Price Paid:  $460.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Bought this looking to upgrade from a 5.1 Pioneer and get something THX certified for under a grand (at the time) Run a combo of new smaller klipsh's & tivolis w/tivoli powered sub and use (I know this is sad) a pair of vintage JBL C56 Dorians as rear surrounds since they double as marble topped end tables. While the kenwood did good bass due to the powered sub, the JBL's were gravy-sucking pigs for power and come Super bowl time, they tripped the amp into safe mode (but ABC's '06 broadcast had sketchy audio anyway) had some issues w/rt channels cutting out previously in certain modes, so finally got fed up and bought a Yamaha HTR-5890 for more overall oomph and simplicity

Strengths:
THX,many modes for the money

Weaknesses:
Underpowered, remote causes severe eyestrain. tries to do too many things, none of them particularly well. manual a severe case of "Engrish"

Similar Products Used:
HTR-5890, cant remember Pioneer model

Price Paid:  $348.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
This receiver is a real treat to listen to. It is my second HT system, and it really impresses. I have my friends over to see movies, and some of them have what they consider to be their 'high-end' systems that they spent literally thousands on. I have put a great set of speakers on them, the Athena AS-F2s and the matching PS-400 sub, and they are amazed at the sound. Most will say that this system is the match of what they have, and two of them say this system is downright better.

Set this system up, and after a while you will realize you have better sound at home than you do when go to a theater.

Strengths:
Great sound, enough power for a large room, and THX certification.

Weaknesses:
Remote and hook up is a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you'll get endless enjoyment.

Price Paid:  $47499.00 from best buy

Summary:
This is a great reciever for the money. At the time I baught this I was looking at much more expensive recievers, that just did'nt have the features like thx,neo-6 and a lot more. After listning for about 2 years , I am impressed this thing sounds great.I have only found 3 faults #1,the remote kind of stinks I'll explain,I origonaly baught the vr 6070 which is the same. It got struck buy lightning and I took it back to best buy and they did'nt stock the vr 6070 any more,so they gave me the vr 7070. anyway the only diffrence was that the 6070 had a way better remote which was rf so you could use it almost any where in the house.#2 there is no crossover adjustment,and #3 7.1 out puts but only 5.1 in puts and to use the 7.1 outs you have to totaly bypass the internal amp.Other than that I realy like it.Oh if you buy frombest buy always spend the money for the extended warrenty, they are realy good. trust me kenwood wouldent have fixed my vr 6070 or just givin me a new one. Here is a list of my equipment

SPEAKERS
paradigm cc170
paradigm lcr 150 left, right and rear center.
paradigm adp 150 rear left and right
SUBWOOFER
sunfire true sub MK2
RECIEVER
kenwood vr-7070
DVD PLAYER
jvc xv-d723 dvd audio player

Strengths:
sounds good
has many features
is thx select

Weaknesses:
remote
no crossover adjustment
have to bypass the main amp to use 7.1 outs

Similar Products Used:
onkyo 5.1 thx reciever dont remember the model #
kenwood vr 6070

Price Paid:  $204.00 from ubid.com

Summary:
I bought this receiver in an auction having wanted one to replace my first foray into the HT arena which was a entry level Sherwood. The price for THX certification is what drew me to this receiver and the fact that I had discovered that most of the entry level receivers do not produce Bass below 40hz. This was a 2003 model and was factory reconditioned. It looked new with the exception of the manual which was in fact a copy. Set up was easy and the sound it produced right out of the box was clearly superior to my old receiver. The amount of Bass it produced lead me to adjust the Bass settings downward. Music and movie sound tracks sound great and there are a multitude of settings. The remote was easy enough to set up and program to control my TV and DVD as well as the receiver. My system sounds much better with this receiver and I couldnt be more pleased.

Strengths:
Great sound
easy set up
multitude of features
THX
Every other sound format known to man and then some

Weaknesses:
none that I am aware of

Similar Products Used:
Sherwood entry level 5.1

Price Paid:  $300.00 from www.etronics.com

Summary:
i reviewed this exact receiver in the wrong section, so i transfered over my review here at it's rightful place.

I'm guessing mine is a 2003 model and i got it a week prior to this review. It's an amazing machine which is also THX certified. I love it and it will take me far along my path of home theaters.

600 watts x 6 channels for 6.1 surround sound, 6th channel could be the surround rear center speaker or it can be adjusted to be a subwoofer (not counting the already supplied subout), a 7th preout channel and all the surround decoding you can ask for.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=55&sortBy=price&productId=2532

You guys have to get this receiver... THX CERTIFIED!!! Also did you guys know you may receive the THX demo disc for buying a THX component? Yes you can, but retailers have a right to refuse the distribution of the demo disc, but you can ask for it with high hopes. I got mine from a different source, but it's for me to know and you to find out. The THX trailers like tex, tex2 (moocan), and tex ex, ect. (the thx trailers are usually at the begining of thx movies). Remember, the demo disc isn't for sale for the consumer market. go to www.thx.com for more info.

Back to the receiver... i don't regret buying it... especially for the price i got it for. I love the sound it makes while in the various surround modes.

Strengths:
Many features, easy setup, tons of surround decoders to choose from and best of all THX certified. Gotta love the 6.1 surround sound.

Weaknesses:
it gets kind of warm, but maybe i should ventilate the rack more so that more air circulation can occur. but other than that, i don't regret buying this fine peice of machinery.