Price / Performance = Great deal with the VR410
Written: Jun 18 '01 (Updated Jun 18 '01)
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Pros: Ample power, Clean sound, Remote, Great features for price, More inputs/ouputs than most
Cons: Remote has occasional lapse of memory, and eats batteries
The Bottom Line: I would recommend the VR-410 to any home theater enthusiast who is looking for the great performance without breaking the bank.
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| BlackCatt's Full Review: Kenwood VR-410 Receiver |
I have had the VR-410 for a little over a year now, and I love it. I got it for a great price at $234.99 at the time, now it is close to $400 bucks most places, but is still worth the price tag. I use it in my home theater system as my DD 5.1 and DTS receiver. It performs very well, and has plenty of power for everything I use it for, including Movies, Music and TV.
I love the number of inputs/outputs this receiver comes with. This was a big plus, when I was looking at what receiver to purchase for my home.
Input/Output breakdown:
Rear Digital Inputs (Optical): 2
Rear Digital Inputs (Coax): 2
Rear Digital Outputs (Optical): 1
Front Audio/Video Inputs: 1
Front S-Video Input: 1
Headphone Jack: 1
Preamplifier Outputs: All Channels
Rear Audio/Video Inputs: 2
Rear S-Video Input: 2
Rear S-Video Output: 2
Rear Audio/Video Outputs: 1
Analog Audio Inputs: 3
Phono Input: 1
Subwoofer Preamplifier Outputs: 1
I have my Panasonic 5 Disc DVD/CD changer hooked up to it using the optical toslink connector. The clarity this provides is outstanding. The video from the DVD player is fed directly into my TV via. component video. I have my HI-FI VCR hooked up to 1 set of the A/V inputs and one of the s-video inputs. I often times make use of the front A/V connectors when using my video game systems. I even use the s-video on the front when I use my Dreamcast. It is actually a really nice feature to have that most people don't think they need, or will ever use (including myself). I still have plenty of room for future expansion should I get some more components. Another feature that is nice, although I don't use it myself is support for 2 sets of speakers (A/B), which could be in a separate room or same room, if you used different speakers for listening to music or movies.
My receiver is hooked up to a set of JBL NSP1 speakers (4 surrounds and 1 center channel) and a JBL 12" powered subwoofer. All together they provide a great sounding home theater, with the clarity you want when watching DVD's.
The remote is a tad large but has plenty of buttons for you button freaks out there. A pretty cool little LCD screen that lights up when a button is pressed (when it hasn't eaten through your batteries that is). It is a IR/RF programmable remote, meaning all the receivers commands are sent using the RF feature so it will go through walls, and what not. Great if you have the receiver in a separate room or behind a panel and want to control it. All of your other components that use IR can be controlled by the IR part of the remote. You can also program your own IR codes for those that it doesn't come preprogrammed with (it comes with an awful lot preprogrammed). It also has like a little setup wizard that takes you through setting up the remote for other components, which is pretty cool. No more having to find the instruction manual for the program codes of your VCR or TV... they are built in. One really neat feature of the VR-410 is that it has 2 IR repeaters outputs built in. Basically these allow you to send a RF signal to the VR-410 and it will repeat the corresponding IR signal to the correct component, thus giving you RF capabilities for 2 more components. You can also program up to 3 macros for the remote to store and play back, this also is pretty handy and I use it a lot. One of the problems I did have though was with programming the remote. While programming it with special IR codes, it would accept the program fine, but sometimes it would just forget the command. As if I didn't program that button at all. A small price to pay for such a well equipped unit.
The VR-410 is an outstanding performer in its price class, and could hold its own in higher price class's I am sure. It is full of features, and has plenty of performance for your home theater needs.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 234.99
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Epinions.com ID:
BlackCatt
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Location: Tampa FL
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
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