DESCRIPTION

The VR-2090 sits at the top of Kenwood's line of receivers. As befits the budget-conscious company it still lists at less than a grand, while performing all of the home theater tasks you could ever want. The 2090 is designed as a multi-room/multi-source unit, meaning it can be wired to simultaneously play different sources to different rooms. For example, you could have the "Armageddon" DVD playing in your main entertainment room while the kids listen to a CD in the bedroom. The 2090 touts a flashy LCD remote that's pre-programmed with the IR command codes of many other products although it's incapable of learning new commands. A joystick makes navigation easier. Other major features include Dolby Digital/DTS decoding via 20-bit chips from Crystal Semiconductor. They're less powerful than some 24-and 32- bit chips, but you'd pay for the difference. Sound customization options, like bass management, audio input levels and individual speaker levels abound. You can also add any of five DSP processes (i.e. jaz...