Kenwood VR-6070 A/V Receivers

Kenwood VR-6070 A/V Receivers 

DESCRIPTION

A/V receiver with THX Surround EX, Dolby Digital EX, and DTS-ES

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 29  
[Apr 04, 2003]
Rican026
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

THX Certification. 6.1 as opposed to 5.1. Clean sound and plenty of power. Lots of features considering the price paid

Weakness:

It does get very hot when used for more than two hours.

I did a lot of research into getting a decent mid-priced A/V Receiver. Looked around for months before I bought the 6070. I have been extremely satisfied with its performance. For the $400-$500, there isn't a receiver on the market that can match it's features AND it is the only receiver at this price range which is THX certified (which matters only to avid DVD watchers with a full 5 or 6 speaker setup and even then THX is such a nebulous standard to begin with). As far as sound quality is concerned you cannot compare this receiver to a top or the line Marantz or Onkyo but lets call a spade a spade, buy a $500 HK, Marantz or Onkyo (if u can find them) and this receiver will blow it out of the water in features and power. I do agree that the 100w per channel is a bit too ambitious especially when driving all six speakers but hey, its just a stat. The sound is clean. I've heard of people saying it cuts out at around -15 or -10 if you leave it for an extended period of time but I have yet to experience any problems. The receiver does get extremely hot though, so be sure to give it plenty of ventilation room. My setup is a pair of old technics 3 way speakers up front (top of the line 10 years ago) and soon to be replaced with def tech BP2006TLs, a JBL S-Center, N24 Surrounds, and a Cambridge Soundworks MC300 for a rear surround. Do not have a sub but will not need one once I get the Deftech's fronts

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 20, 2003]
thxdenny
AudioPhile

Strength:

power,sound,thx select,remote,upgradeability(add amps),7.1 preouts,2nd zone outs,b speaker outs,yada yada yada. Great stuff kenwood

Weakness:

my speakers

I've been looking for a THX certified receiver for a long time. the Avr-8000 from h/k was too much. This kenwood came along at just the right time. Im using the 6'th chennel to drive a 12" rockford punch classic 8 ohm sub in a box i built. this amp has never shut down or got too hot once in 6 months. the remote is awesome. Icould only upgrade to a $150 to $200 touch screen. the menus took some learning but i can navigate them with my eyes closed. Learning codes was easy. this receiver has more options than any other i have seen at this price. my listening room is 16 x 24 x 8 adjoined to a 14 x 20 x 8 and even at the far end of that space the bass from my sub is as loud as i could wish for. The sound is clean at -5 and above that my speakers start to cave. gonna look for a thx select speaker package. rf remote helps.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha,jvc,h/k,sony

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 19, 2003]
young2
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great Dolby Digital performance. You get almost all modern functionality. THX logo wins over visitors.

Weakness:

poor radio reception. Really poor 2-channel.

OK, I have had this for 3 weeks now. I think I was a little over-enthusiastic about the receiver in my review below. The enthusiasm was probably from having Dolby Digital in my home for the first time. I've got around to listening to my 2-channel music, and I am pretty disappointed. I guess the guys that said that music reproduction isn't that good were right. It seems honky, bright, and warm all at the same time. I bought this so I could use it for about 6 months or so until I could get something higher end. Unfortunately, it will go back to Best Buy. I can't stand the 2 channel reproduction that much. It's still great with home theatre; I had Star Wars 2 playing on the weekend and it was wonderful. I still think this is a good value for a home theater receiver, and I'm sure it would've been fine if I didn't listen to so much 2 channel stuff. I have ordered a Lexicon DC-1 and B&K AV5000 used from Audiogon for around $1200. Hopefully this will work better with my Paradigms and Outlaw m-200's. Sorry to mislead previously, but I have adjusted ranking accordingly.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 14, 2003]
roki1
AudioPhile

Strength:

Exceptional value for price point regarding features,power output,speaker management,front panel layout,remote versatility

Weakness:

Receiver heats up and shuts down when you listen at reasonably high volume levels for extended periods of time. Utilizing the menus for speaker control for surround speaker and main speaker setup is not intuitive and is somewhat of a pain, and you tend to search around a fair amount to get it set.Make sure you take good care of your manual and keep it nearby or you will become quickly irritated. The amplifier section is clean on front main channels, although if you drive at high volumes or have a large or inefficient speakers you may want to spend more money and get Denon 2802. Rear channel amplifiers are dirty and are not that great.Neither are the atypical sound enhancing features, which create excessive noise.

