I feel this receiver is the best in the under $1000 price class. It has an excellent amp section, and preamp processor. Everyhing sounds clean, free of hum and hiss. The remote is ok but one can always add the Marantz remote when funds allow.
This unit can be had for only $750 with 2 year warranty. Ask yourself one question: What more could you want ???

I recently home demoed a Denon 3300along with a pioneer VSX-24 looking to replace a pioneer 608. I received opinions from 5 different people to get a good evaluation of all.
The build quality is very good on the denon. It really felt well built. The pioneer would have benifited from a sturdier volume knob like the denon. The upgrade potential on the denon was superior with the 8channel inputs and the component video switching. The remote is far superior pioneer. The sound of the denon on 2-channel music was dissappointing. It was bright when compared to the mosfet amps in the vsx24 which were very warm and musical. The real surprise was the little pioneer 608 kept up with its bigger brother in all apects of imaging and seperation, it sounded fuller than the denon even. The midrange on the vsx24 was superior but both amplifiers on the vsx24 and denon had better control of the woofers in my speakers which cleared a slightly muddier low end on the 608. DD and DTS performance was very similar on all receivers. Then Denon was a litte more detailed but the pioneers had better lowends with the VSX24 having little more dynamics. THX is a bonus on the VSX-24 though i didnt prefer it over the standard modes and the denon has some of the THX features.
Though some important features were included on the denon the pioneers lacked, the 2 channel performance made me return it early.
you can see associated equipment used in this review here:
http://www.visi.com/~rhanson/images/theater/theater.htm

HI,RON,I can't believe you compared denon with a Pioneer 608.
The Pioneer 608 was Garbage,I bough it when it first came out
I owned it for 3 months,everytime I finish wastching a Movie
My head hurts,very bright in sound,can't handle my AR1.
This Denon is unbelievable,I noticed the difference right away.
The 5 Channels is a +.
Iam still messing with a set up.
When I sold my Pioneer to my friend I told him that's not the best
receiver,he knows he likes it because of it's S-video and DTS.
I sold it for $300 lost 100 but I really don't care.
I have always like Denon products.
I have a Denon dct 1000 Cd player in my car never skipped once.
The best player I ever with 20 bit
Anyway,Denon AVR 3300 is the state of the art,if you really care about
Music how it should sound like or Movies, get it,you won't be sorry.
I went through 3 receiver so far Kenwood vr 209 sold it don't like it.
VR 309 Pioneer 608.
My wife thinks Iam crazy,.
Bye
Defenitly 5 stars.

Well I finally did it,after alot of research (and I mean alot, just ask the wife),I bought the denon 3300.I went from place to place looking for the best deal.It did pay to do research.Anyway I finally got it home,removed the old pioneer pro logic, and put the Denon in its place.I carefully read the manual then turned it on,to my dismay the right main channel was dead.I freaked.I checked and rechecked but still the right channel was dead.It worked in stereo mode but would not pass a digital signal.So I went back to the dealer the next day to let him know how disappointed I was.He could see how disappointed I was and he took the unit back to Denon after testing it.He took me along for the ride.I got the unit back the next day.I hooked it up as soon as I got home and can safely say that it was well worth the hassle to get this most impressive receiver.My father bought the Yamaha 2095 and prefers the sound from the 3300.Oh ya...the remote really does suck!

Let's avoid any suspense - I love this receiver, and will give it 5 speakers.Here are my shopping experiences and the reasons I decided to buy this excellent receiver.

I have been waiting for years to buy a Dolby Digital receiver, because I knew that I would regret buying too early and get a unit I would outgrow or that lacked a new feature that I would want. It's only been the last year or so that receivers with an adequate mix of features and future expandability have been available. I almost jumped on the Rotel 965, but some reports of problems made me hold back. Then the H-K AVR65 looked good, but the reveiws here of it's problems were positively scary. The Yamaha 995 looked really nice, but I was waiting to see what else would come out. Finally, the new Pioneer Elites, the Denon AVR330 and the Onkyo 777 came out, and it was time to get serious.

I listened to lots of receivers, and most of them sounded pretty good. I compared the AVR3300 to the Rotel 965 in one store, and the Rotel was slightly better in analog, but the Denon beat it with digital inputs. The Denon also seemed to be able to play a little louder than the Rotel before losing it's smooth sound. Advantage Denon. I had compared the Rotel and Nakamichi AV10 in this same store a month before the AVR3300 came out, and was torn over which I liked better. The Nak was more powerful, with better bass, but the Rotel had more midrange and treble detail and better soundstaging. I really wanted the future-proofing of a 6-channel input which the Nak doesn't have, so I dropped it from my list.

