Price Paid:  $150.00 from Kenwood Factory Outl

Summary:
I have fairly modest requirements -- I wanted a stereo receiver so I could listen to music - mostly FM broadcasts and cds - in my office. I had an older KR-A5080 Kenwood stereo receiver that was perfectly adequate, but the universal remote did not work with my Kenwood cd changer. When I drove past the Factory Outlet store on my way to the NAMM show, I saw the windows painted with big SALE signs. It was irresistable. Having purchased this unit, brought it to the office, wired it up, and discovered both the sound is better than before and the remote works with my cd changer, I am very satisfied!

Strengths:
very pleasing balanced sound -- smooth response across the frequency spectrum -- good quality FM tuning section. I am not in a particularly strong reception area and my stations come in very strong using only a dipole antenna.

Weaknesses:
remote control is a sea of buttons. It's very complicated. And I did not need all the home theater features on this unit -- but the fellow at the Factory Outlet (who was very helpful, by the way, without being pushy in the least) told me Kenwood does not make a 2-channel receiver anymore.

Similar Products Used:
My older KR-A5080 and a Yamaha HTR-5250 at home.

Price Paid:  $299.00 from circuit city

Summary:
This reciever had alot of what I was looking for when I was looking for one. I used to have a sony rack so this was a very serious upgrade. The price was very good for what it had. I liked the idea that it had the power I was looking for and nice features along with it (pl1 and pl2, cs1 and cs2). The looks were nice and the features were fairly easy to use, the only problem I have had with it is that sometimes when I turn it on, the surround does not kick in very quickly. Sometimes I need to turn it off and give it a few min. then turn it on again to get it to work right. Not real sure why but might take it in to get it looked at. The heat issue that I have read about hasn't been a problem as long as it is well ventilated with a nice componant rack. The remote has a lot of flaws, but easily remedied with a better universal remote, but still need a seperate remote to run my 400 disk cd changer. Not really able to hook many things up to it because of the lack of s-video connections(only 2)but that really isn't that big of a deal. The main items are essential(tv and dvd). All and all, pretty glad with my purchase.

Strengths:
nice price for middle road,good power,nice features, sounds great with good speakers. ability to use different formats of surround very nice.

Weaknesses:
remote is junk, lack of s-video connections, and bothersome no audio problem at start-up periodically a headache.

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $99.00 from ecost

Summary:
great receiver for the money i paid. for 100$ you cant expect much but remember this is KENWOOD!

Strengths:
6.1 capability 500 watts uhh dts and doldy digital

Weaknesses:
none for 100$

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $250.00 from best buy

Summary:
very good amp'nice an eazy set up . you get a lot in this a/v rec for the money

Strengths:
clean power

Weaknesses:
nimor when you set up for dvds the leveles go back to the preset levles

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $339.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Very nice mid-range receiver, if you can live with only 2 s-video inputs and no component video switching. Nice clean sound, plenty of options for listening modes. I feel like I got a good deal, even though by the looks of the reviews for the VR-6060 I overpaid for this model.

Strengths:
Clean sound, straightforward setup.

Weaknesses:
No componenet video switching and only 2 s-video inputs, so I have to hook up my VCR and PS/2 directly to the TV.