This unit is used for family room with Boston Acoustics 975's tower with built in subs. The Kenwood sounded pretty good considering wattage and price point. The Receiver sports the latest digital decoding devices as well as a plethora of input/output jacks for all your current and future needs. If concidering an audiophile quality receiver for your home your looking at wrong price point and need to suck it up and pull out another $600 minimum. If you want reasonable spatial depth and decent clean output at not very loud levels than this unit is exceptional. However as I indicate further down in strengths and weaknesses buy a denon 2802/3802 receiver for more money to get exceptional digital decoding,steering, and clean amplifier sections on all channels. This is not my main system so I could cut corners on surround channels.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 10, 2003]
young
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great pre-amp section. This newfangled pre/pro's have come a long way. I never thought that I was missing so much. You can't beat the price. Has zone 2 video/audio output. I never thought much about this function of receivers, but I think I will be able to set up something in the basement.

Weakness:

Radio isn't that great. Remote isn't that user friendly, but it has RF(?) output.

Short Version: I love it. Long Version: I am finally upgrading my audio system. The 6070 replaces a Yamaha DSP-A2070. The Yamaha was a Pro-Logic only receiver which was top of the line a long time ago. I was originally going to get a Outlaw Audio 950/770 pre/pro/amp, but decided to wait for 950 upgrade (if that happens). I didn't want to spend too much on the interim receiver, but wanted PLII and Dolby Digital. I looked at Denon, Pioneer, and Kenwood, which were the only receivers that had full pre-outs at < $500. I was kind of worried when I picked up the box and found that the Kenwood weighed half the weight of my Yamaha. However after hooking up with optical cables, the sound is night and day. There seems to be stronger separation, and of course the modern DD and DTS are amazing. I am running Paradigm Studio 100's front, Studio CC Center, and some old Infinitys in the rear. I am using 2 Outlaw Audio M monoblocks to power the two front speakers. I think because I am using separate amps for the fronts, the Kenwood does not heat up. The initial set up wasn't nearly as bad as some mentioned in the reviews. I have not connected my main speakers using the Kenwood amps so I can't comment on the quality of them, but I am throughly impressed with the pre-amp section. I do not have a 5.1 source, yet.

Similar Products Used:

Just my old Yamaha.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 02, 2003]
ronnie0738
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

THX certified receiver under $500, great amount of features, powerful and clear amp.

Weakness:

Sound quality isn't as good as I thought it would be, heats up quite a bit, controls are not straight forward, sometimes DSP has a mind of its own.

The receiver is built sturdy, display is very nice. Remote and controls take a while to get used to, but not terrible. Plenty of sound processing features, power is good and clear, but nothing breathtaking. Could barely notice any difference in SQ to my RX-V530 in stereo or PLII using klipsch synergy 6 system.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX-V530, HK AVR320

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 22, 2003]
johnsrinx
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Lots of Power Sounds Great Learning Remote can be used for other components Reasonable Price

Weakness:

When listening to CD's it come up automatically in surround mode. You really have to read the manual before setup.

