low price, Denon brand, clear and crisp sound

None so far.

Regardless some bad reviews, I bought this baby
from ubid for $349. It works fine. I am using it
with my Bose 501, which is not a good speaker.

The only concern is on the box, it says this is
an EU model. I don't know whether that should bother me.

aesthetics, sound quality, processing

a bit confusing, no setup except w/ monitor, $$$

To cut to the chase, I love this receiver! Thanks, audioreview.

I agree with many of the previous posters, this specific model has great quality and features. However, being a budding audio enthusiast, I was forced to get ahold of it online, which was a bummer, but there's no other way for me to buy the kind of equipment i wanted. After several screw-ups on various sites, I ended up buying it from ewonders.com for $565. I'm glad I got it there provided nothing breaks.

I have one main thing to say: What are you guys complaining about regarding the remote?? Sure, it has its weaknesses, but I challenge anyone to go out and find an equal or greater remote other than an aftermarket piece. Yamaha, Sony, Marantz, JVC, Onkyo, etc., none of these brands include a remote that measures up to this one. It looks great, its sturdy, easy to use (after you figure it out), and highly customizable. This remote is one of the (albeit minor) reasons I wanted a Denon.

The more I use this unit the more I love it. For the price I got it, it just can't be beaten. Even for msrp (for those that have the cash), Denon's line is unbeatable in many areas.

Once, again, I have to concur with those below me saying that this is a fabulous receiver.


Other equipment (I'm building):
Sony CDP-CE535...CD player
Sony MDS-JE530...MD deck
B & W 602 s2...front speakers

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-DB830

Nice features, well built.

Besides the dependability of this one unit, none.

Got it at uBid. Was impressed with the look/build. Sounded good, better than the JVC 888VBK and Yamaha 5230. Not extremely better or anything, but it had a more pleasant sound. Pop in a DVD movie, sounds pretty good, and then poof. It shuts off and I smell that acrid ozone tinge. WTF is up with that? My four main speakers aren't low impedance, my pitiful Kenwood stereo drives them all on A/B just fine. I'm going to assume mine just was deficient. Oh well, unlike what the poster below said, I have had defective unit problems with uBid before and their return policy more than pleased me. Just made sure I let them know it failed within ten days, and they'll issue an RMA and give me a full refund including shipping. Can't ask for much more than that from a company that sells another company's products.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 888VBK, Yamaha 5230, Old Kenwood stereo receiver.

value

remote, reliability

DONT EVER BUY THIS CRAP. ESPECIALLY FROM UBID.COM THEY WERE OF NO HELP ON THIS PRODUCT. I only had it for 1 day and it quit. They could have cared less. I STRONGLY SUGGEST A BOYCOTT OF UBID.COM UNTIL THEY FIX THERE DEFECTIVE MERCHANDISE POLICY. I AM GOING TO EMAIL AND SEND LETTERS TO THEM EVERY DAY UNTIL THEY RESPOND. OF COURSE, THEY HAVENT.

Quiet operation, lots of power, svideo switching, great sound

Manual, Remote

I originally purchased the AVR-87 to replace an aging prologic Onkyo. I was very happy with it, but it was an open box unit and I had thought one of the opticals wasn't working correctly. I also realized that I was in desperate need for svideo switching. My proscan TV only has 2 svideos connections available, the installations of my satellite system put me over the top.

I was in 6th ave electronics and noticed that they were blowing out the avr2800 for $399. It appears they had received a big shipment of avr2801's and needed to get rid of the 2800's. Needless to say I bought one and returned the AVR-87.

I noticed a difference in sound quality immediately. Even tho the avr-87 and avr-2800 are very similar, the extra wattage seemed to make a bit of difference. By the way the avr 1801 and 1800 are very different receivers. The 1801 is closer to the avr 1601 then the 2801. Denon apparently decontented the model by lowering the wattage and replacing the processor with a lower end chip(no ddcs)to make it more cost effective.

The AVR 2800 does have a tendency to run a bit warm, so you should give plenty of room on top.

Bottom line, Denon has done a great job on this receiver. Sound is great, has A&B speakers, (I have rockustic Pavorockies in the backyard)and enough additional features to keep most people happy.

