I have owned the vr3080 for 3wks now and I am very impressed. The vr3080 is very natural sounding on DD and dts. I am using paradigm 7semk3s in front cc350 for center and atoms bringing up the back and the vr3080 pushes them very cleanly and also very loud the dynamics are great and the imaging is dead on. The vr3080 has plenty of inputs to satisfy it has good looks and the remote is not so bad once you get used to it as a matter of fact its pretty nice not to have to take your attention away from a movie to bring up on screen menues on the t.v. the menues are right their on the remote. To sum it up this is a great reciever that can compete with some of the best and if you look you can get it at a descent price I got mine for $450.00 brand new theirs not much I can fault on this reciever yet so i'll have to give it 5 stars for performance i'll give an update later if i find any faults but for now its happy listening.

Good clean sound,styling,inputs

Slow remote

Very good reciever.Plenty of inputs.I have CD player,DVD,Cassette deck,HiFi Vcr and a webtv unit hooked up to it and I still have more inputs.The sound is clean and free of distortion through my Infinity SM215 speakers.It also has flawless signel switching.Home theater never sounded so good.Even my better half could here the difference when I hooked up this reciever!It also passes the s video signel flawlessly.For all the features and grat styling can live with the slow responding remote.Or I just use the included Kenwood Kicker remote for basic functions.

Great styling, plenty of connections, flawless audio switching, good power output, many home theater setup options, cool remote.

Slow responding remote

I've had my VR-3080 for almost 2 months now and am very impressed with it. I purchased it brand new online for $480 and it is worth every cent. I don't think you could find another receiver as featured and stylish as the VR-3080 anywhere.

The plethora of connections in the back is outstanding. S-Video and composite inputs and outputs for every source and digital inputs for as many pieces of digital equipment you could possibly own. The auto source recognition is flawless and it reproduces the AC-3 Digital 5.1 from my DVD player cleanly and accurately. I have a HIFI VCR, TV, DVD player and Sony Playstation connected to it, and there's still room for more!

Connected to a compliment of 5.1 Paradigm speakers, the digital sound is excellent. The home theater setup features are good and aside from your initial setup time (which you have to do with any home theater receiver) it's a painless process. More than enough power is available to all 5 speakers, and is undistorted even when played at very high levels (a testament to both the clean receiver output and the Paradigm speakers).

The only weak point is the slowly responding remote. It is a 2-way transmitter, which means it takes twice as long as conventional remote as your button press must be accompanied by a response back from the receiver. The power, features and controlability of every other home theater component I own makes up for the remote's shortcomings. It also looks cool, so that's worth something, isn't it? It's uses an intuitive interface that is easily learned, even my fiance doesn't mind navigating it. Kenwood is a pioneer in 2-way remote technology, and I am looking forward to the upgrade offer they are talking about providing current owners to trade up to their next generation TouchPad remote!

I am concerned about reliability as I am familiar with several problems in last year's model line, but so far I haven't heard of any problems with the 1999 models, and mine has been performing without incident. Lets hope the bugs have been worked out?

If you're on a budget for a high quality home theater receiver with ALL the bells and whistles, the 3080 and higher series is for you!

I've been doing some research about this receiver for about a week now....Please give me some review of this product...
From the specs given....this receiver seems to be the BOMB for your buck..
many plus...especially the cool powerpad remote...
i'll give 4 stars for now

thanx

Numerous inputs including optical. Excellent power. X-10 IR/RF appliance control programmable into the remote.

The Composite and SVideo connections don't crossover.

An excellent AV receiver with a simple front panel and silver finish which gives it a unique presence amongst your other black boxes for good reason, it's the sound center of your entire AV setup.

My only real complaint (and the one that drops this from a five star rating) is the lack of cross-connect between
the composite and Svideo connections.
For example, if you have a VCR composite input, a DVD Svideo input, and one Svideo output to your TV/projection set, you won't be able to see the VCR.
A real design flaw that should've been spotted and fixed.

