Solid list of features. Does video duty well with Dobly Digital and DTS. Decent power. Relatively easy to set up

Flat uninvolving sound on musical playback. No "sleep" timer.

I upgraded from a rather old (1986) model Pioneer A/V receiver. Due to it's age it only had "dolby surround" not even pro logic! Upon connecting the Denon AVR87 and running a DVD (Lost World) through it, I was impressed at how far surround sound processing has come. It did a very good job of making you feel like you were in a theatre. I'd rate it 4/5 for its video capabilities, particularly with a powered subwoofer (I use 2 Audiosource SW15's).

Musical playback is another story. My old reciever is rated at 100 watts a channel, this is 90 although I see from previous review that the measurement method may have been changed to "upgrade" it from 75. Whatever the reason, this receiver just doesn't seem to have and dynamic range (punch) to it. I've always respected the Denon name and wanted to like the sound, but just can't. When I'm in the mood for music I now listen through a vintage NAD3020 amp that I picked up for a song a few years back. It's only rated at 20 watts a channel, but in terms of quality musical reproduction, there is no comparison.

To sum up my perspective on this receiver. If you are using it primarily as a video sound unit with limited musical playback, you should be very happy. If you will be listening to much music through it in any more than a "background" capacity, you might want to take a long critical listen to this piece before you buy it. If I had, I wouldn't own it.

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Pioneer VSX-5000

Great sound

remote, no s-vdeo

This unit has been fantastic. Great sound, easy to use(once you get used to it). Make no mistake about it, this is an AVR-1800 with (75 watts x 5 power) I confirmed it with Denon customer support. remote is interesting, but confusing. The digital display is helpful. Backlit would have been nice.

I wanted to upgrade to dolby digital using high quality components for as little money as possible. I became very interested in the avr-1800 and discovered that the avr-87 was the same unit here on this board. I went over to Sears to check it out. Sears was asking $449 for it on sale. I then spotted a Denon box over at the clearence counter. It was a returned avr-87. I check the contents and everything seemed to be in order. The unit looked totally brand new, even the batteries were still there and wrapped! I spoke to the sales lady and after some intense negotiations(yes sometimes Sears does negotiate) I walked out with my avr -87 for $250. What a freakin steal!!!! The unit has been flawless. I tried Dolby digital and DTS. Both are fantastic sounding.

The music is fantastic also, 5 channel stereo leaves people speechless. I get plenty of power out of it. Wife is always yelling to turn it down. It really drives the sub. My neighbors have much more expensive systems and they do not sound any better.

System consists of the following:

Denon AVR-87(of course)
B&W 602 s2 fronts (awesome speaker)
B&w cc6 s2 center
B&W Rock Solids sld 6(predecessor to the LM-1) rears
Paradyne ps-1000 sub
Onkyo cd player
Toshiba 2109 dvd
Proscan 36"

I highly recommend this receiver. By the way the replacement avr-1801, has less power(70w x 5) and a less sophisticated digital decoder, it does have s-video tho(big freakin deal). The Denon customer support guy told me that Denon had to reduce the price of their lower priced receivers in order to remain competitive. Unfortunately they had to reduce costs as well. Pick up the Avr 1800 or avR 87 if you can. Its the better unit.

A definate 5 stars for this model.

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(owned onkyo prlogic) auditioned yamaha, sony, pioneer, harmon kardon, sherwood, jvc

Denon name ( so I thought )

Flat sound! No punch! Weird remote set up!

I'm trialing this reciever because I wanted to upgrade to Denon. When I hooked it up I was very disappointed! The sound came out flat with no punch.I am using Infinity sattelite speakers with a Yamaha powered subwoofer.I have to turn up the volume almost to the limit in able to get some punch out of this thing and yet the sound comes out flat.I will be returning this unit back ( bought at Sears )and hook my Technics back to the system. My Technics has more punch and the sound is much clear and crispier.Is this AVR87 a generic brand of Denon? Maybe so...since I bought it at Sears. Maybe I'll give the 1801 a try!

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Technics DX930

Sound, Price, DD, Good power, Descrete circuitry, 5 CH. Stereo, All banana plugs...

No S-Video

I have compared several receivers for a while before deciding on the AVR 87. I've listened to Yamaha's, Sony's, Onkyo's etc. I finally narrowed the choices down to the Denon 1800 and the Onkyo 575. I really wanted the Denon, but when it came time to buy I went with the Onkyo because it had good sound and features for $150 less than the Denon. When I hooked it up I wasn't too happy with the hissing sound and lack of base I got from the Onkyo. So I continued to shop for a better price for the Denon. I went to Sears and saw the Denon AVR-87(sold only at sears) for the same price as the Onkyo. I called Denon and found out that the 87 is identical to the 1800 in every way except the 87 is 15 watts(90 x 5) more powerful than the 1800. Needless to say I took the Onkyo back and picked up the Denon, And couldn't be happier.

