AS FOR THE OVER ALL REVIEWS OF THE AVR3600 I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT SOME ARE MISS GUIDED OTHERS COMPLETELY ON TARGET.
FOR INSTANCE THE OVERALL BUILD AND DESIGN OF THE RECEVEIVER DEMONSTRATES THAT IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE A MULTI APPLICATION
UNIT. WHEN EVER YOU COMBINE MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS INTO ONE PACKAGE WILL HAVE SOME GIVE AND TAKE AREAS. THAT IS WHY IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PROCESSING SIGNALS YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THAT BY SEPERATING THE SIGNAL AND ALLOWING IT TO BE PROCESSED INDIVIDUALLY IT WILL BE MORE ACURATE.

FOR MOST PEOPLE WHO DO NOT REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE A TENDENCE TO PREDETERMINE THE OUTCOME AND EXPECT IT TO EXCEED THOSE STANDARDS.

I OWN AN AVR 3600 AND AFTER LISTENING TO MANY RECEIVERS I PURCHASED THIS ONE BECAUSE ONCE YOU ACTUALLY MAKE IT PERFORM ONCE OR TWICE YOU WILL FIND IT TO DELIVER.

I RECOMEND LISTENING TO STING'S TEN SUMMONERS CD. IT IS ALL DIGITALY RECORDED AND MASTERED. HIS VOICE CAN DEMONSTRATE THE SMOOTH REPRODUCTION OF MID RANGE TONES AS WELL AS THE FULL ACURATE BASS.

I PERSONALLY HAVE POLK AUDIO SPEAKERS WICH RECOMMEND DENNON AS A REFERENCE PIECE AND IF YOU KNOW HOW TO ADJUST SOUND YOU WILL FIND OUT WHY.

AND IF YOU STILL ARE QUESTIONING IT PLAY THE OPENING TO OUTBREAK ON DVD OR HELL EVEN VHS AND YOU DECIDE.

First of all, to all those people who rated the Denon AVR-3600 only one star surely could have done better with their reasoning. Every audiophile knows that every piece of well built audio equipment requires a certin amount of break-in time. If the unit still sounds not to one's liking after a certain period of time then it is OK to derive a credible opinion. The AVR-3600 could easily score 2 stars just on build quality alone. In a blind listening test between all competing receivers, I have serious doubts that anyone could tell the difference between specific units (except maybe noise levels on certain program material, and the audible usefulness of certain ludicrous DSP surround modes).Now in terms of build quality, the Denon AVR-3600 beats the competition hands down. If you don't believe me , remove the top covers of all competing receivers and see which engineers had their thinking caps on for design and layout (I'm an engineer so I can appreciate the disciplines and trade-offs involved in good layout design). The Denon has superior build quality. Since the Grand Alliance decided to stick with Dolby Digital for HDTV broadcasting, the AVR-3600 will not be out-dated any time soon in functionality. The AVR-3600 will go for the long haul. As far as sound quality, the FM tuner ranks with some High end separates. The amplifiers are driven by a beefy power supply, which suggests high current capability (it should handle 4 ohm speakers quite well). I have had my unit for almost a week and the sound quality has improved significantly in the high frequency area. It has a very quiet pre-amp and amp section with very low distorion (anything low enough to be inaudible is low enough). Forget about what test bench equipment can tell you about this unit. Trust your ears. My ears told me that the unit is a very fine piece of electronics. If you have the chance to audition the unit at home in your system , do it. That will tell you the whole story. If you can overlook the cheezy manual and the lack of DTS potential (although I've been told it can be upgraded to accomodate 6-channel inputs), the AVR-3600 is an excellent buy......in my honest and humble opinion.
If you are in love with your home theater this is a very functional and attractive box that is simple to setup out of the box.

I have had the 3600 for over a year. It is the heart of a compromised system. Meaning I live in an apartment with limited space which necesitates that my home theater and audio system are one in the same. After using the 3600 for 6 months I was very tired of the harshness and lack of low end. Knowing that these are results of my room, speaker locations, cables etc. etc. etc., I was not sure what to do first. Because of the speakers I use as the front channel (Infinity IRS II's) I leaned toward improving the amplification. These speakers are incredible when setup and driven appropriately and I wasn't hearing them as they can perform. Economics in Asia allowed me to buy a McIntosh MC7106 (6 x 160watts in 4 Ohms) amplifier which I decided to use to only drive my front channels. Bridging four of the amps into two for the low end and using the remaining amps for the high end has brought forth the mid and low-mids in a fabulous manner. I now have 80% of the sound my speakers are capable of. I am now moving toward cabling and improving the CD source.
Otherwise, I am very happy with the 3600. Build quality is great. Using it as the front end for my close to Audiophile system it works as well as i can afford at this time. AC3 performance is superb and truly an experience. I only use the AC3 mode for laser discs and the direct mode for CD's. I am not interested in the other 'DSP' modes. I have never heard any worthwhile sound from any manufacturers 'DSP' modes and tried to pay as little as possible for that, opting isntead to get the Denon's build quality.

