Dobly Digital performance / quality

2 channel & pro logic performance, remote

Excellent Dolby Digital performance, but if you want decent 2 channel operation use a DSP through a quality 2 chanel hifi amp. All the reviews suggest that the Denon offers good 2 channel performance, but I thought it sounded very harsh and became irritating, especiialy when you cant adjust the tone from the remote!. It also leaves the sub active in stereo mode which sounds awfull when listening to music.
I also found that the prologic performance was extremely flat (compared to my old Yamaha DSP), and as for the remote unit, well I think this must of been designed by the company cleaner.
On the upside, the 5.1 performance is excellent and the unit has some really nice features. The speaker control is good, and the units alility to remember its settings for each input channel is usefull.
I guess what I really want is a good stereo audio amp that can also handle 5.1, rather than a 5.1 amp that also operates in stereo.!

Really good, clear sound, looks good, price.

Very, VERY poor remote.

This receiver has very clear sound, good bass and enough power for a mid-size room. And it looks very professional. Buy the golden model, it looks way better than the black one. On the other hand, the remote is horrible, the buttons are too small, no lights, not programmable. But if you forget the remote, you'll get a good bargain. Just shoot the team that designed the remote...

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-575, Pioneer VSX-806, Technics SA-AX 530

Can play very loud, very good sound quality, many features, 5 channel stereo

Well, I don't know if this is a weakness but I think the volume knob is a bit "insensitive".
Nothin else!

Ok, I start with the weakness of this machine....
I think it is the digital volume knob... It is a bit insensitive for my taste...
You have to crank it up very much to get loud sound... But when you do you can get very loud
sound.. The volume knob is graded from -60 db to +18 db and if you want very loud sound you have
to crank the volume knob to about -10 to 00 db (depending on which source you use...) Some sources
can play very low.... e.g. my little portable-cd player which I currently use because I don't have
a cd-player....

Ok, now on to the strenghts on this machine :)
Well, I like the 5 channel stereo, the receiver has very good sound quality, and it can play VERY loud without
to sound bad!
I think the pro-logic mode is way better than the pro-logic mode on my previous Technics SA-DX 940 which
I returned because it was so baad!!! (The technics was more sensitive on the volume know which I liked...
I think I like manual volume knobs better than digital knobs... well, I hope I'm getting used to it :)
It runs very cool, not so hot that my technics did.... and I have 4 Ohms speakers...

I don't have comments for the remote because I don't think it is important... I don't care it the remote is bad, only
it works good, and it does!

I can strongly recommend this product!
I gave the overall value 4 stars, because of the volume knob... I really don't like it...

Well, I think that is everything for now :)

Good looks, pretty good tuner, AM very good

Subtle high frequency stress in stereo

This receiver sounds so much better than the Yamaha in stereo. But it still has a problem with the treble in stereo. You don't notice it at first but little by little it wears you down. I lost every thing I owned so I'm starting over. I wanted a receiver that could do stereo and home theater reasonably well. I gave the Denon a week to break in. This helped quite a bit but I still kept turning the music down. There is something there in the higher requencies that begins to get on your nerves over time. And no my Meadowlark's are not bright. For their price range they have a very refined top end. I tried the 2801 and it's a little better but not good enough. Eventually I had to bite the bullet and leave this price range altogether. DVD's are not the problem for me it's CD's. So if you want one of these take your music in with you and listen for a long time. The NAD 761 and Marantz SR 8000 both sounded better than the Denon's in the same price range. So as far as the 1801 goes it's good for movies but for music you ain't going to find it in an AV for $499. As for me I just abandoned hometheater altogether. You have to spend two to four grand just to match the sound of an $800 integrated amplifier. For me it's not worth. If music is your true priority and you can't afford to own two systems then you need to shop for an AV receiver slowly and carefully. You might even want to go listen to a good inegrated or seperates so as to remind yourself of what the music is SUPPOSED to sound like.

Similar Products Used:

Techics, Yamaha RXV-596, Sherwood Newcastle R-756

I am very new to this, so I'll let others tell the story here.

See the above comments.

This is only for people on the fence about upgrading to Dolby Digital and/or DTS!!!!!

I was a fence sitter for about 6 months. I would go into electronics stores and play around with the different DD/DTS receivers, but I never found one I liked. I was able to rationalize myself into believing that my Pro-Logic receiver was plenty and besides - then I'd need to upgrade speakers etc. If that sounds like you, and you love home theater, stop reading this and go order a Denon AVR881 (or a AVR681). The difference between Pro-Logic and Digital/DTS is nothing short of amazing - and I have crappy speakers still!!! (SonyHome-Theater-In-A-Box, older ones).

I'm not much of an audiophile; my unit is set-up mainly (~90%) for watching DVD movies on my Samsung PLH403W widescreen TV. If you like movies more than music, this receiver will definitely get you everything you need and then some for home theater in a mid-sized room. My set-up at home is in a 15' by 18' room with an arched wall on one side and a wall of windows on the other - and this unit has more than ample power to fill that room.

Well, I'm off to explore the wonderful world of speaker upgrading!

Features, Build,clean natural sound, inputs

Remote

The sound quality from this receiver is awesome.Bass is
tight (with Sub), highs are natural and not harsh.
I use a graphic equalizer with it for music and it really
makes a difference.I wish it had a sleep feature like my
old Pioneer. I strongly recommend this one.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Dolby Prologic

Everything

Could use a bit more power and banana plugs for all channels. Aside from that, nothing.

