- Loud and clear even at high volume. - Tone defeat switch work well in both music and movies.

- Bass and treble adjustment curcuit. - Binding post are too close, hard to wire - The lack is pre-amp of LH and RH front, this gives you a narrow choice of sub woofer maybe only REL - not a bi-amp when many speakers is bi-wire. but still truly recommended.

For my friend recommedation I buy AVR-1602 to enjoy my favourite of movies. The receiver sound great in my room 20m2 and never you feel disappointed with its power. I am such a fool when short-curcuit from rear to front main output !!! but the AVR high-speed protection circuit work quickly to avoid a fire inside. Briliant when auditioning to high-pitched vocals like Bonjovi or Charlotte Church.Of course I agree with many previous reviews the 1602 need a sub in movie enjoyment. This is truly a serious product.

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This is the first

rich sound, plenty of power for moderate room, great Dolby sound, Pro logicII make alot of difference on VHS.

Remote, What a Joke.

WOW! I got rid of my sony 100x5 pro logic reciever and replaced it with the Denon AVR-1602. It is hard to believe that a different reciever can make that much difference. I never could get the tonal balance on the Sony right, no matter how I placed the tone controls and there was very little sound coming from the back speakers. When I hooked the Denon up and put in a movie it was hard to believe how rich the sound was. Low lows,clear snappy midrange and smooth highs. Even the vhs movies sound so much better. Wow! Maybe I just had a lemon Sony Reciever but what a difference. I was ready to trade in my speakers and Sub because the sound was just not there. As soon as I hooked up the Denon Reciever everything just smoothed out. When I watch Dolby Digital movies I am wrapped in rich beautiful sound from all directions. I am more Impressed with this than any other audio product I have owned. The Denon has only 70 watts per Channel compared to the 100 for the Sony. It is in a 15x30 room and there is plenty of power for the five polk bookshelf speakers. On the other hand it is hard to get set up (do alot of reading first) and a 2nd grader could have designed a better remote, what a mess of buttons all in the wrong place.

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Sony, Carver,Pioneer, Onkyo

Great Performance!

Remote is poorly designed,but all remotes are poorly designed so this isn't really a complaint,poor display,especially the volume display,took a long time to figure out how to get the whole thing set up.

Sweet receiver! Awesome for the buck,since our Canadian Dollar is so bad right now...LOL....I would recommend this to anyone looking for something that performs very well and doesn't break the bank.

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Technics,Yamaha,JVC,Sony

sound sound sound dts+ wonderfull prologic denon can be proud in this low budget perfect perfect unit

none (has to rase self image)

after 20 years of holding a jvc unit it was a time to change. basicly i come from music so it is always important to mw first that i can hear my classics & jazz albums clearly & naturaly as it can be then come the cinema. so it was clear to me that 1st it have to be good amp.first i test yamaha- for highes & middes its like accident with a wall.many features but its sololey just for cinema. than it was pioneer that fake sound. after all it was the denon avr-1602 that from the start in it will be mine . clear and pure as water sound very friendly buttones nice looking &bonus-wondrefull 5.1 + prologic 2. what can you ask for more? ya you right the avr 3802 but that is another story for double money. 70 watt is not enough? for me its just excuses to pay more frnaktly-there is no need. it excellent unit i hope it will serve me many years.

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Very clean highs and mid's. Strong bass once set properly. Amazing DTS and DD! Optical out. Denon quality.

The remote feels backwards, not enought optical inputs. The neighbors hate me.

After previewing numerous amounts of receivers, I decided to go with the Denon 1602. It sounded the cleanest in DTS and DD, and the price was outstanding! I am not that impressed with ProLogic II, but it's got lots of surround modes that keep me busy. I had some problems setting up the bass, it seemed either to loud or to quiet. But after many changes I found the setting I like, for both music and movies. This is a great receiver for the price.

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Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo.

Very Clear sound. Price. Looks

None that I can say effect me. Maybe the volume display is a bit small but my ears pick the volume.

I started looking at HT in Dec 01 and had no idea what was required. I started looking at HT in a box and thought I might need to do some research. After over 2 months of looking at mags (what's Hi Fi etc) and many hours looking at reviews online I finally took the plunge with the Denon 1602 along with a Denon 800 DVD. Setting up was a little confusing to start with(understanding what some features do)but once I got the hang of it I am very impressed with what I hear. I have B&W 602.5 S2 fronts, 602 S2 rears, CC6 centre (Subs coming)and was aware from reviews the Denon lacks bass. After giving the speakers a far bit of airtime I must say the bass and general sound produced is pretty damn good especially when wound up around -5Db. The more I listen the more I like it. I am finding use is 80% Music 20% HT as I seem to be listening to music now not watching TV and seems very capable for both. I like listening in 5 channel stereo with a bit of volume. The clarity is what gets me, I am pulling out some old CDs to see what they SOUND like. Bugger me but Pianos sound good, very good. So if you buy one of these you won't be disappointed. A very nice unit. But hey what do I know.

