Serious boom for the buck
Written: Jul 19 '00 (Updated Jul 31 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Sounds great. Easy to set up. DSP's work very well indeed.
Cons: Remote too complex (aren't they all)
|
|
|
| cdwilli1's Full Review: Denon AVR-3300 5.1 Channels Receiver |
We lived for a couple of years with a $3000 Pioneer receiver with AC3 (Dolby Digital) that worked perfectly for Laserdisc but was a struggle to make work with any other input source. The Laserdisc was retired when a DTS DVD player came home to roost, and this was soon followed by a Dolby Digital capable (if you use PPV) satellite receiver. The Pioneer could not support these devices to the best of their ability, and without a $600 DTS upgrade it was not performing at the level the system demanded. So I bought the much less expensive Denon 3300 figuring it would last maybe 2 years like the last receiver had.
I found two things:
1) Consumer electronics prices had collapsed in the last few years. What would have cost $3K two years ago would now cost less than $600.
2) For $800 (street) the Denon is tough to beat.
My speakers are all Infinity (Harman), the center and subwoofer being killer speakers and the front and surround being lesser beings overall. The system sounds GREAT; comparing the Denon to the Pioneer, the AC3 sounds very clear - the Pioneer often sounded muddy and confused in this mode. The DTS is really clean, quite spectacular in fact - and in some movies the sound is perfectly real. Try the Matrix in Dolby Digital and it will leave you breathless.
The remote is OK - but it is much too complex for normal humans, and it has been replaced (as have all the remotes) by the Pronto (see my Pronto review). The on-screen controls are good, but the choices are often more restrictive than I would prefer, but for the price...
I REALLY liked the 3 digital-optical inputs that can be controlled on a source basis; now that was smart thinking - AND they are easy to set up.
We have had the unit for almost 1 year - it still impresses me how well it performs for the $'s. A few of my friends have bought one based on listening to mine, which is a great recommendation without any other words.
Try it - you will like it.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
cdwilli1
|
|
Location: San Diego, California
Reviews written: 55
Trusted by: 26 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.