price, quality, 2 yr. mfg. warranty, versatility, sound quality, low distortion, easy hook-ups, value.

no s-vid. connectors, only 2 digtal inputs. (enough for me, one for dvd player one for sat. dish).

upgraded from an old sony surround receiver. the sound is by far much cleaner and crisp sounding. more enough power for my 11' X 21' family room. lots of adjustment for sound field. took a few days to get all my settings right. im very impressed with this unit at this price. music sounds great and dvd tracks are amazing. i have no problem with background sound over-riding dialog on my center speaker like some systems i hear. im using BOSE 301s up front, a klipsch center speaker, sony 12" sub., and some cheapo surrounds(for now) and this receiver really brought them to life. i thought my older sony sounded pretty good till i hooked this up. a great system for the price. compare specs with other low priced a/v receivers and take a listen, i think you will be pleased.

This unit packs all the right technologies (Pro Logic II, Digital, DTS) and more importantly, audiophile calibre sound at a very reasonable price. The build is rock solid and the remote handles the business. Quality all the way.

The units only weakness is understandable at it's price (it only has 1 digital coaxial input and 1 digital optical input) but it's perfect for those that'll only ever use it with a DVD player and maybe a computer or a digital T.V. box.

This is actually a review of the newer Denon Model 1404, but in summary: "Wow... great bang for the buck! Well done, Denon!" The 1404 differs from the 1403 in it's inclusion of S-Video switching, banana-clip speaker plugs across the board and an upgraded remote. I have had the unit installed for only a week, but so far I can safely say that it blows away my older (but higher powered) Technics receiver, and handily defeats the much higher priced / well thought-of Harmon Kardon model AVR-225. In making my decision to buy this sucker, I was basically after a receiver that could do justice to my budget, but very capable Paradigm speaker setup: 2x Paradigm Titans, 2x Paradigm Atoms, 1x Paradigm CC-170, 1x Acoustic Research S108PS. The upgrade gave me stunning enhancements in cinematic clarity and great crispy sound in music. Even when feeding the receiver an analog signal from my Soundblaster-equipped computer, the 5 channel surround setting managed impressive performance. I look forward to listening to this receiver for some time!

Similar Products Used:

Technics SX303, Harmon Kardon AVR-225, Yamaha RX-496.