I posted a review of this receiver on the AVR-1800 forum the first day I bought this piece. After almost a month of usage and two trips to the dealer later I realize how good this receiver is and how terrible my previous setup was. My problem first started when I was hearing clipping in dialogue scenes while listening to Star Trek 2 and Jaws DTS. Believe me I definitely thought it was my receiver since the Jaws DTS DVD is a very good transfer... anyways, I took the receiver to the dealer and we tried it with the Matrix and could not recreate the problem. Some weeks later, after buying THX certified Monster Cable and Lovan stands for my NHT SuperOne's, I still heard the problem and this time on the Enter the Dragon DVD.. It was very subtle but it was there and it is very annoying. Well I took the receiver back with the Star Trek 2 DVD this time and we tested it on a new Denon AVR-1601 with SuperOne's all around and it recreated the problem. So to be sure that it wasn't a lack of power that was causing this clipping we tested the disc on a Denon AVR-4800 with Mirage speakers (the Hybrid ones worth $10k each) and it still recreated the problem.
The point to all this is that in my previous system this problem did not occur and it was due to the fact that since it was sooo bad it muffled everything from the subtleties to the imperfections. This receiver is fantastic in every aspect since its DACs and internal decoders are so revealing than when paired to good speakers you can hear the slightest details or imperfections in either CD's or movies. Yes, it could have used 75w like the AVR-1800 or maybe even 80w like the 2800, but let me tell you this receiver is one of the best buys you can make for under $1000. Forget Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, and the cheap Yamaha's. This is audiophile quality equipment at an entry level price. Don't take my word for it, give it a listen. You will not be dissapointed.

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DE925, Yamaha HTR-5150, Kenwood VR-409, Pioneer VSX-509S, Pioneer Elite VXS-36TX, Harman Kardon AVR-7000, Denon AVR-4800

5 channel stereo mode is half decent.

Everything else.

!!! T H I S A D I S F O R T H E A V R - 8 8 1 !!!

I requested that they add the AVR-881 a week ago. My manual is for the 881 and the 1801 so this must be a good place for the review, but this review does not NECESSARILY also apply to the 1801.

I plugged this thing in and it sounds so bad that even a $10 table radio sounds like a sonic miracle by comparison. I have in my house right now an Onkyo DPL receiver and a JVC RX8000. Of the three, the JVC is the best, though far from real hifi. The Onkyo sounds OK, the JVC a little better, and the Denon makes you want to run from the room screaming looking for a place to puke. At one watt output I would say that it has about a 5% distortion output and it gets worse if you turn it up. I checked all the connections, I am very experienced at this and an electrical engineer. Since I bought this junk from Ubid, I am probably stuck with it, so I am already advertising it for sale after one week and I would never buy any other Denon product again, because any company that would sell a piece of junk this lousy at all for any price couldn't be trusted. But I probably should run out qand buy all their stock I can afford, they have to be incredibly profitable selling this cheap garbage at high prices. This receiver is without question the worst piece of electrical or electronic equipment I have ever seen.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Adcom, Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo, Pioneer, JVC, Sansui.

70 watts/channel. very well built. Dolby Digital, dts,

instruction booklet not very clear/ remote buttons are hard to find in the dark

I initally purchased the Yamaha RXV-596 and seemed quite happy with it for the first couple of days. I noticed that it seemed a bit too bright for my taste. Just prior to trading up I contacted many dealers in the Toronto area and was met with the same response that the Denon AVR-1801 is a better sounding product than the Yamaha RXV-596. Some sales rep.s even stated that they themselves own the Denon. This is from dealers that stock both Yamaha and Denon products.I immediately contacted the selling dealer to explain my problem and luckily they allowed me to trade up to the Denon AVR-1801. I'm extremely pleased with my decsion as the system sounds very well with the new addition.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV-596/ Mirage FRx1, Mirage Frx Centre, Mirage Frxs10 sub. Pioneer DVD-333

Excellent Price / performance, construction, appearance, sound quality

All minor: Clip type surrond speaker terminals, un-lit remote, coaxial input performance, no component video switching

The Denon AVR-1801 is a great performer, and when price is considered it is a fantastic buy. I A/B'ed the AVR-1801 in my home setup against the highly regarded Denon AVR-3300. I was amazed to hear virtually NO audible difference between the two; no kidding! It's that good. The AVR 1801 has plenty of power for my moderate size listening room. It easily drove the 8 ohm DCM Time Window main speakers and Definitive technology BP2X surround speakers used for the test. The unit is well constructed, with quality circuit boards, a large power transformer, and an attractive front panel layout. The remote is typical of those in this price range; functional but no extras and no backlighting. The AVR-1801 does not have component video switching, but it does have S-video switching. The sound can best be described as sweet. It has a well defined soundstage, pleasant extended highs, tight bass, and an overall musical quality. It lacks the harse sound found in many low end receivers. My one significant complaint is with the coaxial input, and this complaint applies to the AVR-3300 as well. When using coaxial, I detect a slight veil over the performance, with a softening of the soundstage and deminished definition in the bass. This is not the case when using the optical inputs, so that's an easy solution. Perhaps Denon has some feelings in this area since there are 3 optical inputs, but only one coaxial input. Considering that there is an easy workaround, I wouldn't let this one hitch influence a buy decision. The AVR-1801 is a great value, and it can hold its own against much more expensive A/V receivers.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-3300, Adcom GFP-555/GFA-555