Ok, this is a nice machine, but not quite worthy of the 5/5 stars its got so far.
Model was produced just before cassette decks, basically, were phased out by the mass markets. tyhis was also a time when Denon wasn.t quite what it was in its hayday of the 80's. The Doby S is a desirable feature and dramatically reduces tape hiss as advertised. Machine handles tapes fine, produces nice recordings. Would prefer a 3-head machine in this price range. So perhaps a better choice in this generation would be the Sony TC-KE500S. Also a Dolby S machine.
So a bit of buyers remorse here. Not a bad machine, at all, though.

See my brief review under Definitive Technology BP 1X speakers. Price paid was in pounds sterling.

All comments apply equally to the Marantz SD-57. Except for the remote control language and some minor cosmetic details they are identical. Note that the Marantz costs about $20 more, but does come with a dedicated remote. Although I have a Marantz integrated amp, I choose the Denon primarily because my dealer had one in stock, and also because I have the RC2000 Mk II remote. I simply borrowed a Denon receiver remote to teach the codes.
To test wow and flutter I usually record U2's "New Years Day". The DRM-650S passed this test with ease. Actually, it sounded much better than expected considering its budget price. Dolby S does work as advertised, infact is much better played back on Dolby B car decks than tapes made in Dolby C. The auto tuning feature works very well. So good infact, that I don't think the bias fine knob is really neccessary. The bass is deeper and cleaner than my previous deck and the treble is more extended and detailed, although a bit on the bright side. However I'd much rather attenuate the treble than turn it up. This can be of some benefit as well. Inexpensive tapes, such as Fuji DR II sound as good as my usual reference tape: TDK MA-X. Featurewise, this deck is about average. Anything it omits will likely not be missed, except I would like to see a real-time counter, and a back-lit cassette well would be nice.

This deck does exactly what I wanted: it performes better than a dual well deck and cost about the same. Definitely recommended!

I recently purchased this particualr model and am very impressed at the sound quality that can come from a cassette with the right deck. This specific model tends to bring back to life some of the older tapes taht are somewhat worn. also, another nice feature is the Dolby S which I know that professionals use in recording studios. Excellent single deck for professional like recordings for the price.