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listened to Sony STR940, Yamaha and Onkyo units

Set up fairly clear, I actually like the remote (don''t know why heh)

Could do with more digital in''s (i think the 1802 has more), Cycling through the sound settings is a hassle at times.

I had a mix-match of speakers sitting around and decided to replace my denon stereo amp with something HT like and took a plunge on this 1602 after reading a few reviews particularly hi-fi choice who didnt exactly rate it very highly but good enough (those guys really have standards) so when they say its listenable then thats good enough for me. I have wharfdales, tannoy centre and small yamaha rears + yamaha sub. Although this is my first HT set up I am very impressed with the overall sound for movies which is what I mainly use it for. As I live in spain but am australian I tend to watch a lot of dvd''s. I don''t listen to it for cd music - stereo amp much as I have another mission/denon setup in my bedroom but what I have listened to on it has been satisfactory. If I had a little more to budget on a set up I think I would go for an 1802 and monitor audio bronze''s perhaps 4 bronze 2''s and a central, I''ve listened to something like that and been extremely impressed. DTS or Dolby 5.1 is definately the best to listen to as PLII doesn''t imprese me that much, often Stereo sounds better to me than PLII. One more thing the price I paid is in euros but this review won''t allow me to put in the euro sign or the peseta equivalent (69000pta''s) 415 euros is about 375 US or 700aus.

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Yamaha AST 90M, Denon PMA-655r (not surround amps)

Everything is quite Good

???

Great Reciever. Supports Dolby PLII, DTS, Dolby Digital, 5CH Stereo, Virtual Suroound, Stereo and 5 DSP. Overall this Reciever Rulz!!!

-music sounds rich and smooth -descrete surround channels -binding posts for main speakers -clean look

Some minor points are: -lacks power for HT -horrible remote control(buttons are way to small, could be more ergonomically correct) -long delay when switching DSP modes -needs more digital inputs. (1 optical and 1 coaxal is not enough) -binding posts are too close together, difficult to wire.

Overall, I must say I’m pleased with this unit. It is used for 70% music and 30% HT and replaces my aging Yamaha 393 receiver. I have Energy ex15’s all around and I find that for music the Denon sounds very smooth and warm compared to my Yamaha. I also found that it greatly widened the soundstage and adds more depth to music. Whenever I listen to music in 2 channel stereo, I swear my surrounds are on! When it comes to movies, I find that the Denon lacks punch. On movies such as Gladiator, I have to turn the volume up to 0 (it ranges from -60 to +15) for it to produce a live, immersive experience. With my Yamaha, which by the way is rated at 60wpc, I simply had to turn it up half way and it would be absolutely deafening. I guess this is a characteristic of the receivers as Yamaha’s are know to be bright and “in your face’ whereas this particular denon is more subtle and smooth. More power would be nice however being an entry level unit, it is not expected. Once again, this is a great unit. I wouldn’t call it a value as you could purchase, say, a sony or a pioneer with more features such as dd6.1 and 7.1 but if you want quality and if your looking for an entry level receiver that you will appreciate for years to come, this is certainly one to consider.

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Yamaha 393

Very useful remote control.

Spring clip input for B speakers. How come?

I got refurbished version. I am cheap but I do not want to buy the crappy products that offer bogus 100 watts/channel like Sony and the like. I have plan to buy Onkyo 494 for $299 at Circuitcity or Harman Kardon AVR120 for $399. Onkyo is cheaper but has no digital output, no front input, and only has 55 watts/channel. HK offer more inputs, very beautiful appearance, but only offer 40watt per channel. Finally Denon come to my rescue. It has 70 watts/channel with the same price as HK. The features are just right. Anyway, all the models has PL-II that I want. At first I tried Mummy Return that has DD-5.1. The sound is very good. Tried DVD music from Eagle that has DTS. Did not work, and rushed to the closest WalMart to buy T-2 that has DTS. It didn''t work either. The next two days filled with this dissapointment until I found out that we NEED TO ACTIVATE DTS bitstream from our DVD Player. Stupid-stupid-stupid. After I activated the DTS bitstream from the DVD player, the sound is excellent. I think it''s better than DD. I don''t have the sub yet. Even the rumbling of terminators and the shooting action in "Matrix" from my Polk speakers is really convincing already. I wish I got one of the velodynes. The receiver does not produce excessive heat. I just can feel a warm temperature in the unit. Very good. About the remote control. What these people are talking about? The remote is so colorful to help us navigating different equipment. I can control TV, Video, and DVD player from this small remote control. Of course the placement of the battery can be better so that the weight can be more balance, but this little problem in a remote should not ruin the rating of this jewel. There is another thing that need to be improved. Spring clip for B-speakers should be changed into banana post. Anything else is just perfect.