It rocks with my Mission 704 towers under stereo. In general, it is perfect for watching movies, but it lacks some details for music appreciation. It is very very good for the price.

Weakness: not enough power for 5.1 channel play.

produces awesome clarity through any model bose. i highly reccommend this receiver

not a one ,but for the exception of finding a replacment remote without paying 300.00

actually im looking for a remote for a vvr 3090. could some one please help

Awesome sound, GREAT remote, intuitive setup, and better than a lot of more expensive receivers.

Needs a lot of ventilation or it gets quite hot. Other than that...none that I can attest.

I bought this receiver for $650 from wholesaleconnection.com and have loved every minute since it arrived on my doorstep.

The setup of the unit and remote are very intuitive. And the sound is absolutely amazing. I auditioned several other receivers before, but I was actually looking at the vr3080 at the time. I liked the Kenwood sound better than the others (Sony, Onkyo, Yamaha). The price tags on the others were much higher for what I was getting with the Kenwood. So I opted for the Kenwood, but after hearing about the problems with the Touch Pad remote I decided to go for the 3090 basically for the remote which I would have spent a hundred or so bucks on anyway.

I have absolutely no regrets. Although the unit does get quite hot if you don't have good ventilation. I have it setup in a cabinet system, but had to install a small computer fan for circulation. Although it's never caused any problems.

Similar Products Used:

Older Kenwood receiver, CD Player and speakers.

Nice styling, easy to hook up components, choice between analog or digital inputs is nice, very clean in sound, remote is very universal, works with x-10 technology. Lowest price unit in it's class.

Remote does not work correctly. If remote is died or needs to be service your out of luck. Between powered antenna and subwoofer it would be nice if one more outlet plug where available. THX would be nice.

I purchased this unit from wholesaleconnection.com for $625. The unit is really awesome except for the remote, currently. I can not store any of the preprogrammed component selections. I program it, hit the test button,and as soon as the touch screen display turns off. I lose everything. Also I am currently using X-10 components around the house and the remote does not work on that either. I called Kenwood and they claim that wholesaleconnection.com is not an authorized dealer, therefore I have no warranty. When I called a Kenwood service dealer in the area, they told me if the remote is not working they can only send it back to Kenwood for a new one, there is no real way to fix them (to high tech). Here's the kicker, the fricken remote cost $625 bucks to replace. I don't get it, the receiver sold for $650/$625 and the remote cost WHAT??? And it takes 6 to 8 weeks to get it. I need the remote, to make the unit work, this is not cool!!! So if anyone knows anything about warranty, remotes, X-10, or web sites authorized by Kenwood, please respond to this Email.

Your truly,

Chris

Similar Products Used:

I've owned Kenwood recievers, sound processors for at least 15 years. Very happy with kenwood, "if it ant broke why fix it".

Terrific Sound, Beautiful Look, PERFECT COMPATABILITY, ohhh and one slick remote.

Not THX certified.

Well, I must say I am certainly impressed with this model. I owned the 307 for about 10 monthes and got these Wharfedale speakers from a friend at a great price. He had a VR-3080 and this speakers kicked like a muther on his reciever. I plugged them into my 307 and didnt get much out of it. I was really quite mad. So I shopped around and picked up this 3090. Man was it worth up. The difference in the internal amplifiers was astonishing. There was so much bass it hurt my head. One thing I have to say from reading the other reviews from other people is that THIS UNIT IS COMPATIBLE WITH ANYTHING. People said its not compatible with JVC dvd players. Well let me let everyone in on something. YOU CAN OVERWRITE the functions with new ones. Set the DVD player to any of the pre-programmed ones and just edit the functions. The remote has a LEARN function. You can replace the play/stop/menu/etc functions with the ones that the remote your JVC puts out. I have an older PROSCAN dvd player and nothing was supported at factory specs. I just chose the RCA model and reprogrammed all the codes. Took 10 mins and I was done. But get this model if you are loooking for a new advanced reciever. I compared it against some Pioneer ELITE recievers with THX and went with this one for the price difference and the better sound quality I thought it put out.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-3080, Kenwood VR-307

