HT and 2-channel sound/quality, upgrade capabilities, bang for the buck

remote, manual

First of all, I'd like to say that I've appreciated everyone's help from this forum. After a few months of trial and error and a slight case of tinitus , I have finally set up my system and I am quite pleased .
After purchasing the Denon AVR3300, I found myself struggling to blend the front speakers and sub. This 'minor' adjustment makes a huge difference in sound. I had initially set all of my speakers (per the manual's instructions) to 'small'. In doing so, I had to set my sub's crossover at a much higher level because the receiver's internal crossover of 80hz when set to 'small'. The 'right' setting for my system was to set the fronts to 'large' and all other speakers to 'small'. My front speakers have a freq response of 42-20000hz, so I set my subs crossover at approx. 55hz per a recommendation that I should allow about a 10-15hz overlap. This has made a tremendous difference in sound. Just enough low end with no muddiness or boominess. Movies sound fantastic and 2-channel stereo sound excellent as well (relatively speaking of course). The Denon has truly lived up to it's reputation. It has a very clean/warm sound at all volume levels. There's not too much to complain about especially since I have a Pronto remote! I'm looking forward to future upgrades/possibly going the next step and using the Denon as a pre/pro with an external 5-channel amp. I've definitely caught the bug! Big thumbs up on the Denon.

System set-up:
Denon AVR3300 receiver
Yamaha CDC-595 CD changer
Toshiba 2108 DVD player
Boston Acoustics all around (VR30 fronts, VR12 center, VR500 sub, and VRS surrounds)

Happy listening!

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Compared against Yamaha 995, Onkyo 777 and Marantz

Digital domain Pro-Logic decoding, smooth, warm sound, general build quality.

Can't find any, especially considering the other trash in it's price range.

River runs through it - and doesn't take the time to set it up with an SPL meter. No matter what the bars say on the OSD, the levels are not the same volume until you do that. Sibilance in the highs? Bad Pro-Logic decoding? It's hard to determine how good highs are in this industry with the proliferation of such cheap tweeters. Paradigm and a few others are the exception, but most speaker companies outsource through Vifa and get .25 tweeters bulk. No, this isn't super high current, but it is the most reliable rating in the industry for power among receivers. If you want thin and sibilant, buy a low-current doorstop like a Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, etc, and then come back. Everything good about this receiver River mentioned is true! Having owned this receiver for almost a year now, using Paradigm products, and having heard many other receivers in its price class, I can confidently say he set something up incorrectly.

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All current Denon, Yamaha, and Nakamichi product.

Five channel audio is the way to go. Denon makes pure clean power.

I do agree that Denon has beaten these remotes to death and needs to update them, but my RMAV2000 Sony remote does the job. One optical out would have been nice.

This unit has pure fun all over it. I do not use DSP so my Yamaha didn't impress me. I use audio more than video as my apartment has limitations. My system is a Sony SAT-A3 and a SAT-A4 for DSS, one AC-3 and on regular for PIP. Next up I have a SLV-R1000 Sony S-VHS VCR. Next I have a DMD-1000 Denon Mini-Disk which is an amazing piece. I highly suggest it. Then I also just purchased the DVM-3700 Denon DVD/CD player to replace my Adcom GCD-700 CD player and my Panasonic DVD. I also purchased a MP-HTS2500 Monster Power center which was needed. Speakers are Polk RM6500's in white on RB1 stands from Furniture works and the center channel rest on an Omnimount 25RST in white. I upgraded all my audio and video cables to Monster Z series and optical cables to Monster Lightspeed 200 and coax to IDL-100. I have it connected to a Toshiba Cinema Series TV on a Bell'oggetti B-715 stand while I await my AR-716 towers for my audio to arrive. I use a RMAV-2000 Sony remote to control everything. Add my Denon AH-D950 headphones to keep the wife quiet at night. AH-D650's are kept for travelling. I feel I have reached an excellent system that makes me comfortable. If I can now keep the wife and kids away from it......

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Just ditched my RX-V995, RX-V793, and AVR-2500. One per year.

Power output,a number of hookup options, its all good

none at this time, no hiss, no problem with remote (if you have any brains you can figure it out, if not buy a piece of junk sony or pioneer or something)

I tested and listened to the onkyo 777 model and was trying to decide which one to get, actually the denon became in stock before the onkyo , that is what made my decisions, well i must say, no mistake made here I love it, It had everything i need and then some.

I would honestly recomend this reciever to anyone, but I will say I dont think it pays to buy on the net and get a little cheaper price, I bought mine local for $895.00 by a authorized dealer and that isnt bad compared to what some people have paid for theres, unfortunately they got four in stock and mine was one, they are all gone again (glad I got mine)

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I had 3 onkyo recievers prior to this one

Clear Clean Sound, Room to grow. 5ch Stereo

Remote?????(maybe). DSP modes.