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Good looks, remote control, audio imaging, connections

none I can find

I got this monster through the internet for about $547 brand new/no refurb which was pretty good considering the $700 list. I read the sound rivaled high end seperates and I think it is true. I had a 3 year Pioneer Dolby Digital receiver and the Kenwood blows it away. The remote with the LCD screen is the funkiest thing I have seen at this price level and sells it for me alone! Plent yof connections: I have a LD, phono, DVD, VCR, tape deck, and CD player all hooked up to this baby with connections left over.

Great Sound Quality, A and B seperate amplifiers

S-Video and composite is totaly seperate.

I did a lot of research before I bought this receiver. I bought the Kenwood because it had the best power rating (100 Watts), THD stats and full compliment of connectors, including S-video, for the money. I paid $699 for it, from Circuit City. I was surprised that I couldn't find it much cheaper on the web. One disapointment was the advertised stats of .06% THD on the surround turned out to be .09%. Also the Stereo mode THD was actually .02% higher as well, but still very good. I've been very happy with it so far.
If you own this receiver, there is one feature that I found that is not documented in the manual; The CD2 input actually acts as a loop for an equalizer or any type of signal processor. A very important feature as far as I'm concerned.

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Older Kenwood Receiver

Good sound, lots of hook ups

Same as everyone's complaints. The remote. It sucks. Whoever designed it should be shot.

I have been a long standing customer of Pioneer products. About 8 months ago my great, grand, wonderful, receiver got messed up by lightning. So I went shopping for a new receiver. Pioneers new line was...well, underpowered and cheaply made. I may go back to them in the future, but that's someone unrelated. The VR-3080 is a nice receiver. It is powerful, has lots of hookup, and sounds good. It is not without flaws. There is too much computer control going on inside. If you are trying to listen to something in prologic or digital surround sound, the sound is honestly lacking because of no bass. I have excellent speakers. They are not the cause. The only way to boost the bass is in stereo mode. Which sounds great. If you want to use the stereo mode to its fullest, you can't use surround mode. But this goes with any receiver. I wish it had some feature that would let you turn up the bass in surround mode. My only other complaint is that they neglect to tell you that if you want to operate your CD player, it has to be a Kenwood. You can hook one up that isn't but you can't operate it with the remote. My Pioneer would. Oh!, and yeah, the remote is a peice of dog @%&!

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Pioneer products

Great power, Features, value..just awesome in all categories

None!!!

I love my kenwood i actually have the krf-v7772d, its the same as the 3080 but just has 120 and 240 voltage and 20 more watts a channel in surround mode for a total of 120..its sold in the overseas american military exchanges..where as the 3080 is just sold in the states.The lcd remote actually does not bother me at all..i love it..Great sound in dolby and dts from my panasonic dvd 310 player, Dont really have the bass problem in stereo/cd mode cause i have a 12 inch 150 watt powered kenwood sub so thats not a prob. My Infinity studio monitor speakers sound wonderfull with this receiver, i have no complaints about this reciever..its an awesome value for the money!!!!!! I can see myself hanging on to this one for years and years to come..all that dolby digital ex 6.1 and dts 6.1, heck in the past year i have seen hardly any dvd's with these 6.1 formats on them..the 5.1 standard is here to stay i think..Buy this receiver u will not be dissapointed!

Looks, Clarity, functions, features

non user friendly remote

If you're not looking to spend a lot of money for a home theater system, I highly recommend. I love the way it looks. What really caught my attention was the LCD remote. All my friends think it's the coolest thing. I love the design of it, very sleek. Easy to hook up and has the most connections available, RCA, S-video, optical, and more.
I had it hooked up to a Klipsch Quintet 4 speaker + 1 Center, with a 10" sub, all from Klipsch. It couldn't sound any better, with the Dolby Digital and DTS. Don't pay for than $300 online, in stores, you can find it for about $399.

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