5 channel audio,clean at high volumes, easy to setup and use,lacks power for large rooms, More DSPs would be nice.

Remote is confusing at first, no rear speaker banana plugs.

Great receiver for Home theatre. Setup is a breeze and after a little practice the remote is quite easy to use.Remote will not replace component(eg.DVD) remote. The sound is great and very clean. The speakers I am using are Paradigm Mini Monitors + CC350 center and ADP 170 rears. The sound is loud(rock concert)for a room 14" by 14" but if your looking at a room lets say 27" by 27", sound may be lacking if you like your sound loud. It has good looks and runs cool.

A great buy for those on a budget who don't want to compromise quality.

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listened to A/V receivers by Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha within same price range.First owned receiver.

Sounds clean, Design, Dts, good home-theater reciever

Remote

This product sounds fantastic, given it's relatively low price. It plays smooth and clean even at very high volumes.
It also plays deep and warm. I have no problem recomending this unit

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Denon avr 1400

Excellent home theatre, ease of setup, features

non learning remote, not a lot of oomph for straight audio listening

This unit really impresses me with it's home theatre capabilities, and I really like the ability to control almost every aspect of the sound via remote. I find though that the unit is not as good as my old Yamaha for just plain audio listening, either via CD or radio.

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Yamaha RV-502 Prologic A/V Receiver

Price, 5.1 and dts abilities, Denon reputation,

setup was somewhat confusing ( for me ). Manual is non specific and generic.

I wanted to make the move to Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. After reading all the info i could get my hands on, Denon seemed to be the best offering in the price range i was looking at $400.00 to $500.00. I have not been disapointed !
Setup was OK. However the manual was not as complete and explicit as it could have been. The sound is great, the 5 ch. music stereo sounds exceptional. Plenty of power for my
12'x 20' room. Bass is more that enough with my powered 12" woofer. Movies in dolby digital 5.1 are incredible. The clarity, separation of the different tracks is worlds better than Dolby prologic. Never have had any kind if heat problem, runs cool even when turned up to the -8 db range,
This receiver has been a real treat so far. Denon seems to have the build quality and the ruggedness that i was looking for. This unit is well worth the $400.00 to $500.00
it will cost you. By the way, the remote is not as bad as other reviewers had indicated. The buttons are small but the operation is fairly simple. As a closing footnote, this site and the reviews of other consumers played a important part in my choice of componets for my system. keep up the good work, and keep the honest reviews coming.

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Sony, pioneer.

Excellent clean sound, nice looking, runs very cool, plenty loud w/o distortion.

non learning remote, only 1 digital coax input. Need another for my laser disc player.

Definately recommended to anyone looking for a new Dolby D home theater receiver. Though I have only owned this piece for one week, I really like it. I like the fact there is so much control over all of the speakers. Currently I run a DVD laser disc and Dish Network Dolby d satellite through the amp and they all sound great. Listening to Dish's digital music channels is like having a CD juke box in you house. Music sounds great through the Denon. Watched only the MASK on DVD and that had some great sound to it....

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Pioneer, Yamaha, JVC, Harmon Kardon, Onkyo. Went in with intent on buying the Yahama RXV596, also listened side by side with the pioneer elite vx21. Pioneer sounded muddy. Liked the look of the Denon 1801 better than the Yahama. Currently own a Pioneer VSX511 non-digital.

Sound, quality, flexbility

None to speak of

First, if you are wondering wether it is worth it or not to upgrade from pro-logic to Dolby Digital / DTS, the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!!!

I have never been very happy with my center channel speaker when I was told it was a good speaker, I have also never felt it was worth the effort to install surround speakers because the output was very poor (using pro-logic format). But what a difference this receiver has made. I now love my center channel speaker and have installed surround speakers.

I started out by testing this receiver with toy story 2. And after the first scene was over (buzz light year game), I was grinning from ear to ear. I do not hear hiss, or any unwanted noise for that matter, out of the rear speakers. The sound is crisp, clean, and very dynamic.

I am currently using this receiver with 2 Mission 733's in front, a Klipsch KV-2 center, 2 JBL N24aw for surround and a Acoustic Research powered sub. I know it's a complete mess of different manufactures, but that is one of the things I love about this receiver. You have the ability to adjust each speaker individually to achieve the sound you want. Even though I have pieced this system together over the last few years, it sounds fantastic.

I researched this purchase to death, I narrowed it down to Onkyo, Yamaha, and Denon. The Denon was actually the cheapest ($318), but I really liked the sound. I went into a local hi-fi store to hear some different models. The salesman was big on Yamaha, and started me out with a $800 receiver. It did sound good, but consistant with what I had heard on this and other sites; the sound was brite. He then said I could hear a Denon to see how much better the Yamaha was. He could not get the 2801 to work, so he said, "I hope you don't mind if I use a cheaper Denon (1801) to demonstrate Denon's sound?) He opened it up with the Matrix (of course) and it sounded amazing, in fact after a few seconds he looked at me and I looked at him and we both said, "that sounds good."

Needless to say, this receiver sounds great, is built well and easy to set up (it took me 15 minutes to hook up everything). I would definatly recommend it to anyone. One more note, you have to have a powered sub to really get the true benefits of the 5.1 format. The low frequencies shake our house and scare our kids, but it sure adds to the whole listening experience.

Very clear, crisp sound. S-video, unlike it's predecessor.
5.1 Stereo.

Not many: the remote is a little cartoonish and the volume display could be little bigger. And whoever wrote that manual needs to refer to their JAPANESE-ENGLISH dictionary more often - not exactly intuitive.(I had to go to Denon's web site for some things). However, these things are pretty trivial compared to the music you'll hear.

