Clean Mellow Sound, Size, Expansion Potential

Manual is hard to understand, not comprehensive. Remote can be fiddly, but only if you are a klutz.

I read A lot of the reviews here before I went out and bought this little Item. It was on sale here and, having not heard much about it I tried it out. Sounded Good in the Shop (Connected to some KEF Q15.2's Great little speakers BTW). I have been listening to it for 6 months now. I have a large range of musical tastes, from opera/classical right through to limp Bizkit. The sound from this system in stereo mode is good and clean. And it wont make your ears bleed - even at high volumes. This is not saying the system doesnt go loud, just that it is a smooth sound. All of you who stated it isnt loud enough, Must be deaf. I have had this amp at 0 db (range is -60 which you can hear the KEF's at, through to +16) Its a logarithmic scale so 0Db is really loud. I like this cos it means I will never break my speakers.

One funny point though is its insistence that any movie track coded with Dolby Digital Must be sent through the centre channel. As I listen to some of these using two speakers, having all the dialog go into a non existent centre is hard to take, To get round this I just chose a stereo only input to take the video sound feed. I rekon this is just a setup issue, and if the manual was clearer, I would be able to fix it.

All in all its a system which I will probably be listening to (and eNJOYING) for many years to come.

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Yamaha rv595a

I bought this reciever to upgrade my system to surround. I liked the features and the sound quality while I was in the store (and the price!($379)). I brought it home and hooked it up in stereo and was very dissapointed. Compared to my Yamaha R-3, the bass was muffled, mids were just gone, and the highs were way to bright. I made sure I read the manual completely to make sure it was set up right too (DO THAT!). I went out and bought the Yamaha RX-V495 ($379) as a comparo. Sound quality of the 495 was much closer to my old R-3 (although the R-3 was still better). I also compared to a H/K AVR80 ($549 demo). The H/K cleary had the best stereo sound.
Then I hooked them up in surround (VHS/Pro Logic). The Yamaha 495 was the clear winner here, with the Denon a close second, and the H/K a distant third. Bass response was better on the Yamaha, as well as voice seperation in the center channel.

Infinity Delta 30's in front.
Infinity Delta Center.
Old Yamaha 3-ways for surround.
No sub. (Yes, that is next on my list of things to get!)

So for home theatre I would give the Denon 4/5, but for music I would only give it 2. If you are interested in this model I would definity look at the Yamaha line also.

By the way, the 5-channel stereo is not a real "stereo". The rears sounded funky in 5-channel, so I hooked them up as "B" speakers and they sounded much better.
Also I discovered you don't want your center working when you listen to music, because it is mono and sounds weird for most music. Why don't manufacturers make a REAL 4-CHANNEL stereo?

Provides well detailed clean sound. Speaker level adjustment feature allows fine tuning for individual speakers.

Remote is somewhat difficult to use.

This is the first dolby digital home theater receiver owned and I am well satified. Looked briefly at Yamaha 5140 but basically went by audio/video store recommendation that Denon is the best of the Japanese manufactured units. I paid $360 at a local store the day before Christmas, I didn't have time to shop on the internet. I listen to a lot of CD's and even some old LP's that have details that I'd never noticed before. At times you can almost visualize the performer and the instruments on the recording. I tend to look for more action videos now that I have surround sound. Really enjoy pro-logic on VHS. Judging from other reviews of Denon products, you can't go wrong if you are looking for good sound quality. Gave it 4 stars for overall only because there is'nt a 4.5. Hooked up to this unit:
Energy C-6 Mains
Energy e:XLC Center
Energy Take 2 Surrounds
(May add future subwoofer either Energy e:XL-S8 or -S10)
Sony CDP-C325
Panasonic PV-4669

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Kenwood 80 watt stereo reciever.

Smooth, tight sound-a bit on the high side. Price!!!!! Ease of set-up. 5.1 is good for the 60 watts p/side.

"Stereo" mode seems muddy. Remote should have been larger. Must turn off speaker when using headphones.

Purchased this unit well below the manufacturers retail price of $399. Got it for $221. (shipping included). The unit performs well and is more than adequate for a reciever costing twice the money. Denon is noted for the positive and light sound of their receivers. The 5.1 is brighter than any of the other surrond modes. The DSP is correct. Best speakers to use are the Infinity Overtures 1,2, or 3 you will enjoy a budget system competing with the big boys. There is no coloration in the Infinity's and you can't go wrong with any of the three. Keep in mind the receiver is 300 watts (translates into 60 watts p/channel) and a subwoofer should be chosen wisely. Maybe a medium to low end Velodyne would suffice. Good value

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Kenwood

Good product at a good price
5 channel stereo is useful

No DTS
Remote control is kind of cheezy, awkward layout.
Lack of video input/outputs

I picked up a refurbished unit a little over a year ago from ubid.com for $200. It's hooked up to a Sony S530D DVD player and the Energy Take5 speaker package. This system has provided me with countless hours of movie magic, and as good as the DVD video is, I really believe it's the sound that's the core of my system. The receiver is more than capable of pumping enough wattage to shake my entire apartment. More importantly, the sound is clear and crisp.

It's an excellent unit if you want an inexpensive, quality no frills receiver to experience Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

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Pioneer Dolby Pro-Logic receiver

Great sound, limited depth, price vs performance

limited power

After I had listened to Dolby Digital at a friend, I decided that I needed a Dolby Digital receiver and DVD player....

