excelent sound when used as a surround sound unit or amplifier unit, simple design, relatively easy setup and use.

poor sound quality when music is played, sensitive radio tuner, not as strong as believed to be.

Let me start out by saying I am generally satisfied with this unit and it's speaker package. I currently have the unit hooked up with the KLH 9000 H.T. speaker package which sound quite well during movie or gaming. I purchased this unit at Best Buy for a misely $50 simply because the box was torn and they put it in clearence to be sold as-is. I opened the box to inspect the unit and it turned out that there was absolutely no damage what so ever. The speakers were in exelent condition as well.

I applaude the multiple inputs and 5.1 dolby DVD input and amazingly easy operation of this unit. The unit has a simple desing and has many options such as listening modes and individual speaker volume adjustment amongst others. I was sadly dissapointed when I went to listen to music on this unit. I have noticed this unit has a touchy tuner and poor sound quality when it comes to music.

Another problem I have noticed is that it doesn't seem to have the power it is believed to have. luckly I can say i have had no problem with the rear channels as some other unit of simalarity have had.

In a scale from 1 to 5 I would give this unit a 3.5 simply because of the options and many uses it has.

I can't say that I personaly have much to critic about the VR-306 unit, as the owner of the system that I wish to talk about is my brother in Laval Québec. I visited him this past weekend and we decided to watch a VHS film together. What I have is question regarding the outputs in surround mode. In any of the modes, including the Dolby Pro-Logic mode, the sound only comes out of the front and rear left and right speakers. No sound comes out of the center speaker and unfortunately he does not have a center sub-woofer either. In other modes, I was able to get sound out of the center speaker but then we lost rear sound. Is this normal to never be able to get sound out of all five speakers simulataneously? We tried a couple different movies, all of which had the Dolby trademark on them, but still no difference. Is the problem his setup or is there a problem with the micro in the unit?

Price and features

Doesn't live up to it stated Power rating

I bought this from Ubid for $97. Realizing that Kenwood doesn't make that great of low end stereo equipement I still bought it for use as a second room stereo, and if it wasn't that great I would give it to my folks. They can't tell the difference between and AM radio and good stereo. Enough of the Y's.
I hook this up to Kef Coda 7 (great little speakers). First thing I noticed was I really had to crank this in order to get any decent volume level. That was just listening to the tuner on a clear radio station. That is what you get when you buy cheap. I have a 20 yr old 40 watt Yamaha that plays louder. The features do impress me, it has all that you need to hook up a DVD player in 5.1 surround mode. Cheap speaker connectors, again for this price you expect it. I plan on keeping this as a second room system. I can live with the short commings. For the price and as a low end system i give it a 4 overall i give it a 3, because the AMP can't drive a good pair of speakers.
I am sure if it was hooked up to some cheap efficient speakers this would crank. If you decide to by this system you may be disappointed with it. But for a college room or a cheap system you'd would do ok.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 454, Nakamichi a300

Price, features, sound.

No surround sound decoder, makes setting up surround a pain.

I bought this for a bit more than the previous reviewer, and I must say I am quite satisfied with it. I'm actually using it not only as my primary amp, but to power my monitors for a home studio. It's quite sufficient for my needs and delivers plenty of power. Granted it does have it's short comings, like it's limited surround and video features, as well as a decoder, but for straight stereo sound, even on good speakers, this amp is quality. Granted if you want to use it for video and other things, spend the extra cash, but otherwise, it's a good buy.

Great bang for the buck. Note: I am not reviewing this for surround sound.

Speaker hook ups could not handle the big monster cable.

I found some AR 318 speakers on sale at sears for 99 each, and I needed a better amp to drive them, (the speakers are incredible at this price, buy some!). I am not using this for surround sound. Unlike another reviewer, I am really happy with how they drive these AR's. The sound is pure and crisp. My neighbor is a real audiophile and he liked the sound. You can buy these receivers for 40% off at Service Merchandise, but you better hurry. I am really pleased with the product. I have no problem with the volume I am getting out of the product. For 130 bucks this is a steal.

