Low price, THX Select, remote(I bought it for its sound, but I got to say the remote is usefull), sound.

A receiver is made for movies not music. Good for movies, ok for music.

Kenwood I've score big with their Sovereign series, they're now in the big league in A/V receiver. The strench is the ratio quality/price. Quality is excellent, but it doesn't fit the price. It should cost 1000 or 1500$ not 650$. I'm very impressed with the clarity of the sound. I've always bought Kenwood products instead of Sony, JVC, Pionneer, Technics; the so called Hi-Fi brands... But now, Sovereign makes me a buyer instead od Onkyo, Denon, Harman-Kardon...

THX certified, remote can be setup to operate all components, great sound.

Big, seven inches tall, have to build new cabinet.

I think this receiver is great. Good sound and I didn't experience the problems with the noise in the speakers. Easy to follow setup instructinos, especially with the supplement supplied by Crutchfiled.

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Pioneer VSX-9500S

good sounding at lower volumes due to annoying crabby apartment neihbours

heavy and hard to bring into the apartment.... well im not that weak i just figured i didnt have much to say in this catagory

i had a diffferent problem than the last 2 guys i had the amp shut off when i was watching the tv through it. i went to the place i got it and the dude selling it asked if i had the "shutting off " problem and i of course said yes. i also was experiancing the same static through the right speaker like the last 2 guys said. i tried to contact kenwood about it and they blew me off. anyway i got the chip installed for free and it has cured all the problems i was haveing. email me for more info if you have the same problem and need help. now i dont hate the amp as much as i did considering the price it was.

Nice looking unit.

Read Greg C.'s review for defect details..

I had the same problem as Greg C, but I didn't read his review until after I purchased the unit. Now I'm looking at getting my money back. I wouldn't recommend this unit if you are picky about your sound. This defect is truly disappointing and annoying!

Lots of cool features and menus making this unit extremely versitle.

Lack of THX, Massive size and weight

Overall, a nice piece of A/V equipment. I sold mine to upgrade to THX.

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Kenwood VR-5080

Great value for the money. Solid sound. Integration with Kenwood DVD and CD changers was cool (the CD titles and track titles could be imported into the RF remote)

If you want to use THX mode and your surround speakers are greater than 6', the unit may be unusable.

POSSIBLE DEFECT ALERT. I was initially very pleased with this receiver. However, I have found a problem that I could replicate on three other units. When the right surround distance is greater than 6', and THX mode is engaged, distortion that sounds like intermod distorition will come out of the right surround channel during AC-3 playback. If THX is turned off, or the distance set to less than 6', the sound is perfect. During a DVD, you will only hear this once in a while, and usually during quite scenes. If you want to check the unit, play the premenu intro (the very first thing that plays after the FBI warning) to Lost In Space or Rush Hour as the distortion is horrible on both those titles. The Good Guys was giving me grief until I demonstrated the problem on their system (they had the unit setup in there HT room). They were quite shocked when they heard it. I would have given 4 stars but the defect makes the unit completely unusable for me.

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Parasound, Rotel, Denon, Marantz.

Beautiful sound and build quality. High performance specifications. Loaded with features.

Somewhat complicated to operate. Has 6.1 ability but you need an amp.

Outstanding performance to date. The Kenwood Sovereign 5080/5090 sound and build quality rival anything out there under $1500. Very pleased.

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Jvc, Sony, Onkyo