Stable and powerfull amplifier. S/N-ratio. Excellent audio

Remote.

My first experience with Dolby Digital was 2 weeks ago, when I bought a Sony DD-receiver. After using Denon for over 15 years now, this was my first Sony audio-component and I was very, very disappointed. Sound was terrible, extremely hissing in all speakers, especially the surround speakers.
Now I'm back with Denon again with a AVR2801 and a DVD1500. A perfect combination with my JBL SCS135 Home Cinema Speakers. Not only DVD-play is perfect, but also audio sources are great. I listened the combination of AVR1801 and DVD1000, but its clearly the bargain line of Denon.
So don't be cheap and buy at least the combination I have, or you will be disappointed.

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DENON PMA-720

AWESOME!!!Hands down this reciever is the best for its price. You can not beat it. I love the 5 channel surround mode for all inputs, music, tv ,etc.

Expandibility...6.1 or 7.1 channels

I researched this reciever over and over. Went to several audio stores and for the price I could not find a better reciever. I have an Onkyo system, at first It was between Onkyo and Denon. Denon is just excellent. No problems in setting up...Manual a little confusing but after some playing around you'll be able to figure it out. I would recommend this reciever to anyone......

System consists of:
Sony XBR 32" TV
Pioneer dvd/cd carousel
Energy Encore Speakers(These are also the best)
Sony Hifi VCR

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Onkyo, Sony

Great Features, Great Appearance, Great Sound

The Manual and Remote Control

This receiver is sweet! I initially let my son-in-law install it due to the busy holidays but went back and straightened it out my self later to get it to work properly.

The on-screen setup is fairly straight forward although some sections of the manual should be rewritten to be more informative. I'm still struggling to figure out parts of the manual.

For some reason I lost the Digital Input Assignments and couldn't understand why I could not get digital output (it kept saying Analog Only) from the DVD. It really does a wonderful job provided that you program the thing correctly. I should have figured it out from the message but was rather slow on the uptake.

I would recommend this receiver to anyone on a budget. I certainly would have preferred a Denon 4800 or 5800 but I do have to contend with a wife who really doesn't understand why anyone would want to spend money for this kind of toy. This unit will do very nicely for years to come.

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Sony Prologic Receiver

Strong Silent Type

Was very difficult for me to hook up properly

I researched like crazy for months to pick the best receiver, speakers, DVD for my budget. I wish though someone had told me the below-shared advice first however!!!

Go to places that sell the 2801. Have the smartest salesman there flip this receiver around so that you view it from the back - then discuss the optimal way to hook up your system, based on what other components you will be using, and thier available modes of being hooked up. The key is that you will have options; this unit has one coaxial input (I went with running this to my cable TV box) and three optical inputs (I went this route to my DVD player - but some do it otherwise, and perhaps use component video hookups to an old VCR. You absolutely must find out about the different ways your different components can be connected, based on your particular TV, DVD, etc!!! If I had done this I would have been able to avoid monumental frustration. In the end - you end up programming your system to know how you set everything up.

I ended up spending a fortune on 3 S-Video Cables, 1 Coaxial Cable, 1 Subwoffer Cable, and Monster Speaker Wire!!! (Thanks "Great Guys"). Later, I saw similar GE stuff at Target for much less. Also the FM antenna provided is the cheapest tiny wire ever seen. (Get an indoor FM antenna and little adapter from Radio Shack for about $15.00. This is a must if you want this receiver to receive).

When I was all done a very knowlegeable pro finally came by and told me I didn't need the thick speaker wire I spent over $200.00 for, "unless you have a top-of-the-line Carver". Start researching on how to avoid being gouged to death for cables and wires. That was an afterthought for me, and boy did I suffer for it!!! The manual is unfortunately poor, for such a complicated system. This really added to my set up frustrations. Now though, after everything, it is a fabulous system and I listen to it 24 hours a day. It is extremely versatile, fun, clear, powerful, and easy to use. (I also like playing the 40 comercial free music "TV" stations my digital tv cable company provides - sounds great). Simply outstanding home theater. Love this system - hope this message saves you the angiush I went through though, in getting your system up and flying.

