I have been using my AVR-2800 for a few weeks now, and I have been very happy with its performance. I was also looking at a Yamaha RX-V795a, but I did not like the fact that it does not have S-Video switching for all of the video inputs. I also like the Denon 5-channel stereo much more than any of the Yamaha DSP modes. I used to have a Yamaha RX-V850 and never used any of the DSP modes except for the Dolby Pro Logic. I also had considered the Denon AVR-3300 and Yamaha RX-V995, but felt they did not offer any significant improvements over the Denon AVR-2800 (nothing I need for my system).
I have the 2800 hooked up to Paradigm Monitor speakers with a Velodyne subwoofer, and it sounds great for both home theater and music listening.

I bought the AVR-2800 at the Good Guys for $575 and played it for three weeks. I had a two year old Sony 925 (~$500), but needed to upgrade for the s-video switching. The Sony had me pretty spoiled for power and ease of use. I also wanted to find out how much better the seperate amplifier/high current amplifiers were. I took home the Denon and found that the sound was very clean, and just noticably crisper and clearer than the Sony 925. What it wasn't, was powerful. At 85W/channel (vs. 110W/channel) it didn't drive my Infinity Minuettes very well. I had to crank up the volume to get full sound out of my surround sound system. Overall, it's a nice receiver, but I took it back and bought the AVR-3300. I paid $799 for it, but got the component video swithing, multisource/multiroom, and most importantly 105W/channel. Now this is a great sounding receiver! I'd recommend spending the extra money and moving up a model in the Denons.

Great sound quality.

Remote, if any.

So far, I am very pleased. I really like the sound quality and the mechanical build quality. In this price range, this receiver is way ahead of the rest.

My only complaint is that the remote did not control my Sony TV and VCR with the factory settings. It should be able to "learn" the controls, but I haven't messed with it yet.

I got it from Scott at www.soundpros.com for $625.00 delivered.

Similar Products Used:

Old Pioneer pro-logic and old Denon.

Quality build, low price, and great sound!

The remote could catch up with the technology of the reciever, rather difficult to use.

I purchases the 2800 to replace my Denon 1700 and I have been very impressed with it's solid build and great performance. It produces a rich, powerful, and acurate sound while watching DVD's in DTS/Dolby D and while listening to CD's. I am running Bose Acoustimas for my fronts/center and Klipsch in the rear, I have no difficulty driving these speakers and PO the neighbors. A steal at under $500 from the local BX!!! I highly recommend!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Harman Kardon, Adcom

Excellent dolby digital/pro logic,radio reception

Remote volume control,remote layout,radio tuning,bass output

This is my first new receiver in over 10 years.Things
sure have changed. The 2800 is a great home theater
receiver. DVDs sound amazing through this unit.Music
reproduction is clean and crisp however, there is a
definate lack on the bottom end. Hopefully a sub down
the road will help.All this said, I still don't love
this unit. There is just no replacing the warmth from
tube tech. The 2800 is clean and crisp but is kind of
sterile and lacks depth, for me anyway. I feel I have to
get a killer amp now to help out the 2800, any suggetions?
Two things annoy me about this unit:1- the volume control
on the remote is WAY too sensitive causing me to tap it up
and down for precise control-and 2- you can only tune the
radio from the remote which I think is really lame.I must
say the remote is a dissapointment at this price.Its big
and confusing and just badly designed.I'm pretty happy
for now but look forward to stepping up to the Carver
world some day.I would say $500 to $600 would be a better
price for this.Thanks to this site for help and good luck
finding what makes your ears happy.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo amp

5.1 Channel processing (both Dolby Digital and DTS),
A wide array of inputs/outputs,
Clean, strong amplifier

DSP sound processing,
Initial setup (manual).

I purchased this receiver based on several glowing reviews on this site. I was looking at the Yamaha 795 and Onkyo 676 as well, and the site reviews on these products were very good, but reviewers of this receiver seemed to like this model much, much more. And now I can see why!

Having moved from a muscular, albeit 15-year-old two channel amp and pre-amp (Yamaha M60/C60) with an outboard surround sound processor, the sound is awesome (if not a fair comparison)! I thought I would lose volume and punch
moving from a stereo 160 w/ch amp to an 5x85 w/ch all-in-one unit, but I am very pleased with the sound, on both audio and video!

Once you get the receiver's video output to your TV, setup is much easier. Getting to that point, in my case, was a challenge. (The Denon manual is good, but very brief on variations on the recommended setups.) My old TV had
aux video input, I just could not figure out a way to select it until I found the manual a week later (no menu's, no AUX button, press 91 !?!) There were various methods of inputting and outputting the DVD, and I tried them
all, when I finally got the receivers monitor output to my TV's video input, I was able to quickly and easily make any changes necessary.

