Well i just got this receiver yesterday, and i have already decided to return it
. Honestly, for my room, and with my speakers, it simply sounded to bright, even with the auto EQ. The setup on this receiver got me mad as hell
, the setup seemed confusing and illogical. I struggled for an hour trying to figure out how to change radio stations. Now, im no idiot, and i am somewhat tech savvy, so it wasnt me. The Audyssey program was not all i hoped it would be. I was....disappointed, i thought it was going to be more comprehensive. It only played a few sounds at what sounded like the same frequency. It gave me measurements that were inaccurate, sometimes off by as much as 1/2 a foot, most of the time it was off by at least 3-4 inches. Once it was all set and done, i watched some of the clips in the THX demo disc II which i had laying around. The sound, was a bit bright. I really didnt like the listening modes, i couldnt even get it out of DD with any DVD or CD. It really lacked in listening modes. In short there were few, and they sucked. The standard Denon video game mode was.....well.......it sounded like I had my system set up in a large bathroom
The game characters voices, echoed .....A LOT. I didnt really like it much. Same with the Rock concert mode, although it did sound sorta like being at a rock concert, i kinda liked it...sorta.It was different. One thing that surprised me was that it did not appear to even have a sleep timer(i didnt find one
maybe i didnt look hard enough?).....which seemed like a pretty basic function. I like to listen to music as i sleep sometimes. On another note the build quality of the receiver was solid and felt like quality.
In conclusion, the denon wasnt all that i hoped it would be. For $1,100......i would have expected a lot more. Perhaps with better quality speakers than my decent quality Onkyos, the results might have been different. My room also is not a perfect listening environment, it is untreated. Compared to the reciver i had before, the Pioneer 1017, i didnt like the 2x more expensive denon more. The pioneer had some cool features like a plastic guard behind the binding posts to prevent frays from causing shorts. I am going to return this item and get a Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH, at $900 shipped, it is armed with what looks to me like more options. With similar performance.......at least on paper.