value,clean sound

remote, no 5 channel stereo

like many others got this puppy off Ubid for under $400. reached me quickly and in great shape. every thing works just as it is supposed to, which is always a relief w/ online purchases. never had a bum product yet from Ubid. The receiver does play music better that my sherwood which is now in the bedroom as backup for a few monthsjust incase.I still prefer a more traditional remote. this one can take several steps to get things done. Must admit it is a cool toy & very good at being the only remote needed.Be carefull on the hook up w/ analog devices. the unit comes w/ most inputs both digital & analog, which can be a good thing. Most other receivers have seperate digital/analog hookups.This can create quite a scare though when hooking up analog devices b/c they wont play if there is a digital line to the same area......unless you go to the sound mode and switch that input to analog due to the default setting being didital for all these inputs. The manual does not tell you this and i had to call Kenwood tech support, which isnt toll-free, to learn this little tidbit. I hooked up my sherwood CD player to the CD1 spot on analog b/c i really like the Burr-Brown DAC's that it has and could not get it to play untill hooking it up to CD2 which has no accompanying digital hookup. Rel hassle & a scare b/c thought at first had a faulty receiver. HT sounds incredible on this thing. I do wish the rear speakers got more effect, I have them all the way up, But it does sound better overall than my sherwood. Music seperation is a definate improvement over the sherwood, and as good if not better than my Carver amp I have in the rec room. NO complaints about sound quality at all. Very good for middle-of-the-road receiver. I do miss how on the sherwood when i engaged DSP modes it would kick in the rear speakers on stereo tracks. Cant wait to go get a 5 channel music cd/dvd to play thru this. I hear Santana has an excellent 5 channel release. Still cant help but wonder how much better it could have been had Kenwood spent the extra bucks on amps instead of the remote!!!! Sort af tricky to list this receiver at 100 watts @ 6 OHMS!!!!!! Stereo review has a good reveiw on this receiver and notes that issue too. Still yet, I am currently running 4 speakers thru the front A channel (2 Wharfedale Modus 1.6 for kick & 2 Wharfedale Opal 100's for great mids) and this receiver pushes them to extremes w/o any problem. I often hook my rear speakers (Wharfedale MFM-5's)up to the front B channel to get the effect and it sounds GREAT. once even had all three sets on the front A amp w/ no clipping problems. At 8 Ohms i would say this is a really strong 75-80 watts per channel. Have my eyes open for MFM-7's which are 6 ohm speakers. That should really rock. Overall if price is an issue I would recommend this receiver highly. If you like GEE-WIZZ toys you will love the remote.Sound and features are impossible to beat at under 400 bucks. More traditional people may want to spend more far a Denon, but most of those sold online are refurbs and I wont go there. Buy this receiver and enjoy untill you can afford a 5700 from Denon on down the road

Similar Products Used:

sherwood rvd 8090

DTS, Crisp accurate sound, value, remote(as long as it keps working), looks tough

Slightly underpowered, no 5 channel stereo, cannot upgrade to 6.1

I have had this receiver for about 6 months, and am very pleased with it all around. It performs beautifully as a simple music amp, giving a tight , crisp sound that one would not expect from a Kenwood product. I am running Wharfdale Music 1.6's, which are power hungry speakers and they perform adequately with the Kenwood. HT is also a strong point, the 3090 sending accurate sounds to all 5 speakers, creating a wide soundfield that really makes any movie (especially DTS encoded ones) shine. Now here is my one complaint. Be aware before purchasing that this receiver is rated at only 6 ohms. If you are driving 8 ohm speakers things can get a little dicey at high volumes. I mean louder volumes than you would ever listen to music or movies, but be wary if you are planning to use this in a large room, as power is a little limited. (Kenwood fixed this on the newer 4000 line adding 20-40 watts per channel)
All in all I am giving you a truthful and unbiased opinion on this product. A very good receiver for the money( it can be found online for around $400), you will not be dissappointed with the VR-3090.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer, McIntosh seperates

I am the same Bill who reviewed this product a couple of months ago. Well the saga is finally over. After 3 1/2 months, UBid finally agreed to take back this unit and to give me a full refund. So to celebrate I went out last night and bought a new receiver!! (More on that later.)