Now to tame the harshness...

I love my DENON AVR-3600,but when I knew that I can´t to connect it a DTS processor
just i cried.

Well, I just purchased my AVR-3600 about 3 weeks ago. I got it fom Onsale (an online auction house) for $800. A great deal, it was refurbished though. I previously owned a Sony STR-D711, a $400 Pro-Logic reciever (my first). The Denon was quite a step up. I have it connected to Infinity SM-155's (Front L/R) SM-Video (Center) and SM-65's (Rear L/R). I play CD's with a Sony CDP-C545 (Has a digital optical out!) and Videos with a Sony SLV-780HF (Hi-Fi). The Denon was really bright and harsh at first (especially when compared to my old Sony) but some adjustments fixed that. Bass wasn't what I was used to. On my Sony, bass was really boomy (with DBFB enabled) whereas the DENON was more tighter and defined. My Bass/Treble settings are +6db / -2db (respectivly). A major problem with my Sony was lack of power. Not so with the Denon! The Infinitys are power hungry speakers, but the Denon has been able to play my material to my liking (loud and bass heavy) without any noticible distortion. CD playback through the Denon is a dream. (I mysely am not a big fan of DSP modes, but the 5-Channel Stereo is certainly worth trying out.) I am a big movie fanatic, video playback through the Denon isn't what I'd expected. But I believe that this is due to the analog nature of the VCR. To break down my Home Theatre experience with the Denon. Channel seperation is excellent. Highs and Mids are really crisp (once adjusted properly). But my movies lack that Bass "ommppph" that they used to have. I believe that this will go away once I purchase a DVD player.Oh, on a final note. I'm not an engineer. But the build quality is superb. Plastic parts are very rare on this thing. (It weighs in at ~50 lbs!) you know that phrase: "They don't build 'em like they used to."? Well Denon still does! I know hearing is a relative thing, but I find it hard to believe that anyone can give the AVR-3600 just one star. But don't let post make your final decision, go try one out!

Denon AVR3600 - overall a very good unit.
1. Sound - I compared it to the Yamaha top model and came away about equal. Some might consider the high end a little bright, but this is listener preference.I got a better deal on the Denon so I bought it.
2. Build quality - All I can say is wow. Denon put a lot of effort here.

My system (Mosslt HT some serious audiophile listening)- Denon AVR3600 receiver, Sony 32" TV, Toshiba HiFi VCR, Toshiba SD2108 DVD player and Sony CD player with optical ouput. Speakers - Mains are KEF 104.2 (Can't say enough about these guys), Center - Infinity CCM3, Surrounds - Denon 5.5.

Overall a real nice unit, not the absolute best available but you get a lot for the money. It is a little involved to set it up but once you are there it is smmoth sailing. The manual could be better too. I give it 4 out of 5.

I have had the Denon 3600 for a year and a half. It is outstanding.
I only wish I could add DTS, had more digital inputs and could handle a 4 ohm load.

I am aware that Denon's new 3600 (and 5600) has DTS

I give this receiver the thumbs up. For all of you users out there who claim that it does not enough bass, please read the manual on settings. This is definitely a full range unit that ranks up there with the Onkyo 838 and the Yamaha 2090. I think that it all comes down to personal taste when it comes to receivers. You can tweak this to sound anyway you want it to. I am a hookup king and I love all of the video/audio ins and outs. The only thing it really lacks is more digital and coaxial inputs.I got my unit for $589 as a floor model (I know that was a great deal!!) and I must say....it is the center piece for a great Home Theater experience.

The Denon AVR3600 is indeed a very clean sounding and versitle receiver. From the first time I heard it when test listening it called out with mellow and smooth rollovers. The only bad thing about the unit is that it does not support DTS nor does it have input jacks for expansion (i.e add on decoder). I have this monster coupled with M&K speakers which really allow the 3600 to show off in way unimaginable. I have to give it 5 stars

A receiver you never have to worry about. Will power nearly any speaker in nearly any room. Set it up properly and you never have to think about again. For instance: jack the sub-woofer up for home theater, but jack it down for music and the receiver remembers your settings. Just a little too cool for your average audiophile that relishes pinching pulling fiddling twisting controls. Very flat response disappoints those that are used to hitting the "loudness" button, jacking the bass, and rattling the dishes off their shelves; but this flatness really reproduces the music disgustingly accurately. If you remember your stoned youth listening to Pink Floyd with the bass at "11", then this receiver might seem strange. Also worth noting is that out of the 10 electronic stores I've visited in the past year (including those catering to audiophiles) 9 of them used this receiver to power their home theater demonstration setups.