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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$1999.00
from Magnolia (Best Buy) Summary: Having the unit set up for only a couple weeks and I am still waiting for the HDMI "big" problem... The unit waited for 4 weeks in a box, unopened while I patiently waited for sub-contractors to finish the room. I really began to worry as I came across reviews here and Crutchfield that were tepid. Was this the unit I auditioned so carefully that was well above competitors at this price point? I was worried. Until I set it up.
I'm sorry, but this was one of the easier pieces of electronics I've set up in the last 12 mos. Is the online display chunky? Yeah, but I don't expect it will be used often, except in tweaking the unit. It was easy to navigate and effective.
The Auto Audio Setup is nice. I don't know if I agree with its prognosis, but then, maybe I've been conditioned to my less than flat sounding Klipsch...
The Video mapping is a piece of cake. Sweet. So nice to only have one cable going to the monitor...
Oh, geez, I almost forgot the sound. The reason I bought this. Very nice. Very controllable. Have I heard better? Yes, but not at this price point. I know there are better, but there is a slippery slope to this audio game---and I think I am standing on the edge. I think higher than $2k, and you have to think separates. It just starts making sense... Lower than $2k, buy integrated. Just my opinion.
So this is a very nice unit that will keep me quite satisfied for some time. Handles movies well, handles music well. Has some features I can grow into if I choose. Strengths: Good all around. I am impressed with the power and how it drives my Klipsch KG's. They sound unbelievable even at very high levels. I can't say that with my previous unit. I'm giving 4stars. Probably could find a better value if you looked hard enough, but my past experience with Denon's is they're workhorses and you don't have problems with them. Weaknesses: I didn't think there were any, but I was listening to the new 5.1 versions of Talking Heads "Speaking in Tongues" at a high level, and the amp momentarily stopped during "Swamp"... I think with low impedence speakers running at very loud levels for more than 20 minutes triggered a protector... Probably not a bad thing, but I was reliving my college days and rockin' out. The amp had more sense than I.
I don't have a problem with the remote either. I have seen worse. Like the one that came with my Toshiba HD DVD... Now, that's crap. Metal, but crap. Similar Products Used: Auditioned Pioneer Elite stuff, Yamaha stuff, Sony stuff. Have owned JVC, Vector Research, Denon. Standard fare.
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