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Techniques

Good bang for the buck and easy to use, also good speaker adjustability

weak bass, not too good for music...sounds too artificial

BTW...this review also is for the VR-305 model.

I was happy when I first got it, but the more the months go by the more I become dissapointed with the 305. Its a cinch to set up and use, but the sound is just not good at all. The highs are really tinny and irritating-sounding. The bass is non-existant, meaning the resulting sounds go all though the mids. This is not so good when you are playing music through it. My speakers have 1 1/14 inch tweeters, 3 inch mids, and 12 inch woofers. Compared to my last receiver which diplayed clean sounds, it now souds like my mids are being pushed to the limits...at any loud volume the sound is loud and distorted. Its not the speakers because the last unit I had hooked up to them was a 120+ watt per channel monster, and my speakers handled it with ease and no distortion. Everything on the kenwood is crammed to my mids, and as a result vocals, snares, etc. are muffled and sound like garbage. The so-called bass adjustment really only boosts the mid-range on music. I dont want to spend money on a subwoofer so I'll learn to live with it, but I use my receviers more for music than movies (which this receiver was obviously geared towards) so I'll be a bit unhappy with it as long as i own it. The highs are a bit better and they are crisp, but TOO crisp...they lack any sort of real definition within that crispness, resulting in a kind of harsh, tinny sound. Acoustic music sounds just flat and dull on the 305.

The unit is not all flawed though. I like how each individual speaker's volume can be adjusted. There are alot of complaints about the weak rear channels here, but if you cut the main L and R down to about -6 or -7 db, the rears are plenty loud. The receiver will compensate for this by raising the maximum volume, meaning if you cut the mains down you'll still get the same volume level if you turn it all the way up.

For this price you get what you pay for I guess. They just dont make stereos the way they used to. It's ok for movies but I wouldnt recomend this receiver line to anyone...if you're in it for the music your best bet is to just get a straight s channel non-surround amp. My pick would be the Sony STR-DE135, costs about 120-130 and sounds just awesome for music (100 times better than this kenwood). They need to put emphasis back on sound quality rather than mulit-dimensional sound fields and flashing lights. I'd recommend you to shop around a bit before buying this receiver.

Similar Products Used:

too many receivers to mention

Looks good, high stated wattage for the dollar

Realtively poor sound quality for music

As other reviewers have stated, this receiver doesn't impress me as much as it did when I first set it up. Over time, I've developed the strong opinion that this unit is designed to go into an entertainment center and be used first and foremost for watching movies. It does not serve well as your primary stereo receiver if you're a big music listener.

I found it to be lacking a bit in power. I have a pair of Sony tower speakers which get MUCH louder when attached to my older Kenwood receiver which has the same wattage rating stamped on it. On the other hand, it gets as loud as you'll probably ever need if you live in an apartment or condo, or just want to use it at normal listening levels.

On the plus side, it's rock-solid reliable. I've always appreciated Kenwood's tendency to build their receivers on the conservative side. No flashy multi-colored EQ lights all over the front or anything like that. They stick to the basics in all of their "value priced" receivers, so they'll last for years and years with no breakdowns.

For the price you pay, you won't go wrong with one of these -- expecially if you own a DVD player with Dolby Digital 5.1 outputs. (My Apex DVD player doesn't provide these, so again, this receiver doesn't make the best match to the rest of my own personal system.) I'm ready to move up to something a little nicer, but I'll probably try to stick with Kenwood. The rest of my Kenwood equipment (CD changer, tape deck, etc.) has never done me wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Technics, older Kenwood receivers, Realistic/Optimus

power, ease of use, reliable, excellent surround performance

highs are harsh at times, bass is a little weak, surround modes are useless, no DD or DTS

I've had this reciever for almost 6 months and overall i am very satisfied. I saw this reciever at fry's for only $149, so i decided to pick it up to replace the VR-205 which is rated at 50w/ch.

