I just picked up the unit yesterday and so far I am very impressed. I had a Pioneer Vsx-5300 A/V receiver that gave me superb service for over 10 years. So making the move was a very slow process. I have a Sony DVPS300 DVD and buying this is the main reason for upgrading my receiver, I compared the Sony STRDE915 and for the mony paid $599.00 for the Kenwood or $499.00 for the Sony the Kenwood beat the Sony hands down. The kenwood has more power, s-Video inputs and outputs, more OWNER setings and twice the warranty. The only complaint that I have is the remote setting take an awful amount of time to get righ and a unit this complex should come with better documentation. Overal a grat unit at a great price for the long haul.

Bought the Kenwood a few weeks ago. I had a JVC Pro-Logic and thought it was good with Pro-Logic but bad with music. Little did I know that the Kenwood opened my eyes. I knew it was a lot better in stereo mode but it is a lot better for Pro-Logic as well. I heard things in movies that I never noticed before. Also the JVC feed a lot to the center channel and it sounded crappy. Now the Kenwood spreads it out better and sends better quality sound to the center. I cannot really tell which speaker is playing but it does sound like it is coming from the TV which is great. The JVC would start clipping around 1/2 volume. I have a pair of DT BP10's and knew they could sound a lot better. Well I turned the Kenwood to full volume and there was no distortion and no clipping. Altough it is too loud to play that way for very long I was impressed.
The down side. I don't like the remote. You have to read the manual to start using this reciever. They even warn you to read before playing it. Could be more user friendly.
I paid $575 locally and would highly recommend it for this price. Don't think I would pay $1200.

Anyone with a review on the H/K AVR85? Is it worth considering?

Kenwood 1090VR. Fantastic receiver. Has dual room capability, but you really need a second amp to make it worthwhile. With 150W in all 5 channels and built-in Dolby Digital, I can't see needing any add-ons. Paired with the Kenwood's new dual transport 200 disc cd-changer, you have a two-room infinite jukebox. On screen display is a must. The ability to adjust the levels for each speaker and even establish the distances between speakers is a great feature. The only thing more I could ask for is a countdown sleep timer, which is a curious omission.

Great sound, ease of setup through on screen display, S-video inputs and large number of inputs lots of room shaking power
inputs

Not enough digital inputs, no optical output no 6 channel pre in.

I have had this receiver since mid '98 and still throughly love it! It ROCKS. I am running a Sony DVP 500D DVD player,
a Pioneer Laserdisk player two VCRs, a JVC S-video and a Sony, a Sony mini disk recorder and a Sony CD player with inputs to spare! I have not had a moments worth of trouble from this unit. It has been rock solid! I run it at 1/3rd power and it is loud and clear (my wife complains at that level) but when she is not home I run it at 1/2 volume (50 db) on the display and it still sounds clear but is very loud. I LOVE IT! I am running Infinity RS5 as mains, a DCM KX Center 2, JBL control 5 rear and two Orion MTX3 10 inch subs in a bandpass box driven from a Carver Pro 100 amp bridged for serious THUMP. In the invasion scene in "Saving Private Ryan" at 40 Db it seriously sounds like they are in my living room, the bullets sound like I am going to be hit.
A friend of mine brought an spl meter over and it went to 105 db before I turned down the volume (for fear of a neighbor calling the police) at that point the display read 12 db. There were 12 clicks left on the dial! I paid $500
on close out at the GoodGuys with a three year extended warranty. hopefully this unit will be with me for years to come and as to the weaknesses I listed I have found a few places that for about 150.00 can upgrade them into the unit.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Marantz, Luxman,

I purchased the kenwood from sam's club. Not the place one would typically purchase a cornerstone piece for home theater, but the price, power, flagship, and video switching convinved me otherwise. I am using older speakers with the unit until I purchase a set of ht speakers. I find the unit to be well worth the investment of $399.00. Good power, sound and two room capability are all pluses. The remote is nice to look at, but is not very ergonomic in feel.In all, I find this receiever performs well in dolby pro logic. I do not have experience in ac-3 yet. The other notable excpetion to the receiver is the lack of dts. Recommended.

I bought the 1090 on sale for $400. It was a steal, although it lacks a couple features that my rival STR-DE1015G. The 150 watts to each channel puts the sound quality far above. My front speakers sounded twice as good and there was only a 40 watt upgrade from my old reciever "STR-G3." I love the digital, but the only thing that dissapointed me was a small lack of features. It is only the lil things that im used to on my old reciever, but i was a bit dissapointed. after i got a load of what it made my system sound like i never really worried about those features. It is hard to find now, but i would recommend this product. Please email me if any arguments, suggestions, or questions! thank you!!