Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Sound Quality - A
This product sounds very good. The bass is heavy, power is sufficient for its class and the highs are remarkable. It is also very quite. The audio generated is very clear and crisp - you hear new instruments in songs that you are familar with. It's very surprising. Visual clarity is as expected - excellent. Audessey audio enhancement is top notch and actual makes a noticeable difference
Build Quality - A
Sturdy. The unit does not feel cheap in anyway. The knobs and buttons are well designed and built to last.
Presentation - B
The unit is heavy. It is also longish meaning that it may not fit in a generic shelf - mine hangs out by at least 4 inches. I guess this is the new 'standard'.
Ease of use - B
Receivers are implicitly complicated. Gone are the days when you could buy one, plug it in and forget about it. That said, it would serve you well to read the manual first and keep it close. I am not a manual reader, I dive in. I got lost, spent several hours groping before I had to go to the manual. After you run autosetup and get everything sounding perfectly, you can always return to that state by performing a parameter restore if you mess up your settings by poking around. I use it often.
Supporting Documentation - B
The supporting documentation is thick. Everything is in there. I would have liked it categorized a bit better so that common functionality is more prominent. For a complicated product, I thought the manual did a good job but there is room for improvement. In particular, tips and trouble-shooting should receive more focus in the document body. It's in there in note form, but not that much.
Long Term Durability - NA
I had my Sony for 8 years before it started to misbehave. I hope this lasts as long.
Peripherals - C+
The remote is a challenge to operate. The remote contains both sides, one top and one hidden on the back side. Intuitive! but definitely not obvious to joe the plumber. The remote also serves as a universal remote control, you can program your other home theatre components with it. Getting around with the remote requires focus and attention to detail. An inattentive click causes grief.
Connections - A
There are ample connections for any one buying in to this price range. If you need more connections, you need a higher end system and should be at a higher price point. This will handle all your home theater connections and then some.
Overal Experience - B
For the price point, this receiver delivers in a major way. The multi-zone is an added bonus. For instance, in a couple of minutes I was able to configure the unit to play music on 2 speakers while my son played Xbox on 6 speakers. In a large room, this unit complements the notion of 'family time'.
Auto-setup is a huge time-saver. I spent 4 hours tuning the speakers, auto-setup did it in 20 minutes and, admittedly, better than my best efforts.
Bottom line is that this receiver will be current for the next few years at least, which makes it a good investment for that price today. For instance, Autosetup kept telling me my front speakers were out phase which i did not believe. Finally, I checked because it would not let me proceed past that point. It was right. It was late at night, I was tired and I connected +ve for -ve. Priceless!
The unit has a large number of options that make tweaking a dream (or nightmare) for those inclined. However, the large number of options makes it that much more complicated. For instance, it is easy to shoot yourself in the foot with this and spend several hours trying to figure out how to 'fix' it.
If I had the money, I would buy this again. What I would do different is that I would use autosetup to configure my speakers (20 minutes). I would read the manual first (20 minutes) and then start connecting. If you have a weekend to burn, toss the manual and dive right in - it's worth it.
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Denon AVR-889 700-Watt 7.1 Channel Home Theater ReceiverPacked with all of the latest high definition surround sound decoders, the AVR-889 is also equipped with sophisticated video signal processing and upconversion functions that breathe new life into standard definition sources. The video section features four HDMI v1.3a inputs that support high resolution audio as well as high definition video up to 1080p. The AVR-889 also includes Faroudja's renowned DCDi deinterlacing and upscaling that provides near-HD picture quality with standard definition sources such as DVD. The audio section features the latest Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, for the growing number of Blu-ray high definition titles that feature the ultimate in surround sound fidelity, along with Dolby Digital Plus, DTS ES 6.1 Discrete and Matrix modes, as well as Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo6 decoding. Audyssey Dynamic Volume automatically eliminates irritating volume level changes between TV shows and commercials, while the Audyssey MultEQ room acoustic correction system automatically provides the smoothest, most natural tonal balance in the listening space. Audyssey Dynamic EQ ensures rich bass and smooth tonal balance, even at low volume levels. Full multimedia connectivity includes optional adapters to handle PC-based multimedia sources as well as iPod connectivity, and Denon's Compressed Audio Restorer brings near-CD fidelity to portable audio tracks.
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