Inexpensive, suprisingly good Dolby Digital and DTS performance.

I wish it had pre-outs for the front channels. This things sucks for two channel music.

I purchased this as an interim piece. I paid 200 dollars at Fry's. I have had an outstanding 2-channel setup for quite a long time and I've always been happy with it, but I really wanted to give Home Theater a shot, hence this little Kenwood. For the price, it's a decent unit. It's performance with 5.1 DVD is really quite amazing(and I don't even have a sub-woofer). Now, I'm afraid I'm hooked on this whole Home Theater thing. With that said, I plan on upgrading this unit just as soon as I possibly can, as it is quite unsatisfying in Stereo. In two-channel my music has lost all presence. Bass is weak and the sound is just grating. If only it had pre-outs for those front two channels. I would be one happy camper. I could then use my old amp for music and this thing for movies. Oh well, I understand the VR-410 has pre-outs for all channels, so maybe it's time to move up a notch. OK, so I give this pup a solid 5 stars for 5.1 movies, and a generous 2 stars for stereo.

Good DD and DTS performance, Price, Optical link

No preouts, So-so 2ch reproduction, 100W/ch...?..not sure about that

Let's face it, in DD and DTS mode, for the price, this receiver is simply amazing. In 2ch stereo mode though, the sound is really not that good. If you are a music lover, try something else. If only the VR-309 had some preouts to cure this problem...

Kenwood claimed that this receiver deliver 100W/channel.....yeah right, but at 1000hz only one channel driven at a time...so that's equivalent at maybe 50W per channel in the real world. I'm not saying that this amp is not enough powerful, it is, but it's just that Kenwood provide some tricky numbers to attract the customers.

The remote is not that good. It cannot handle all my units. It even does'nt controls all the functions of my 4 years old Kenwood CD player. Don't expect to control all your stuff with this remote...

Don't try to hook a second pair of speakers (speaker B) or you will be very disapointed. I noticed that the second set of speakers sound really bad. The bass and treble controls does'nt affect the second set of front speakers, so the sound is very, I mean very weak....

In conclusion, the VR-309 is an excellent DD, DTS receiver for the price. In fact, I really think that the VR-309 is the best receiver for movies reproduction in it's price range. The 2ch reproduction is another story....

Similar Products Used:

Technics SAGX

Good DD and DTS performance, Price, Optical link

No preouts, So-so 2ch reproduction, 100W/ch...?..not sure about that

Let's face it, in DD and DTS mode, for the price, this receiver is simply amazing. In 2ch stereo mode though, the sound is really not that good. If you are a music lover, try something else. If only the VR-309 had some preouts to cure this problem...

Kenwood claimed that this receiver deliver 100W/channel.....yeah right, but at 1000hz only one channel driven at a time...so that's equivalent at maybe 50W per channel in the real world. I'm not saying that this amp is not enough powerful, it is, but it's just that Kenwood provide some tricky numbers to attract the customers.

The remote is not that good. It cannot handle all my units. It even does'nt controls all the functions of my 4 years old Kenwood CD player. Don't expect to control all your stuff with this remote...

Don't try to hook a second pair of speakers (speaker B) or you will be very disapointed. I noticed that the second set of speakers sound really bad. The bass and treble controls does'nt affect the second set of front speakers, so the sound is very, I mean very weak....

In conclusion, the VR-309 is an excellent DD, DTS receiver for the price. In fact, I really think that the VR-309 is the best receiver for movies reproduction in it's price range. The 2ch reproduction is another story....

Similar Products Used:

Technics SAGX