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(None) This is my first A/V Receiver.

simplicity, build quality, excellent sound reproduction, plethora of in's and out's, 5 channel stereo, good looks

setup must be done through your television

I began my home theater system with the sony de835 and what a mistake that was. I immediately sold it, came to this site and the reviews led me to the Denon AVR2801. I don't think I could have made a better choice for what I paid. The Denon has every feature I need and is missing every feature I don't want. The sound quality is phenomenal in just about every mode including Dolby Digital, DTS, stereo, and 5 channel stereo. It powers my JBL S312's quite nicely (I'm always looking for more power but in this price range it is great). This receiver has limited DSP modes which is a good feature. I am tired of seeing receivers with tons of DSP modes whose only purpose is to be mentioned on the box. This receiver has all the in's and out's that I need, and more. Setup was a breeze with one minor exception. You should be able to set up this receiver without a television. I am one of the people who have not been able to upgrade their tv and it has no video in so I had to go through my VCR. Setup isn't done that often so it's only a minor pain. I found the manual to be sufficient but I could tell that it had not been proofread and 'tested' in any way. The remote is a little too big but the good part is that the buttons on the remote are actually labeled with words instead of abbreviations, which makes it a little easier to use. All in all, this is an excellent receiver and I have had no problems with it (knock on wood). I would highly recommend the Denon 2801 to anyone.

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sony 835

Crisp clean sound, good power output

Would you buy a car if every day you wanted to drive it you would have to climb in via the trunk?? This HT-Reciever is almost unusable. The manual sucks. The front interface is not understandable. If I could get my money back I would.

What a cluster----! This system has great sound, but trying to mix and match the AV inputs was a complete joke. This must be the first reciever on the market which is setup to play silence in it's out-of-box configuration!! I spent half a day just trying to make a sound come out of this joke of a system! Any input other than radio is almost impossible to configure. I would avoid the denon 2801 system like the plague. Oh by the way...go to Denon's home page and click on support...the 2801 is the only system without a PDF manual...figures...I guess the denon engineers were too embarrassed.

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Carver, NAD

Really good sound, this AV-Reciever just rocks !!!

Are there any ?? NO !!
Maybe the remote could be better build !!

My System:

Denon AVR-2801 (gold)
Denon DVD-1000
2x Dali 6006 (front speakers)
1x Dali C1000 (center speaker)
2x Dali 2002 (sur. speaker)

I love the Reciever, it plays better and better. Really get the best out of my speakers !! I could highly recommend it to everyone !

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This is my first AV-Reciever !!

Clean sound even at high level, extremely user-friendly, clear of any useless DSPs.

Runs alittle hot, not a huge problem, only one digital coax input

Unlike the other reviews, I had no problem setting up this reciver and learning its functions. I even got it to operate my CD player which is not a Denon.

As far as performance, I found it to out perform other recievers in its class, like the Harmon Kardon AVR-510. This unit runs very clean at high level. When I pop in a movie, the 5.1 is amazing, even the non DTS movies sound great.

Set-up is easy with the on-screen menu, it allows you to pick what size speakers you, what delay you want, in feet or meters and just about anything elese you need to setup.

For 400 bucks, this reciever is an absolute steal. I recomend www.6ave.com, they rock, I got the reciever for 400 bucks and it came within a week.

My Setup
DVD-Toshiba 1600
MAINS-JBL S38
CENTER-JBL S-CENTER
REAR-JBL S26
All monster cable

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Decent Sound

The remote wasn't as bad as other people were saying, but the manual was impossible to read, and comprehend. It also wasn't very easy to operate the Radio. We still to this day cannot figure out how to use this stupid thing.

Well I must say that as good as this thing looked and sounded (once we got it going), it was extremly hard to understand how to use this thing in general. I think Denon was trying to eliminate buttons on this thing, becuase everything is controlled by either the remote or a dial. Only problem is that there are three dials, and each one controls a different function. The one is for volume(thats simple), another is for the actual Changing of the imputs, and another is for the type of sound.
Another thing is that the radio on ours just won't work. We've tried everything, and when we called the people at Tweeter Center, they made up some crazy excuse that had nothing to do with what we asked them.
Also, we bought a Mirage BPS-250i woffer, and it just seems that the Denon is a little weak in powering it. We've tired switching all the wired around and we just can't get anymore power out of that thing.
I'm seriously considering returning this Denon and buying the comprable Yamaha Dolby Digital/DTS Receiver.

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Some 1998 Yamaha RVX Model???

Sounds incredible, looks cool, and has DTS

NONE

I bought this reciever at a local audio store at the same time I bought the Denon 3700 DVD player. This pair was a significant improvement over the Aiawa reciever and Panasonic DVD player I was using before. I also upgraded to Monitor Audio Silver 5i's for my mains. I can tell you that I first hooked up my new Monitor's to my old reciever, they sounded cleaner than my old KLH speakers (yuck!!) did, but, when I hooked them up to my Denon later that day, the sound changed from "improved" to astounding!!! I can't explain exactly what the difference was in words, but let me try. A wide variety of tracks from vocals by Jewel and Faith Hill, hard rock by White Zombie, to smooth jazz by Miles Davis, there was definitely a difference in detail, and the sound seemed more "real and present" and not just "there". . . which is the feeling I had listening with the Aiawa.
The remote may be a little large, but works well and is not that big of a deal that some people make it out to be.

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