I am extremley pleased with the Denon 3300. I use the system 85% music 15% movies.

Same as Mike, I have not had any problems with this system and I have not heard any fan noise. I listen to the system a couple of hours every night and this past saturday I let it run for 10 hours straight playing CDs and the tuner. I did not hear the fan and it was not any warmer than my previous receivers. To me it was well worth the purchase.

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Yamaha

Exceptionally clean sound, loads of power, superb reproduction

None found

I have not found the remote control to be as useless as most reviews have indicated, nor do I find the manual difficult to understand. It does however, take some time to go through it. I have been a professional musician for many years, and have done extensive listening to receivers in this price class for the past year. Although it was a two month wait, I feel that it was well worth it. I have auditioned CD's ranging from "The Young Americans" to Maynard Ferguson, and on each and every selection, the audio is crisp, warm and clean. I keep the receiver turned up at "live concert" levels, and it just loafs. After reviewing some of my better CD's, I can honestly say that I have heard things for the first time, that I never heard before on my other receiver. The receiver runs a little warm, but keep in mind this reciver has a massive power supply--so it should run a little warm. I have experienced no fan noise, no speaker hiss, and this receiver deserves 5 stars all the way!! Incidentally, I purchased this receiver from "world-exchange.com" and saved about 30% over buying it locally. The customer support at world-exchange has been outstanding!

very clean,specios,strong details,crispy

one coax. line

I have Yamaha RX-V995 for one year,and i put in the cartoon to sell it,because there is a big defferent in sound,the Denon is more clean and crispy,the Yamaha is boomy,all my friends felt the defferent,even Denon AVR-1800 is more better than Yamaha.Last month i bought Audioquest Pro coax. digital cable and compare it with JVC & Pioneer opticals cables ($10 each) the sound is same,i called the dealer and told my the Audioquest Pro is a high end cable and suitble your system and need burn for one month.
if any body hase advise about my cabloe send e-mail to me please(thxultra@hotmail.com)
my system:
Denon AVR-3300 (AC-3 RF built in)
Pioneer DV-515
Pioneer laser disc CLD-D580(AC-3 RF built in)
B&W 603 S2 fronts
B&W 601 S2 rears
B&W CC6 S2 centre
Yamaha Sub.SW160
MITerminator 5 for front & centre/Monster S12 for rear speakers cables
Sony VCR X815
Sharp VCR WD1 (Hi Fi Conversion)
Nokia Sattalite Reciever

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I did not try one similar

Clean sound with plenty of inputs. Digital inputs are great!

Not totally thrilled with bass and treble controls. Setup somewhat complex at first

We are using the AVR -3300 with the following equipment:

Paradigm Mini monitors (good sound for small size)
Paradigm center speaker cc-170
wall speakers for surround
VT 100 Velodyne Sub
Pioneer DV 525 DVD player
15 yr old VCR

I love this system! Read about it in Sound and Vision. This web sight helped my decision.

The receiver is versatile. Hope to power speakers outside someday. You can run one set of speakers on, say, the DVD and a different set on the CD player.

Prepare to spend hours setting up the system the way you like it. I was on vacation when I sat down and went thru the manual.

I think the AVR 3300 is decent value. Perhaps the Sony is equivalent for less money, but the Sony probably can't have as may inputs. Consumer Reports reviewed the Sony, but not the AVR -3300.
One thing to watch for is that you need to utilize the same input mode as output mode- so if you use S video in, you need S video out.

I did have a bad experience buying the unit. Since demand for it was so high, its been on backorder. I suspect many webssites listed a low price to entice orders. Do not use Tatum Electronics! They immediately charged my card and never delivered the product. Took the web price and went locally. Paid $800. The local place advised me on the setup so that was worth it, even paying tax.

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none. replaced 23 year old Kenwood reciver

Very Good Amplifier Section

TUNER, Tuner, tuner

Excellent receiver for the bucks!

Tuner section is VERY hard to use even with the remote! I use B&K speakers and they are a perfect match. The 5 channel stereo is pretty cool.
I found a neat place to find out about new electronics:
http://www.potce.com (Products On The Cutting Edge)

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Yamaha, Sony

Everything

Overheating

This is a fantastic receiver. It is everything I could hope for and more performance wise. However, as many of you I had the dreaded over heating problem. But, I put a fan over it blowing the heat out and problem fixed. That simple. What's dissapointing about all this is that one shouldn't be able to be having this sort of trouble when dropping $900 on a piece of equipment. I understand this problem with my Sony but not with this Denon. Value is superb for this unit since you get everything you could ever want and more. However, it suffers in the overall rating department due to the overheating problem.

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Denon AVR-1801, Sony STR-DE925, Old Kenwood Pro-Logic Receiver