In another store, I compared the Denon to an Elite 26TX and a Yamaha 995 (and a Denon AVR5700 and B&K 202, but those were just for fun). I was surprised that I liked the Pioneer better than the Yamaha. The Elite had a warmer sound, with good depth in the midrange and a smooth treble. The Yamaha was too bright, with a thin midrange. It wasn't harsh, just biased too much to the high frequencies to sound realistic. The Denon had a similar tonal balance to the Elite, but was smoother sounding while being just as detailed. I liked the Elite just fine, but I have a Denon already and feel very confident in their build quality, and liked all the extra features on the AVR3300 (component switching, 8-channel inputs, etc.).

Last, I checked out the new Onkyo 777. The store that had it doesn't carry Denon, so I could only compare it to H-K and other Onkyos. It sounded pretty good, but I didn't like that you had to pick OSD for only S-video or composite, and not both. It is THX Select, and has DD/DTS and a 6-channel input, but of course no component switching, dual surrounds, etc. I also felt that the Denon was better built, and cost $150 list less.

So in the end, I popped for the AVR3300, and am quite happy with my decision. Setting it up was not real easy - you need to read the manual, and the manual is confusing and kind of jumps around. Since I'm a control systems engineer and I thought it was a little complicated, you liberal arts types might want to invite a freind over to help with set-up. Once you understand how everything works, though, you're glad for all the options and features. The remote is OK, but I will be happy when Denon dumps those slide switches and starts using an LCD like my SL-9000. And it would be nice if it could learn all the keys for each device, rather than just the ones Denon decided you need. Oh, well, that's why I have the SL-9000.

For most listening (radio, CD, most non-surround TV) I use Direct mode, which keeps everything in analog but the bass going to the sub. This gives the best stereo sound. The Dolby Pro Logic is better than my old AVR1500, and the Dolby Digital decoding is terrific. On a lot of older DD receivers, the DD is harsh and not as intelligeble as the DPL or stereo. Not with the AVR3300. I don't know if it's the 24/96 DACs or the SHARC processor, but the DD sound is very nice. I don't have any DTS CDs, and my Sony 300 DVD player doesn't pass DTS from DVDs, so I can't comment on the DTS performance.

I won't say that this thing rules and everything else is junk. There are lots of good receivers in this price range, and the mix of features in some other receiver may work better in your system. I wanted to buy a receiver that sounded so good, and had so many connections and options that I wouldn't have to upgrade for at least 5 years. For me, that was the AVR3300. I think you should listen to one if you're shopping in this price range, because it is very, very good.

Finally I got my AVR-3300. I upgraded from separates (Adcom GTP-550 preamp/processor and Rotel power amplifiers), and was afraid if I would get the same sonic quality I was used to with that stuff. Well, my previous system was a bit warmer than the AVR-3300, no doubt, but it still seems to have the same musical finesse. It is true that I am still using a Rotel RB-980 amplifier to power L/R fronts (allowing the receiver´s internal amplifiers to drive the center and surround speakers), but just because I had that amp already. Anyway, as I live in a tropical country (Brazil), I think it helps to prevent any overheat from the receiver (in fact, it runs cool driving only the center and surround channels, and with reserves of clean power for any demand).
Great, powerful receiver, better yet with a separate amp driving L/R fronts.

For a receiver, five stars of course!

A little background before describing the Denon AVR 3300:
I upgraded from a 12 y/o Phillips 75-watt amplifier, my speakers are Cambridge Ensemble Soundworks: two satellites and two woofers. These speakers get mixed reviews, but everybody who hears mine likes them. CSW did a confusing marketing job w/ subsequent models, which confused a lot of folks.
I'm going to put together a home theater system and the Denon is the center piece. The usual story,
Re: the Yahama 995, I was holding out, waiting for the Denon 3300 to become available. Without
Question, it was worth the wait.

