Boy, if everyone on this thread dogpiled on Denon like you dog-piled on me these babies would be pimpin'.
I'm talking to you guys because manufacturers don't built things the way they want to, they build the way the buyer wants it built. This IS the right place to discuss this.
As for the research preaching, I have been on this forum for 1 month discussing this system. It was an Audioholics recommendation. I have read all the specs multiple times and compared it to others. NOW, how many of you knew this about me and my Denon from their research, and how many are just reading it now?
You made some valid points, ideally all advertised features and functionality should work consistently. To be fair though, the AVR-X1400H is a lower end model that sells for $399 brand new, and since you bought a refurbished unit you probably paid $299.99 (current AC4L price),that's a lot of value for the $ regardless. That thing gives you a very honest 80 watts per channel, 2 channel driven and even 5 channel driven simultaneously, comes with 6 HDMI inputs and would pass 4K. To me that does represent some benefits of technological advance when you think about what we were getting only a few years ago for the same dollars. I paid 10X that about 3 years ago for just an AVP, and it's less capable than your $300 unit in several ways.
Like a lot of things, if you buy a lower/lowest end product from whatever brand, whether it is a simple router, mobile phone, smart TV etc., you will be lucky if all the advertised features would work perfectly/consistently. My flagship (ex) Marantz AVP would freeze occasionally too, though rarely. You can pay >$1,000 for an iPhone and it may still freeze on you occasionally, or at least wouldn't boot up normally.
If you are still within the return window, you probably should send it back for a replacement in kind or try another model/brand that offers the features you need, and hope for the best.
