fairly easy for any family member to use; many different surround presets to find one that suites you best. and a two channel stereo setting that you can bypass the equalizer settings for a un-adulterated sound.

audible hiss from rear surround channels at peak gain levels, lack of analog inputs; not able to set subwoofer output level in 2 ch stereo mode

i purchased this unit used and have been fairly happy with it, it's like old reliable, easy to use and fairly straight forward to set up. the volume control is a motor driven rotary dial which i still think is the best way to go, very linear and smooth even when using the remote; digital volume controlls on other units are plagued with complaints of popping during volume changes and sometimes you just can't find that perfect volume at lower levels. in surround mode this unit performs very well, for those of us that are on an average budget that want really good surround and already have component systems for 2 channel stereo, then i would recommend this unit. for audio enthisiasts it sports a total sound field on/off button right on the front panel and on the remote for that pure sound direct from whatever sound source you give it. when in 2 channel enhanced mode you have good tone controlls for base and treble that allow for adjustments much finer than the normal; you can set your cross over frequencies and the levels of bass/treble independantly. another feature i liked was the fact that you can set these levels for your front two speakers, then when you switch to a surround mode, you can re-set them differently; so when you switch back and forth the settings will be maintained differently for the different modes. the other nice thing is that all 6 speaker outs (including subwoofer) have independant crossover settings; i have read other reviews on other sites about this unit having a very loud hiss; the only way i was able to duplicate this is to turn the gain up all the way going to the rear channels, but if you use a decent amplifier and speakers for the surrounds when listening to a movie in dolby or movie mode, you won't need to turn the gain to insane levels. keeping the gain at +3db or less and the hiss is gone. i'm thinking that the people experiencing this problem are probably running a cheap bose or other theater in a box system, i'm sorry but those speakers may fit in the palm of your hand, but your trading off speaker efficiency and overall clarity and loudness. there is no substitute for size. one thing i didn't like was the lack of analog inputs. this unit sports three digital inputs that include optical, but only one analog input.3 of the 4 (exept one digital) also swith video, very handy.