The 87/1800 is packed with more features, better sound and more power. I love the fact that this unit is upgadeable with 6 Channel outputs(Not on 575) for use MPEG multi-channel decoders and other future components that offer multi-channel audio signals. I also love the 5 CH. Stereo. The sound is great. The Onkyo also had this DSP, but it wasn't enough to make me want it. I wanted more, like banana plugs for every speaker connection (Not on 575), more power(only 70x5 on 575), more DSP modes(only 5 on 575), more digital Connections(only 2 on 575). I like the Personal Memory Plus on this unit too. No need to reconfigure the settings for each DSP mode upon power up. With the Onkyo I had to keep setting the speaker levels and the DSP modes. It was a pain...
I did like the remote on the Onkyo. It had learning capabilities and macro features. That was nice, but lets face it, the remote didn't sound as nice as the Denon... I switched to the Denon mainly because of the sound quality. The Onkyo was good but to me didn't compare to the Denon. I couldn't get the any base out of the Onkyo. No problem with the Denon. The hiss/Hum on the Onkyo was annoying, none with the Denon. I have to thank Onkyo for that defect though, otherwise I might not have gotten my Denon 87/1800...
I recommend this piece to anyone who likes a wide range of sound, Not just a lot of base tearing up the walls. I would have given the unit 4 Stars, because I feel there's always room for improvement. But all these features at this price ($449) deserve 5 Stars easy...

Final Result...
Denon 87/1800 is a much much better piece than the Onkyo TX-DS575. Get the Denon, you will be happy...

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Sony

nice soft sound, 5 channel stereo, pretty good remote

front panel design, no S-video connections

I had this unit for only one day and returned it in favor of the Yamaha HTR-5150. I was not aware of the lack of S-video connections at the time I bought it. Anyway, I found it to be a nice sounding receiver (the Yamaha is too bright sounding in comparison) with a decent remote. The remote is not backlit, however, and the LCD panel is somewhat hard to read, so you need a light on to use it. My biggest gripe with this receiver is the FM tuning. You can not tune the radio from the front panel, only from the remote. The front panel controls only allow you to cycle through whatever stations you have preset, so if you lose your remote, you're in trouble. Also, the DSP modes are only available via sequential access, not via direct access. The Yamaha by comparison has full FM tuning capabilities via the front panel, and direct access to DSP modes via the remote, but its remote is not as good. I found the 5 channel stereo to be quite pleasing for music, but I didn't notice much difference when using the cinema EQ setting. Although I generally liked the softness of this receiver's sound, I did feel it detracted somewhat from the dynamics of typical movie soundtracks.
My recommendation: If FM isn't important to you and you can live without S-video, this receiver is a fine choice.

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Yamaha HTR-5150

Easy to use.

Flat sound.

Great amp except for the flat sound that it delivers. The music coming out of the amp sounds dull and undynamic. There is no punch to the sound.

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Pioneer Elite 24 tx

Denon quality, DD&DTS, 5 CH stereo

no s-video, remote

I have been looking at recievers for 6 months and had done extensive research. After looking and listening to a lot of models and brands (Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, Kenwood etc.) I originally was going to but the 1801 but I happend to bid on this one at ubid.com (a refurb) for $229 and couldn't be happier.

Set up was pretty easy and straightforward although the user's manual could do a better job of explaining a few things but no biggie.

The sound from the AVR-87 in my opinion is great! It has more that enough power for most HT and musical purposes. I couldn't imagine needing more! I have Polk Audio RT7's for the front speakers and matching center/surrounds. Still looking for THE sub but it drives this system with no problems! The sound is very clean and crisp. DD&DTS are awesome (hence the search for a better sub)! The 5 channel stereo mode would justify buying a Denon alone. While I am certainly not an audiophile, this unit sounds great.

The only weakness that I can percieve are no s-video but I personally don't see that as a big deal as I knew it didn't have it when I bought it. I hear you guys about the remote but, you know what, until I can find one that reads MY mind, I guess that I can deal with it.

All in all, this is a great unit. You can find other ones with more features I suppose but if you are looking for a great sounding reciever at a great price, get this one, you won't be sorry!

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Technics pro-logic, Denon AVR-2500

DTS is incredible, power, 5 Channel Stereo, and setup features.

People say remote mostly, I think the remote is fine. The only problem I have is that you cannot use the tuner without the remote b/c you can't change the stations.

I think that the product is sweet! I am running all Infinity Reference Series Speakers. RS-4 for the Fronts, and RS-2's for the surrounds. The sound quality is superb. The power is ALWAYS there, and the amp never seems drained. I think that Denon, is a definite winner. I will never have it any other way. If I could afford Denon for the rest of my setup, I would buy them.

very good av-receiver for the money 80 watts channel

remote control is a necessity to setup reciever and to change radio stations

well I see many comments on lack of power... try switching out those old 4 ohm speakers with a set of 8 ohms rated at at least 88 db. there is enough power to drive my mfm-5 (warfedales) and my bic 736s at the same time and drive you out of the room. if you play crap crap is what you hear!
the remote control is a big pain in the butt. this wasnt one of the best thought out features to this unit. as far as a flat response curve... well this is what you really look for in a reciever.. if you want to change it you can always adjust the bass and treble.. I hate receivers that require and equalizer to sound right!. the fm section is very sensitive and locks into channels that the technics reciever would let drift.

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technics sada-10

Quality build, sound and features. Super value!

Should have come with S-video. It has everything else.

Sound is clear, detailed and clean. Features are all there (except s-video which is odd) Dolby Digital quality is up there with much more expensive units. Yeah...I bought it brand-spanking-new from Sears...don't let that fool you. I was a sound engineer for a local band that was super strict on sound. This Denon unit CANNOT be beat for the price.

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Older Kenwood (circa 1991) Top of the line for that year...cannot recall the model.