First of all to clear up a couple of myths about this receiver and UBid. UBid is not an authorized Kenwood dealer, BUT they were authorized to sell this model and a CD player (don't recall the model #). They will honor the warranty, but in order to get it serviced, you have to take it to a "Preferred Service Center" and there are only three located in the US. One in Virginia Beach, one in Atlantic, NJ, and one somewhere on the West Coast. That is the deal that UBid made with Kenwood.

Anyway, the more I used this receiver, the less I liked it.
First of all, it came with a defective DTS decoder. It did not smoothly switch from one mode to another. For example, if a DVD's menu or opening sequence was in Pro Logic but the feature was in 5.1, the unit would make a very intrusive clicking noise when it switched. The remote looks really cool, but it is horrble to use. It takes two hands, it does not stay on long enough, and it is just too much of a hassle.

The new receiver that I bought last night was a Sony STR-DA333 ES. Since all of the wires were already in place, all I had to do was disconnect the 3090 and plug in the Sony ES. I could hear the difference immediately. The Sony sounds MUCH better in all modes. (DTS sounds amazing!)
I have not really done much tweaking yet, but I think I will be real happy with this receiver for a while. It also has a 5 year warranty. Pretty cool.

Motorola chips, Features, Remote, lots of video ins and outs

Wish face had more (hidden) controls...if remote dies your screwed.

Output is strong and noisless. Great features as far as controlling speakers (on remote).

For a remote it is pretty slick and not hard to figure out (it looks like it would take you a week to figure out at first glance).

I think the VR-3090 lists for around $1,400. I paid $400 at Ubid.com... so I scored as far as value is concerned. I think the remote sucks up a large chunk of the list price. Does that mean that other products with similar pricing but without such hightech remotes are better? (makes you think about it)

All in all I think this product works very well with the components that I own. They have never sounded better!

Most of my studio is video based editing equipment so the VR-3090 gets high marks as far as video ins and outs are concerned (s video).

The definate downer is if the remote dies your screwed. I like controls on components! I know if I would have to fix the remote or replace it I'd be out a few hunred bucks.

This product is more than suitable for the average listener. I'm not an audiophile, but I love my music and this product makes everything come alive. I feel like I stole the VR-3090 for paying only $400!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity (spks.), Klipsch (spks.), JBL (spks.), Sony (CD, Turntable), Technics (Cassette)

Awesome sound, fully featured, reasonably priced (for the quality), the remote control rocks, and the system on RC both look really cool.

Doesn't seem to be compatible with JVC DVD players.

The sound on this system is fantastic. It's 3 way Motorola processing cannot be beat for the price. The list is $1200-$1400, but I picked it up on sale at a local electronics store for $799 + Tax. The extra $200 is well worth it, when evaluated against the Kenwood VR-3080. The sound is much cleaner and clear (though the 3080 does sound good, just not THIS good) -- and the remote control just plain rocks (and is EASY to use).

I didn't find the setup difficult or overly time-consuming. It was intuitive and easy. The complete system setup from unpacking to watching the Matrix was about an hour and a half. This included measuring the distance between speakers, and remote control setup :-)

I compared against several other recievers, including several that would be considered low-end and some that many would consider higher-end than this Kenwood. None of the low-end products could touch the quality or feature set of the Kenwood, and NONE of the "higher-end" (read -- costs $500.00 more) could out-perform the VR-3090.

I am extremely pleased with the overall quality, and would highly recommend this reciever to ANYONE shopping in this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Older high-end Kenwood Pro-Logic system which I loved for it's nearly 6 year life-span. (It's still kicking and sounds great, but I want DTS/5.1!). Lower-End Sony. I evaluated the Kenwood 3080 and 309, the JVC 888, and a Yahamaha high-end receiver.