The remote control is decent for everyday use. It is not ergonomic, and you have to flip open a cover to access the DVD menu navigation controls (play, stop, and chapters are not hidden behind the cover). It came preprogrammed for Sony DVD's (among others), and has most of the functions you need for normal operations.

I paid $730 at a retail stereo store (Audio Buys) in Virginia.

Current setup:
Denon 2800 AV receiver
Sony DVP-S360 DVD player
Nakamichi AV4 CD Player with co-ax digital output
Nakamichi BX-300 Cassette Deck
Boston Acoustics Center Channel speaker, AR-48 mains, AR-7b rears. Yamaha YST-90 subwoofer.
RCA TV (practically antique, but still has good picture.)

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX795a and Onkyo TXDS676 A/V receivers

Sound, Sound, Sound

Static and Popping in analog mode

I, like almost everyone else who has posted on the DENON AVR-2800, love the sound this receiver puts out. It is clean, crisp, and very natural sounding; much more-so than YAMAHA makes claim to!

Cosmetically it leaves something to be desired, but I guess these things are meant to be heard and not seen. Although, really, after a while you do become more attached to it. The receiver and remote have a slight learning curve like any new product you have not had before; all neat electronics do. As for the remote it is no better nor worse than any of the other DD/dts remotes out there. Check the posts on some of the other "better" receivers and they always complain about the remote. Why? Because you have to read the manual in order to use the damn thing; with the DENON this is even more of a problem. Here, I will admit that the DENON AVR 2800 has one of the worst user manuals I have ever seen. Doesn't effect the sound coming out of this receiver though; it is sweet.

Enough of the accolades about the sound this thing put out. I have had three of these things in five days and every one of them has had static and popping out of the rear speaks when used in ANY analog mode I have tried; these being the Tuner or CD. I use it with the optical input and my SONY DVD player and it is crystal clear with NO extra sounds; perfect. I use the receiver along with the new DENON DCM-370 HDCD CD player I got at the same time I bought receiver #2 and play that through the coaxial for digital playback and, again, the receiver sounds sweet. Every receiver had done exactly the same thing!

I think the dealer I have purchased them from, Brandsmart, must have gotten a bad batch of receivers from DENON. I will however give them credit, they have exchanged two new receivers for me and have been very helpful and understanding. They have asked me to hold onto this third receiver and wait for a new shipment to arrive in two weeks or so and they will then exchange this one so I can try another from a different batch/shipment. Damn, I hope that one works. I really don't want to spend a lot of extra bucks that I shouldn’t need to in order to move up to the AVR-3300. Maybe I’ll have to leave DENON product all-together and try another companies receiver. I really don’t want to do that though; this thing sounds great when it works right!


Btw - If you will read a previous post, just a few before this one by Jeff, this poster had the exact same sort of problems.

Caveat - Make sure you can return/exchange this unit you should have similar problems!

PS - I give it a 5/5 rating NOW because if I get one that works correctly it does sound fantastic and I got it at a reasonable price. If I can not finally get one that works correctly I'd then have to give it a 1/1 because then it is absolutely worthless!

Similar Products Used:

ONKYO, YAMAHA

Very Clean Power, Excellent Menu

Remote

Excellent overall receiver, totally satisfied for the money that I spent. Around $590 from a authorized dealer.

Good 2 channel stereo, DD, and DTS

Crackling in the 5 channel stereo mode and the other 5 DSP modes

I'm real happy with the sound in 2 channel and DD and DTS. But I am getting a substantial crackling in the right front speaker in the 5 channel stereo mode and the other DSP's. It works fine for the first 10 minutes, but after that its crackle city. I was aware about this problem, by other reviewers, by I was hoping mine wouldn't have the same problem. Can you guys recommend anything, I kind of got it with no warranty because I couldn't pass up that price, oh well I guess I learned my lesson.

Similar Products Used:

none

Great sound, 5 channel stereo, s-video switching

No s-video and composite video conections in front, remote isn't that bad...

I purchased this receiver to replace my Yamaha Dolby Pro Logic receiver. I always have been a fan of Yamaha, but wanted to try the Denon after reading the reviews here on this site. I have to say you all were right....it sounds great for the price. It is great with DVD and home theater as well as Jazz and other music. Plenty of inputs. 3 opticals, what more could you ask for. I bought mine for $589.00. I found a local dealer who would match internet and mail order pricing.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Sony, Kenwood