the strengths:

this reciever does have power, 100w/ch. I am very satisfied on the 6 ch. performance of this thing. Very clean and robust. and since it requires a DVD player with DD and/or DTS built it, the reciever is real easy to use.
Just watch "saving private ryan" and you'll understand what i mean, sounds are defined and seem come from all directions.

the weaknesses:

unfortunetly, when you want to listen to music, you'll find out that this reciever is not very musical. the highs sound metallic, and bass reproduction is just sound off. mid-bass is a little overwhelming while bass below 80hz seems sorta flat. At high volumes, this reciever will power your speakers just fine, it just doesn't do it very cleanly. however, it does sound a horse of a hell better than any mini-system out there on the market, so i guess it does have a little music points to look forward to.

overall:

this is a very good reciever "for the price," it gives you good surround performance for movies, and better than mini-system performance for music although the DSP modes on this thing are useless. if you are shopping on a budget, than this is the reciever for you.

my setup

reciever: Kenwood VR-306
mains: Bose 301 series IV
center: Optimus 35
surround: Yamaha NS-A527
sub: JBL PSW D-110 150Watts
DVD: sony S550D
CD: technics SL-PD8
EQ: optimus 10 band EQ

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-205

Price, number of inputs, 5.1 surround

No DD or DTS decoder

I bought this receiver to replace my aging Kenwood Basic M1 amp that was made in '82. I'm a student and so am on a fairly small budget. This rec. caught my eye in the local AV shop and I took it home with me.

I've got 5 speakers connected to it (L,R,C,SL,SR) and my old amp is serving to power my subs from the sub pre-out.

This has plenty volume for me and I find everything sounds great. I keep the volume at around -45 dB for heavy listening and -60 dB or so for casual background.

My current main L+R speakers are cheap yardsale models... I'm hoping to get some good ones soon to hook up to this puppy.

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None

Incredibly simple to use, simple efficient design, loads of inputs/outputs, very nice volume adjustment, 5.1 input and surround modes, has phono inputs (rarity in this price range these days)

rear channels and bass is a bit weak, overly sensitive FM tuner...thats about it

This review is for the 305, which I gather is about the same as the 306

Ive been through a whole bunch of receivers to replace my sony 665 which has been in and out of service for the past 6 months. I liked the yamaha and others ive demoed and bought, but ultimately had to pass them up and return them becuase of their hefty price tags. I saw this Kenwood sitting open box at a local store for 98 bucks...and its a great deal! Never used Kenwood before but I find this unit an incredible value for the money. I have all my AV sources running through it and I still have many empty inputs. This thing has everything I was looking for in a receiver at one hell of a price. 5.1 inputs are also cool, as my DVD player has an onboard decoder so i dont have to spend more jack on a dolby digital equipped unit. I set up everything in about one minute, and it sounds great, no complaints except the ones listed above. I mean for 100 bucks, you cant expect it to sound like a top of the line model, but it holds it own very well. For having digital volume adjustment, it is incredibly versatile...the increments of increase are smooth and perfect (unlike the noisy "clicking" volume adjustment on the new sonys), especially at low volume. The huge range of adjustability in the lower volume range is better than most analog controls I've used, so i get the perfect volume level adjusted without pissing off the neighbors in my apt building too badly.

There arent too many weaknesses about this thing but there are a couple. The FM tuner is overly sensitive and stops about every .5 increments (98.5, 99.1, 99.7). It makes programming the presets tougher, but when youre done with that you dont have to deal with it again. The rear channels are a bit weaker than my sony prologic was, but I compensate for it by decreasing center channel volume to about -3db and it sounds fine. The bass is also a bit on the thin side, but it is more than adequate and is tolerable for most kinds of music.

For the price I got this thing at, I'd have to say that this unit is the best deal I've ever got on a receiver. I would have gladly a bit paid more for it and been just as happy. As long as it proves to be reliable, I'll be incredibly happy! This Kenwood seems to have simplicity and quality, 2 very important things. A great product!

Similar Products Used:

Sony STR-D665, Yamaha HTR-5150, Pioneer VSX-509D, Sony STR-DE445 (piece of garbage)