I'm no audio guru, but I've really got to disagree with the reviewer before me. I've been really happy with my Denon AVR-1801, which I use exclusively for music right now. I traded in a year old Pioneer (508), which sounded very muffled and had absolutely no range, the difference in sound quality with the Denon was dramatic. I can pick up things like the sound of plastic picks stumming acoustic guitar strings. Pretty slick.
Now, like the last guy, I spent a good hour and half in the showroom listening to the latest 2000 line from Yamaha, Sony and the Pioneer elites -- and none could compare to the sweet clarity of the 1801. The Yamahas were the closest, but didn't quite have the bass of the Denon. And it sure as hell didn't sound like my ears were plugged! (?) I live in a one bedroom apartment too, and the 1801 and my Klipsh SF-2's are going to get me thrown outta here -- more than enough power!!
Sure, I'd like a little more power eventually when I have a bigger place and I'll probably upgrade to a 2800 or higher end down the line when funds are a little less tight, but for now I'm extremely pleased with this receiver and would recommend it to anyone with smaller to medium sized quarters -- and I think I'm a Denon customer for life.
What's more, many thanks to the operators of this site. I've learned a great deal in the past months and the reviews (esp. of the AVR1800) have been extremely helpful in helping me decide on the purchase of this receiver. Keep up the good work.

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Pioneer VSX-D508 (crap)

This is a very clean amp and may be the best buy on the market for a 5.1 amp. While it is "low end, high end," it is high end. Some complain about power, burt it is plenty sufficeint for average to above average power uses. The unit is attractive in its simplicity. The 5.0 dsp is really good. There is enough options for digital add ons and the s-video component is strong for this price class.

The remote is confusing, but it can get much done once the routine is learned. I would not let the negative reviews of the amp stop a potential purchase since competition also has similar boos. I wish there were a few more dsp's, specifically concert hall for classical music.

I would buy it. I suspect some of the units may have more powewr than others, judging from the reviews. My amp setting is usually -15 for what I consider pretty loud dvd's. This unit is also very good for cd listening, especially in five channel mode. The initial set ups as determined by the manual seem close to on target. My unit was fine-tuned by a decibel meter setting. This was worth it.

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None, I upgraded from an old Technics Pro-logic.

Clean, dynamic sound
Very low noise
Usable DSP

Banana plug bindings for front channels only
Remote can be better

When I decided to move up from my Onkyo 474, I compared very hard between the Denon AVR-1801 and the Onkyo TX-DS575x, both of which are improved versions of very successful and highly rated receivers. But after reading the reviews on this website, I believe Onkyo still hasn't solved their quality control problem as well as the hissing in their 474/484 and 575/575x models. So I decided to sacrifice a few banana plug binding posts of the 575x for the presumed better quality of the 1801.

I wasn't expecting much of a improvement sonically over the 474, besides the addition of DTS decoding and slightly more power (70W/ch v. 55W/ch). However, the moment the first music note comes through, I immediately say "Wow". The sound is fuller, more dynamic, and bigger. I think this difference is a result of the Denon's better bass management. With the 474, it's difficult to find the best bass from my subwoofer. Either it's not enough deep bass, or the upper bass gets boomy. No such problem with the 1801. Bass is simply clean and powerful.

Both the 474 and the 1801 decode DD flawlessly, but the 1801 seems to have better Pro Logic performance. I popped in an old "Top Gun" VHS, and the audio is almost as satisfying as many DD 5.1. Another big plus of the Denon is its adjustable DSPs. Whereas I have never used any on the Onkyo, I have found the 5 Ch Stereo and Matrix modes quite listenable. And the Mono Movie mode came in handy when I rented the "Sweet and Lowdown" DVD, which sounds marvelous. [Why would Woody Allen shoot a film about a jazz guitarist in mono is beyond me!] Other features like Cinema EQ and variable level of compression are also nice and useful.

A few people have complained about the remote. It could be better, but when use under adequate light, the color-coded buttons are okay. It controls my Panasonic A-120 DVD player well, though it really needs a pause button in the VCR area as well as a TV input mode button to go with channels and volume +/-. But at least the remote is somewhat universal and not too big.

I haven't used the Onkyo 575x first hand, so I can't compare it with the 1801 directly. However, consider that the 575x is just one step up in the Onkyo lineup from the 474/484, it's hard for me to believe it can be significantly better than the Denon. Anybody looking for a AV receiver for a small to moderate room will be very happy with the AVR-1801. And with a street price of less than $400, it may be the best value around.

System:
Panasonic A-120 DVD Player
Sony Hifi VHS
Infinity RS-5 [Front]
Infinity RS-2 [Surround]
Infinity CC-3 [Center]
Infinity BU-120 [Subwoofer]

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Onkyo TX-DS474

Easy to hook-up with all my components, clarity in sound with DVD and CD, good price for what your getting

Remote Control

I just wanted to take the time to post since I just traded in a NAD 2 channel integrated amp for the Denon AVR 1801. I have watched one DVD movie so far and listened to 2 CDs. I have B&W 603 S2s for fronts and a B&W centre channel.

This is my first attempt at home theater as a have Panasonic DC30 DVD which I consider entry level and I'm very pleased with so far.

I will right a more thorough review over the course of time as I listen to more CDs and watch more movies. Gave 4 stars for now! Remote control is a big minus and probably has to be included in overall review for the unit I suppose.

As you can see this isn't a review per se but all I can say is I'm kicking myself in the keyster for not buying a DVD player and AVR sooner!!

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None