Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This amp is the best thing ever, ive got it pluged in to spekers that are way more power demanding than the amp can give and it dosnt even brake a swett doing it and it spends all day evey day at 90% output, its loves it and ive got 1300whatts conected to it and a 250whatt sub, and theres never bin a problem at all, god knows wot i could conect to the more powerfull models.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought this Rcvr-Amplifier in 1999 for $1500 and basically paid retail. It was my second amp ever.

I used it in a basement hometheatre system with a 65 inch widescreen rear projection TV that never saw anything better than an interlaced component video DVD player or a laserdisk player.

Needless to say, running the AC-3 digital audio from a Japanese imported laserdisk of The Phantom Menace was an ear-popping experience. Running four Cerwin-Vega 400W speakers in four corners and a small center channel, the surround sound experience was inspiring. Total immersion. The sound was amazing. Crystal clear and with power to rock the house. This was in 1999, well... 2000 actually.

I used the amp every weekend for two years then put it in storage. The only problem I have is some coax digital sources are always tripping the overload indicator a problem that still occurs today.

I'm looking for my next Denon amp. They make great products. Ignore the review by the guy who bought on used and it blew up. Mine is 10 years old and still working.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Ebay

Summary:
Had a couple of average quality AV units from Pioneer and Onkyo, but my best Pioneer crapped the right channel a month ago so I started shopping. Found this on Ebay and the price was so good I couldn't pass it up. I finally got all the speakers hooked up and all inputs filled. (both satellite TV and Digital Cable, DVD, VCR, and 2 CD players). This thing rocks! Runs my Infinity fronts and Bose rears with fantastic clarity! I have a low end sub that I was thinking of upgrading, but I'll wait to see what it does with this Denon. I shopped for others at Best Buy and CC, but never heard anything close to this one for the money. It retailed for 1200 new, so I was psyched to get it for under 200. the remote is a little user unfriendly, but thats a small price to pay for the fantastic denon sound. Bottom line is you can't overload this thing, its a workhorse, I have every input plugged with something and it cranks fantastic sound from them all. I only gave it a 4 for value becaue I don't think I would have dropped 1200 bucks for it new.

Strengths:
Variety of inputs
clear bass and highs

Weaknesses:
its a stretch to call the remote a weakness, but thats all I have as a weakness

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Onkyo

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Off E-Bay

Summary:
I purchased this product off e-bay about 5 years ago and couldn't be happier. Although I'm not much of a movie watcher, I use this receiver primarily for music and video games. Very crisp sound and a decent amount of base. I used to own Infinity SM-125s and the sound was ok but the speakers were just too big and required too much power for the receiver. So I decided to upgrade to a better brand of speakers that required a little less power. In my opinion, for the money, Monitor Audio's are the best speakers on the market. I have the silver 6's for my front and center channel and a B&W 12 inch sub that blows the roof off my apartment. My rears are kinda weak however, Advents. When I get some money I'll definitely upgrade to M.A. rears to go along with the rest of my system. The only trouble I've ever had with the receiver was completely my fault. Like a dumb ass I once plugged a space heater into one of the power outlets in the back of the unit. Not surprisingly it quickly blew a fuse. But I was able to replace it with no problem. I highly recommend this unit to anyone who appreciates crisp sound and nice base with no distortion.

Strengths:
Crisp clean sound
Nice bass
No distortion

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Monitor Audio Silver Six Fronts
Monitor Audio Silver Six Center
Advent Rears
B&W 12inch Sub

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from American TV

Summary:
Was rated at the time (1996) as one of the best 'bang for the buck' DD receivers. It was solid but not spectacular, ending last weekend (1/3/04) with a bang (and flame and smoke) as it repeatedly clipped trying to play a SACD (Stones - Out of Our Heads) with the Volume at -20 (if you have this receiver, you know this is not that loud) eventually culminating in a bolt of lightning coming out of the back and lots of smoke. It is now a boat anchor. I will not be purchasing Denon products again (DVD-2000 crapped out 2 months ago, just up and stopped working)

Strengths:
Decent set of features/options for the time/price

Weaknesses:
Receiver blew up trying to play a SACD at -20 volume!
Volume control on remote ultra slow.
Incompatible with other Denon products! (DVD 3000 does not work with it)
Poor build quality (across their entire line)

Similar Products Used:
Carver
Marantz
Outlaw