DTS, S-Video switching, 5 channel stereo, excellent reciever over all.

Remote is sorta small, a little week on the power but it still good enough.

I use the AVR-1601 in my bedroom. I love this reciever, it has all the features I wanted and then some. I am running an entire NHT set up. Super Center, Super Ones, and Super Zero's and some off brand sub for right now. The NHT speakers are not very efficient which may actually been my compaint about lack of power. I find the 5 channel stereo to be one of more favorite options of this reciever. Dolby Digital and DTS work beatifuly. I was considering the Yamaha 595 reciever but when I saw this Denon I new I had to have it. If Denon would give this unit a beefed up remote, maybe a little bigger with illumination, I dont think you could lay a fingure on this Reciever for the price. I still give it 5 stars because I love it so much.

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Looked at Yamaha RX595

Value! Great punch for the buck.Good DSP
affects.Clean power

Remote is a little problem but you start to
get used to it.Operating instructions
alittle vague in places

I did a lot of research before I bought this
receiver.Including reading the reviews on
this sight,which you have noticed are really
good.I didn't think I could get a reeiver
with all the features the 1601 has for the
price i paid.I originally thought I wanted a
Harman Kardon so I figured I'd have to save
some more money,but finding the 1601 was a
pleasant surprize. It is conservatively
rated at 60 watts per channel.I'm running it
with 5 Mission speakers I bought used from
Ebay and an inexpensive 200 watt KLH sub I
got from SAM'S CLUB (119.00).The system
sounds fantastic!!-As good as any Bose
Accoustimass system I've heard or anything
else in it's league especially considering
I've only got around 575.00 in the entire
5.1 system! I did get a great buy on the
used Missions on Ebay.4 model 706's for less
than $100.00 and a single Model 70 I use as
a center channel for around $40 .It proves
if you're patient and lucky you can put
together a nice system for a little cash.A
quality receiver like the Denon 1601 is at
the heart of such a system.If you are a
purist audiophile or have the need for
excessive bells and whistles you could look
at the rest of Denons higher end or some
other costly receiver but I think the Denon
1601 represents one of the best buys on the
market today!

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Sony pro logic Receiver

What Chris Lee says about this receiver is correct. The AVR-1601 is a very transparent receiver (in my opinon, of course). Whatever goes in, comes out. If you take a poor quality recording and play it through the 1601 it is going to sound poor. Good recordings sound good through the 1601, and excellent recordings sound excellent.

affordable price, easy setup, consertive power rating

remote-unlit, tiny buttons (another remote to figure out!)

Great bang for buck. Running NHT SuperZero fronts w/SuperCenter which have a reputation for being power hungry - no problems. Polk PSW250 (8") Sub & Polk f/x300i Surrounds complete HT setup. Amazing realism in a small room w/this setup. For music, kill the surrounds & Center-pump up the master gain - spectacular reproduction on acoustic and voices.
Very happy w/ this receiver and its feature set for my needs. If you are looking for an entry level AV receiver, check out this unit.

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onkyo 474, yamaha 595

NONE!!

This thing kicks.

Using the Klipsch Quintet system with the KSW 10 Subwoofer.
This setup is perfect together.

Puts the Bose and everything else to sleep!!!!

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Onkio,HK, Bose Lifestyle 30

sweet and nice .. made in korea didn't affect the quality at all .. i tested all the modes .. and the Matrix one is the best for me ... i paid 279 for it including shipping of coz ... from ubid.com ...
all my speakers are Mission (Denon speaker)

Powefull (60X5 RMS), Great Dolby Digital sound, 5CH stereo, RDS.

Messy remote.

Well, This amplifier sounds great. Before I've purchased it I had a Denon RD-365A amplifier and an old Sanyo (Can't remember its model), each controlling two speakers (I'm using sblive! card, EAX, 4 sep. channels.). I've connected this reciever to the digital out of my sound card, and, well, It's a blast! The AC3 (SP/DIF out thru WINDVD) Sounds awesome, and the 5CH stereo amazed me. Really great amplifier for it's price.

My system:
AVR-1601
Main Magnat Motion 80 (150W RMS).
Rear Magnat Motion 10 (100W RMS).
Magnat Vector Needle 10 (70W RMS) Center.
Magnat Motion 20A Sub-woofer (50W RMS).

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Denon RDS-365A

cheap surround amp

sorry...but that remote is just as bad as everyone keeps saying :(

i bought this amp to use it in my livingroom as an amp for both my stereo and homecinema setup. i know that a bunch of people seems to think it's too weak to use for music, but i can't understand that really!? if i wanted to, this baby could easilty get my neighbours to call the cops in no time ;)

it's easy to set-up, pretty smooth sound etc... no complaints (other than the remote). in this price-range i don't think it can be beaten.

