD CHOICE ,I BOUGHT THE RECEIVER 3 YEARS AGO IN 2001, NOW I HAVE THE RECEIVER IN MY PARENTS HOME, AT MEXICO(I HAVE THE MARANTZ 4200 WITH ME).

Strengths:
BRIGHT AND CLEAR SOUND WITH GOOD CHANNEL SEPARATRION ,GOOD WITH BOTH MUSIC AND MOVIES, ON SCREEN DISPLAY ,GOOD FINISH

Weaknesses:
SOMETIMES A LITTLE TOO BRIGHT.

Similar Products Used:
MARANTZ SR 4200 NAD 751

Price Paid:  $700.00 from East Hamilton Radio

Summary:
I just upgraded my front speakers from mission 737's to Paradign studio 80's and this system rocks. The two are a great match. I am hearing things that I have never heard before. I am running all paradign speakers including a PS-1200 down firing sub and the sound from DVD's is completey kick-ass. The AVR-2800 is a awesome piece of eqipment, and I would recomend Denon to anyone. Completely thrilled!!!
Keep up the good work Denon!!

Strengths:
Good, clean looking unit. No gimmick's, just pure clean power.

Weaknesses:
upgraded remote to Sony touch screen just for convenience of operating everything. ( Great remote for the money )

Similar Products Used:
Sansui 5900Z reciever. A real dinasour but still great sound for a 15 year old piece of equipment.

Price Paid:  $360.00 from ubid

Summary:
This is a great receiver. It has more than enough power to drive my JBL S312's. I do agree that the remote is ugly, but it is still very functional once you get to know it. From the first day I had it programmed to work my tv and dvd player. I really wish it had the option to change the input names. I have a lot of videogame systems and it's difficult to remember that the ps2 is on the cd input, the dreamcast is on vcr2, and the gamecube is on vdp. I'm gonna have to type up a legend just so that friends can figure it out for themselves and stop bothering me when they try to work my system. Is there any receiver out there that allows you to edit the input names? The only thing that gets annoying is when I forget that the input video types must match the video output type. Several times now I've forgotten, and i'll sit there staring at the receiver with my mouth hanging open for about 5 minutes till it dawns on me.

Strengths:
good, clear sound reproduction. On screen display.

Weaknesses:
truly ugly remote.

Similar Products Used:
yamaha av receiver

Price Paid:  $550.00

Summary:
Firstly, those weaknesses are so minor that I wouldn't even consider them in my buying decision but if I had designed it, that is what I would have done differently.

This is my first receiver and I am still ecstatic every time I use it! There is so much power and it increases constantly all the way, no distortion after 'halfway'. I had used friend's amps; Sony have too many bulls#@t features that you would never use, and if their power ratings were accurate, I would be scared to hear 135W as the Denon's 85W blows me away.
Yamaha are overrated, complex for the sake of being awkward and far too many DSPs. I want to reproduce sound, not alter it into something totally different. Also there are 4 power buttons on the remote, seems unnecessary.

The 5 channel stereo is amazing, just crank it up and close your eyes and enjoy the sound. I could not be happier but I do worry about the level of support I would get if anything went wrong. Not many licensed repairers near me. Lucky it's still pumpin' then!!

Strengths:
Simple to use, 5 channel stereo, cranks!

Weaknesses:
Manual, delay when switching b/w DSPs or inputs, no video select on remote, makes you realise you need better speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha RX800, couple of Sony receivers

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Power Station

Summary:
I use this product for home theatre only. I have it configured so that the audio pre-outs for the front left and right speakers are run directly into the AUX inputs of my Mission Cyrus 2 / PSX combo. This prevents me from having to run speaker wire in parrallel from each amp to my main speakers. I then set the volume on the main speakers using the level utility on the AVR. This is quite easy and only takes a second. Originally I was going to replace my Cyrus 2 / PSX with an AV receiver but none of the ones that I auditioned sounded even close, in two channel stereo, to the Cyrus gear, hence my configuration as above. Over all in two channel stereo the AVR performed rather poorly. It sounded congested in the mid, loose in the base and veiled over all. With home theatre however it performs very well. I didn't want to spend tons of money on an HT system as the sound being reproduced are mostly sound effects made up in a sound room anyway. Take for example the movie Mouse Hunt. I read a review where the author stated how realistic the sounds of the mice scampering were. Then I saw the making of the film and those sounds the reviewer were claiming were realistic were really just a guy using his fingers on paper to simulate the sounds! LOL. So as you can see what I was looking for were features, such as DTS support, and overall value for the money. I have to add that DTS on this unit sounds much better than Dolby Digital. One feature that is lacking are co-axial digital inputs. The unit has only one. As far as reliability is concerned, I did have a problem with it going into protection mode for no apparent reason. I replaced all of my speaker wire and moved it to a more ventilated area and things have been OK since. It still worries me though. Overall I am happy with this unit and would recommend it.

Equipment used with this review.
Arcam Alpha 6 CD player
Mission Cyrus 2 / PSX amplifier
Mission 753 front speakers
Paradigm C120 centre channel
Tannoy M1 rear speakers
Toshiba SD2100 DVD player
Vandenhul and Audioquest cables

Strengths:
A lot of features for the money. Pre-outs for front main speakers. DTS support.

Weaknesses:
Reliability? Build quality.

Similar Products Used:
Onkyo, Nackamichi AV receivers