If you could still find one, buy it(hopefully on clearence). The only major difference between the 2800 and the 2801 is 5 watts per channel, so take advantage of the timing and save several hundred bucks. I also recommend the avr1800/avr87,(see my post under the avr87 topic)

My system consists of:

Denon avr 2800
B&W 602 s2 fronts
B&W cdmc se center(upgraded this from the B&W cc6 s2)
B&W Rock solid sld6 rears(predecessor to the LM1)
Paradyne ps 1000 sub
Toshiba DVD player
Proscan 36" TV

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo prologic 414, Denon AVR-87(really a rebadged avr 1800)

Excellent DD and 5-Channel sound, solid build, excellent bass with subwoofer

Manual

Thanks to all reviewers here as my decision to buy the Denon AVR 2800 was based on the excellent reviews here. My initial choice was the HK AVR500 but after reading the relatively poor reviews (a lot of quality problems with the HK), I decided Denon was the better choice.

Overall, great for HT. TV with the 5-Channel stereo is excellent, especially when watching sporting events. DD is also excellent as is listening to music in either 5-Channel or 2-Channel stereo. Bass with my B&W1000 subwoofer is strong and clear. So strong in fact that I had to turn it to about 1/3 full volume in my 25"x11" room. The remote control is not as bad as everybody says. I've programmed it to run everything but the refrigerator. I can point this thing in any direction and it still works. The manual is not very clear and assumes that the reader is already knowledgeable. However if you read it a couple of times and with trial and error, you eventually get it.

Overall, I am satisfied with this purchase and would definitely recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX V590

Remote Control, Design, Sound Quality, Connections, DD, DTS, Display, Manual

Gets VERY hot, strange speaker connections

First, why do everybody complain so much on the Manual and Remote? I love both, The Remote may not be the most high-tech looking out there but definately one of the best, everything is very well placed and the buttons are soft and doesn't need to be pressed very hard. The Manual is very clearly written to me, I got found everything to be straight forward and w/o any fuzz.

The sound is very clean and crisp, the bass is maybe a little low w/o a Sub but still enough for the average user.

About the hissing and noise in Analog mode I'm very confused... I asked the person I bought it from (always buy expensive products like this in a story if you're smart). He had never heard anything like this about it, it's their best selling receiver. I get noise at very high volume levels too, but that's because of my lousy audio cables from my computer, you need a good signal cable.

Here in Sweden you have too pay alot more than in the states, but on the other hand it seems the ones we get is alot better.

Similar Products Used:

None, went for Denon imediatly, looked at Marantz and NAD too.

Great look, clear sound,On Screen Display

Dolby prologic,DSP

Compared with my previous receiver (sony STRDB 930), Denon AVR2800 is much better.
It produces a warm - clear sound and good bass output from subwoofer. Especially when listen music from stereo channel.
DD and DTS is amazing. There are more advantages from denon if i want to compare with Sony. There are only two supremacy from sony that can beat denon: dolby prologic and DSP.
Denon dolby prologic is awkward!
no subwoofer at all at this stage, unless you try the DSP which is awful as well.(Sony have better DSP)
I can't understand why denon company, put mono TV as DSP!!
This problem occur if you want watch a movies from VCR.
Anyway i'll give 5 star rating for this receiver,because i'm very happy to buy a product with good price and good sound.

My current setup:
Denon AVR 2800
Pioneer DVD 525
Marantz CD 4000
Sony SLZ66 VCR
Tannoy M5 3 way speaker
Tannoy MC 2 way centre speaker
B&W 601 surround speaker
Monster cable for wire and Interconnect

Similar Products Used:

Sony STRDB 930

DD and DTS are outstanding. On screen programming is easy.

Manual is confusing. Remote is difficult to program.

With my PSB Image speaker package, this is the best sounding receiver for the $$ I could find. Monster cables are a must. DSP fields arent really all that great. % channel stereo is the way to go witn any analog input.

Similar Products Used:

none

Excellent power, s-video, cinema eq, clear quality sound

none found yet

I bought a marantz sr-5000 and the output board burned up, so the dealer gave me the denon avr2800 for my troubles. I could not be happier, I love it. I am a college kid, but I take real pride in having a good stereo. This receiver makes my acoustic research ar3 sound great. I can't believe how much better the denon's sound is compared to the marantz and the remote is a lot easier to learn also. The music and dvd's sound so much better on the denon than the marantz.
I would highly recommend this receiver to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SR-5000