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5 channel stereo, price, good for HT

remote is terrrible,

I actually have the AVR-681, but according to the specs, it's identical to the 1601. The owner's manual is also the same, as it says 681/1601. I got it at sears.com for $285 after they matched the price I found elsewhere on the internet, and Sears is an authorized dealer, so I get my 2 year warrantee, etc...

For HT, this is a great receiver. Bass management is good for subwoofer users, and it has plenty of power for my Klipsch loudspeakers. Runs nice and cool. The auto input feature works great, too...better than the sony.

For Stereo, it's a bit flat. Doesn't sound as good as I remember my more powerful sony sounding. The bass is lacking a bit without the subwoofer, and it lacks the punch I'm used to in the Sony. I agree with a previous post, that this unit is very "transparent". What goes in, comes out. This reciever does not improve poor quality audio CDs and LD's and such. It plays sources truly how they were recorded.

5 Channel stereo is wonderful, and is an amazing feature. The ohter DSP modes could just as well not be there, because they are all crap. The remote sucks, bad! There are things you can't adjust from the remote (like bass and treble), and things you can't adjust from the unit (like system set-up). What a dumb thing!!! the buttons are also microscopic, and laid out terribly.

I do like many things about this reciever, and since I use it mostly for HT, I give it my thumbs up. The sound is truley amazing. I would recommend for the price. It has the same features as many of Denons higher priced units that have more power and on screen programming and such. If you have good, efficient speakers, save your money, and get this Denon. Avail on the web for ~$300. A Steal.

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Sony STR-de845, STR-d1011s

has a ton of options/ bells & whistles

a little weak for music reproduction

As far as the surround goes it sounds great. It will fill the room with volume shaking authority. The lows sound clean the highs are good (for movies) and the center channel that carries dialog (Klipsch center speaker) sounds natural enough. The Dolby Pro Logic works fine for movies and other televised material that is encoded for Pro Logic. As far as sound goes when it comes to music I am not impressed. It does not sound horrible but at the same time it sounds no better (to these ears) than any of the 99/149$ entry level offerings from Sony, Technics, and Pioneer to name a few. A few of the test discs used include --Fiona Apple/Tidal Ben Harper/Welcome to the cruel world E.B.T.G/Amplified Heart as well as various material by Tori Amos, Aerosmith, Jewel, Loreena McKennitt, and Natalie Merchant. For my bass test I used Ice Cube, Massive Attack and Public Enemy. I will not give the entire list as it would be too long. The sound here is just a little cold and electronic. This is the part where things get hard to describe. To convey something that you can hold versus something that you hear............ The overall feeling I get is of a piece of equipment that does not sound very musical, warm, or smooth. The sound is adequate and not much else. In its defense I will say that this is not a high end music only component. Epinions lists a very high MSRP for this unit. My roommate says he paid 349$ nine or ten months ago when he picked it up, I forgot to ask if it was a demo or blowout.

This is a Swiss army knife as far as I'm concerned. It does a lot of things fairly well but it is not great in any one aspect. Denon gives a THD (total harmonic distortion) spec of .08% from 20hz-20kHz for the amplifier section. Now I remember years ago reading a audiophile magazine that stated that anything below .5% was for the most part not audible. But Denon also lists a THD for all analog inputs @.08% and the Phono input @.03% so are we to add these? If you add the amp section and the analog input that gives .16% right? Sitting just three feet from the speakers I can hear hiss coming from the tweeters during a silent passage at normal volume. It is not sticking out like a sore thumb hiss but I can hear it none the less. I like a component that has no audible hiss at moderate sound levels from a few feet away. I want dead silence from the couch as it were. Now that is just me but I know I am not totally alone.


Bottom Line

If you own a 5 disc CD changer, a Mega CD changer (100-300 discs) a DVD player, VCR and have a digital 18" dish for the TV this is a great receiver. You can control everything with ease (with a better remote) it would make a fine central control for your audio video center. If you spend most of your time listening to music (as I do) and consider yourself picky (like me) I would get a music only integrated amp like NAD and the like. If you are a serious music listener but need the video features you have to bite the bullet and spend the dough for a entry level high end receiver. I am not talking about thousands but 700-900 rocks will get you a Sony ES unit or a nice Nakamichi. I also hear good things about Onkyo and NAD receivers in that price range. Otherwise this is a great Swiss army knife. Find it online at YourInsider.com at low prices.