Decided to replace my Kenwood KR-6600 that I bought in 1979. I read as many reviews as I could find before buying this unit. Most reviews talked about the manual, remote and heat problems. I read the manual front-to-back and found set up easy. It took a few hours to learn the remote control functions, but I find it very powerful. The manual recommends 10 centimeters on both sides and 50 centimeters above for heat dissipation. The sound is great! We've watched "Gone in Sixty Seconds", "First Knight", and "Queen". The surround sound is unbelievable! I have the full speaker setup with surround back, amplified subwoofer and center speaker. I run two Bose 701's for front speakers and the Acoustic Research HC4B surround speaker system. Most of our movies we've watched at -15db with no problems. I usually crank the stereo and -10 db when listening to music and it's loud. Whether listening to Jazz, Rock or Country the sound is all there, Clear, Quiet and Harddriving! I have an external FM antenna on my roof and pull in many stations

Similar Products Used:

Only compared this to my Kenwood KR-6600 which has given me many years of listening pleasure.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 18, 2003]
Joe Gypsum
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The sound its great anf has lots of settings..

Weakness:

Just returned mine for a exchange for the same model.The kenwood gets too hot and shuts off at around -15 and if you keep playing it loud the unit will keep shutting itself down and then you will need service on it.

Mr Thunders is right about the audio receiver shutting off.As the numbers go down the audio goes up but anyway the system gets too hot and if you leave the receiver on -15 the receiver will shut off in less then 1 hour.Does not make sense because the receiver is not at its peak and nowhere close.The kenwood sounds great but don'[t turn it up to loud.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel NHT

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
3
[Feb 17, 2003]
gsadler
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Quality and Sound, Graphical Display, Number and type of connections, and Value for the money. Don't pay more than $500.

Weakness:

Manual is confusing, manually switching sound modes is cumbersome because you have to override the receiver's automatic detection of input sound type (although most times, you will probably let the auto detection set the receiver up).

The Kenwood VR-6070 has great sound capabilities (THX), automatic input decoding, graphical speaker display, several surround sounds as well as either/or A/B speakers. Best value for a THX-certified receiver, period. Replaced my Sony DE885 without THX sound and without A/B simultaneous output. With JBL SCS150 5+1 speakers, the sound is fabulous, all for less than $900. Downside: the Kenwood manual is confusing even for computer geeks. For example, to change the FM stereo from front speakers to 5.1 or 6.1 surround sound, you must switch to another mode, such as DVD, change the Input mode manually, then switch back to FM Stereo and change the output mode to surround sound. It's worth the trouble, the sound is crystal clear theater-quality. On the plus-side, the Kenwood display shows exactly which speakers are outputting sound. On a Star Wars DVD, the receiver automatically switches into 5.1 THX mode when the movie starts playing. For the first time, I could actually understand what that goofy Jar Jar Binks was saying - now that's clear sound! The THX sound is unbelievable. Playing DVDs with Dolby Digital, the receiver automatically detects the DD mode, while you can see the speaker output on the display.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer and Sony 500 watt receivers without THX sound.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 13, 2003]
djbeaubien
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

price,THX cert,RF remote,6.1 surr,lots of dsp modes,7.1 outs,kenwood techs much better than pioneers.

Weakness:

no 7.1 ins,only one surr back speaker conn.no onscreen menu,gets very hot,component video bandwidth too low only 10 mhz should be 20 or higher fm reception not so good. no ultra wide bandwidth.

ive been using the pioneer vsx 9700s for years, very nice piece for a pro logic 125 wpc its in the shop now amp problems. went to best buy to upgrade to the new dsp modes hoping to stay with pioneer to match and control my other components.got thepioneer vsx d811s liked the 7.1 discrete ins and outs and dual surr back speaker outs.but didn`t like the sound tinny? pioneer techs are terrible think theres only 3 of them very unknowledgeable brought it back and saw the kenwood vr 6070 thx cert had to have it w/100 dollar manufacturers rebate and a 10% preferred custumer discount it was a graet deal more surr modes than most at this price .sounded better than the 811s a bit more power too rf remote way cool +thx cert were the major selling pionts i'll keep this one.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer vsx 9700s,vsx 811s,sansui G-6700.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 11-20 of 29  

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