Bought my first Denon AVR 3300 in mid July. While unpacking it I noticed the unit had been previously opened, but I was so anxious to hear it that I unpacked it, set it up, and over the weeekend, I listened to CDs that I'm very familiar with for at least 20 hours. The clarity, imaging, soundstage, detail, and nuances, knocked me out. This is one articulate receiver. Monday morning, the honey moon was over. I called the vendor and complained about receiving used goods. The salesman, Joe, was falling all over himself to make it right. By the end of the week, I had a factory fresh receiver. Only problem was it sounded flat, almost mono. Real thin sound without the punchy bass the first one had. Called Joe and asked for suggestions - he was no help. My TV is a 9 year old Sony with out multiple video input jacks, just one video F connector. The 3300 has an on-screen set-up menu. No problem I thought, I'll just the run the 3300 RCA connector video out to my VCR, then connect the VCR out to the TV's F connector. Still no on-screen menu. Stopped by Radio Shack today, and picked up a $30.00 RF modulator. Ran the 3300 video out to the RF modulator, cable box to the RF modulator, RF modulator video out to the TV F connector and the 3300 on-screen set-up menu appears on the TV….. Changed speakers from 5.1 surround sound to two channel stereo and beautiful tunes came out of the 3300. Dam it sounds great.
Apparently, the first one (used) had been configured from the default 5.1 surround sound mode to two
channel stereo.

Hey Denon! Change the default speaker configuration to two channel stereo! Put a simple set-up
cover sheet on the first page of the manual… Others have complained about the 3300 lacking bass
and sounding thin, evidently because of the default 5.1 surround sound speaker set-up.

Vendor, Sound City, gets a 3 out of 5 rating

3300 audio quality gets a 5 out of 5 rating

3300 set-up gets a 2 out of 5 rating.

A little background before describing the Denon AVR 3300:
I upgraded from a 12 y/o Phillips 75-watt amplifier, my speakers are Cambridge Ensemble Soundworks: two satellites and two woofers. These speakers get mixed reviews, but everybody who hears mine likes them. CSW did a confusing marketing job w/ subsequent models, which confused a lot of folks.
I'm going to put together a home theater system and the Denon is the center piece. The usual story,
Re: the Yahama 995, I was holding out, waiting for the Denon 3300 to become available. Without
Question, it was worth the wait.

Bought my first Denon AVR 3300 in mid July. While unpacking it I noticed the unit had been previously opened, but I was so anxious to hear it that I unpacked it, set it up, and over the weeekend, I listened to CDs that I'm very familiar with for at least 20 hours. The clarity, imaging, soundstage, detail, and nuances, knocked me out. This is one articulate receiver. Monday morning, the honey moon was over. I called the vendor and complained about receiving used goods. The salesman, Joe, was falling all over himself to make it right. By the end of the week, I had a factory fresh receiver. Only problem was it sounded flat, almost mono. Real thin sound without the punchy bass the first one had. Called Joe and asked for suggestions - he was no help. My TV is a 9 year old Sony with out multiple video input jacks, just one video F connector. The 3300 has an on-screen set-up menu. No problem I thought, I'll just the run the 3300 RCA connector video out to my VCR, then connect the VCR out to the TV's F connector. Still no on-screen menu. Stopped by Radio Shack today, and picked up a $30.00 RF modulator. Ran the 3300 video out to the RF modulator, cable box to the RF modulator, RF modulator video out to the TV F connector and the 3300 on-screen set-up menu appears on the TV….. Changed speakers from 5.1 surround sound to two channel stereo and beautiful tunes came out of the 3300. Dam it sounds great.
Apparently, the first one (used) had been configured from the default 5.1 surround sound mode to two
channel stereo.

Hey Denon! Change the default speaker configuration to two channel stereo! Put a simple set-up
cover sheet on the first page of the manual… Others have complained about the 3300 lacking bass
and sounding thin, evidently because of the default 5.1 surround sound speaker set-up.

Vendor, Sound City, gets a 3 out of 5 rating

3300 audio quality gets a 5 out of 5 rating

3300 set-up gets a 2 out of 5 rating.

When it became time to upgrade my HT to Dolby Digital the only name I considered was DENON. I had the Denon AVR-800 which I purchased in 1992 and loved it! It now resides at a friends house where he is enjoying the Denon sound for the first time (he loves it!). Thank God the Denon AVR-3300 became available late this summer as my new addition to the house is almost finished.The Denon AVR-3300 is the first and last name in affordable Dolby Digital sound.
I got mine at OVERATURE AUDIO in Wilmington DE for $895.00 (no tax there). Now that I am accumulating DVD's I can't wait to show of the best in sound out there. Denon products are well made and do the job. Highly Recommended!!
5 stars of course!
Thanks!
John

Good power (105 WPC), very flexible, does everything you need, like Dolby Digital, DTS, and remembers your settings for each mode, plus the ability to hook up two different sets of surround speakers.

Haven't found any yet!

For the going price of $999, it is hard to beat the quality and features of this receiver, the Denon AVR3300.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 50WPC stereo receiver vintage 1986.