Kenwood delivers an affordable knock-out!
Written: Jan 30 '02
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Pros: Budget Priced Receiver with High-End Features, nice remote, tons of S-Video switching
Cons: Not a high-current amplifier, can be tricky to setup.
The Bottom Line: Kenwood VR-507 is a versatile, feature packed performer at an affordable price. Put it at the top of your list for your first or next home theater receiver.
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| kyle_woolsey's Full Review: Kenwood VR-507 5.1 Channels Receiver |
Kenwood's 507 is an incredible achievement in home theater performance on a budget.
WHY IS IT SO GOOD?
With a street price of $249 (online or Circuit City sale), the VR-507 has many of the same features you'll find on $500+ models from top audio manufacturers. I won't go into details about all the features but the highlights are Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro-Logic II, SRS Circle Surround, multiple S-Video inputs, 100 watts x 5, pre-outs for center and sub, screw-down speaker terminals and more.
For those of you not familiar with Pro-Logic II, Dolby's new signal processing lets you enjoy digital surround sound from Dolby Pro-Logic encoded video sources like cable TV, VHS tapes, and laserdiscs.
500 WATTS OF POWER
The 100w X 5 power is more than adequate for most bookshelf and surround speakers, although this is not a high-current amplified receiver. Kenwood's KAM-1 circuitry is designed to help reduce distortion, but the amp rates at .7% THD (20-20k Hz). For surround sound, this amount of THD is acceptable, and I detect no annoying hiss during the quiet parts of movies.
REMOTE CONTROL
The remote is much improved from previous models, although it's still complicated to navigate, and smooth operation of the surround options takes some time to get down (the Kenwood does have a helpful auto detect function that senses the signal coming in a switches the surround decoding automatically - this reduces the need to use remote functions a bit).
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
I use the VR-507 as part of Kenwood's Home Theater-in-box HTB 504 (see separate Epinion), and the overall sound is incredible. Speakers play loud and clean. Note that the receiver is designed to be a home theater receiver first, music sound good but not great on it.
WHAT DOESN'T THE KENWOOD DO?
Not much. For those of you with multiple component (blue,red,green RCAs) video components, there's no component video switching, and obviously it doesn't support 6-7 channel THX es processing although it does have a 6-channel input.
SETTING IT UP
With so many features and functions, setting it up and getting to know its operation will take some time (to see detailed photos of the back of the receiver, go to Crutchfield.com). But the result IS worth the effort.
BOTTOM LINE
For $250 you can't go wrong for a feature packed receiver like this one. Audiophiles may decide to pass because of its lower-end amplification quality, but for most home theaters, the VR-507 will be a welcome addition.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250.00
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Epinions.com ID:
kyle_woolsey
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Member: Kyle Woolsey
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 5 members
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