I needed a amp or receiver with limited depth, I had only 40 cm space (about 15.8 inch), and I wanted a device which also plays well in normal stereo. I listened to the Denon AVR-1600RD in the shop and decided that this was my best option. It's connected to Magnat loudspeakers, Front-left and front-right are full range, the others are a bit smaller.
It sounds very nice with normal CD's, especially when I connect my old Philips CD-player digitally and use the D/A converters in the receiver. My DVD-player arrives this week so I've heard that only in the shop, and that was very impressive. I also tested the Pro-logic analog surround, and depending on the source, this also sounds nice. TV-recordings of surround movies sound not so good, I think thats because of the limited channel separation of TV-stereo. I can clearly hear the difference between videotapes which I bought, and videotapes which I recorded from TV.
Because DTS is not used very much on region 2 DVD's, I won't miss it. There's hardly room on the disc, in Europe we often have multiple soundtracks in different languages on DVD, and the PAL signal also takes a little more space than the NTSC signal.
I guess this is a perfect receiver if your room is not too large. I have to turn the volume up quite loud, especially on analog connected devices. If I use the internal DAC of the Denon, the overall experience is "louder". I intend to upgrade it with an active subwoofer, and maybe later separate power amps for the left&right channel.
Overall, I'm very happy with this little receiver! Because of it's size its especially suited for people who want to itegrate it in a normal living room. If I had a separate "home theater" room I would still choose Denon, but one of the larger models with more power (AVR-1800 and up). When I buy my next house, I will certainly look for something with an extra room...

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old pioneer amps, 434 and 207 models

stereo definition

remote control too small

I got this receiver one month ago and so far so good, my room is not that small and the sound is incredible good, for music and for movies I have two "old" jbl LX600 as fronts, two athlantic technology 151LR as rears and a infinity sub BU120. For the same price you might get a more powerful receiver in other brands but in my opinion it is worth to sacrifice this for the quality in sound of a Denon.

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Onkio SV515PRO

Great value for the money. Sound Quality.

No DTS, It takes some time to get used to the remote of this thing.

I didn´t quite know what I should do with yhe options I had. I considered between this yamaha 595-thing, Denon AVR-1600 and AVR-1800. I choose Denon over Yamaha because of its soud quality - especially when listening to music, and 1600 over 1800 to spare some money. After all the there is quite a gap between these two when it comes to price (at least at my dealer).
For my apartment 60 watts per channel is quite enough, I`ve never had the volume switcth turned to full yet.
After all I´m very happy for my purchase. Music and movies have never sounded so good at home before. Linked with this reciever I have a set of Paradigm-speakers (CC-170,Phantoms, Atoms and a PS-1000)and a Sony VCR, still sparing money for a DVD-player, and hoping to get it before personal bankrupcy. Together they make a sufficient home theater for a limited space, with a (reasonable?) price.

Fantastic dolby digital seperation of channel; A STEAL at $129!!! Great sound Quality!

Low Power. (I don't like to listen to increadibly loud music anyway)

When i say this unit on Ubid for $129 I felt it was abit sketchy. The unit was a refurb. but it was a Denon and was backed by a very good warranty. So for $129 bones I said, "What the hell"

I cannot not believe how great this unit is!!!! It play both CDs and DVDs with great clarity. And when people say that 60 Watts is weak, that is true only if you like listening to music VERY Loud. I can watch a movie at fairly loud levels with great clarity, but I cannot run a NYC night club with this unit. For purpose of watching DVDs this unit is more than sufficient.

It also has a preout for a sub woofer for those who want to crank their music up, a well powered sub can give you that effect.

I have create a budget stereo that sounds great!
I bought 4 Klipsch surrounds on Ubid for about $30 each.
A Wharfedale center channel speaker for $60.
And a dennon 80 Watt subwoofer online for about $110.
I have an Aiwa 24in. flat screen which I bought for about $430.
And a five disc ONKYO DVD/CD changer for about $340 at bestpriceaudiovideo.com.

All in I put in about $1,000 and I have to tell you, when you sit in my apartment and watch a DVD, you'll swear that the experience is better than going to a Sony Theater.

Clarity of sound, equal power distribution, easy setup

average to poor remote, weak manual

I been in the market for a Dolby Digital reciever for a year and I been fence sitting until I could decide on how much I REALLY needed to spend. I currently have a Toshiba 2108 DVD, kenwood CD player, and a set of Energy Take 5 speakers with the 10" powered sub.

I had decided on Denon quite a while back and was trying to decide on which model & features I needed. Most of

The AVR-1600 just brings these speakers alive. I was unsure if the 60 watts of power would be big enough for my living room (12'x20'), but it was more than enough for the small and efficient speakers. I highly recommend this reciever for anyone with a powered sub and surround speakers. The audio quality is crisp, and makes the DVD soundtracks jump out at you.

I paid $300 new. I believe Denon is going to phase this model out while they add a DTS chip to the new model. All of the processing power you need for a great price. The only thing I sacrificed was S-video switching which for $200 I can press the button on the TV remote myself!

I like the 5 channel stereo mode although I haven't really listened to the stero mode yet to fully qualify it. The manual is barely adequate for starting out and provide little guidance of explanation of terms.

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