Customer Reviews

Denon AVR-1508 Dolby Digital EX Decoding A/V Receiver

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I was replacing a Marantz SR7500 with this receiver!
Audio quality is good. It seems to be driving a old Martin logan speakers (which are usually picky - needs good high power current amplifiers at 6 or 4 ohms to drive them). Denon 1508 is still not up to it and falls a little short. But I am not hearing any other extra noises/sounds/hisses from the amplifier.
Cons:
1. remote is still too complex to use; still don't know how to setup other components to work correctly with this remote ( I had programmed Marantz and before that even a harmon-kardon remotes correctly!)
2. Didn't give an onscreen for configuring the receiver, though I have the TV attached using component cables.
3. video: no upgrading to even 720p at this price; just a passthrough
Update after 6 months of use:Finding more problems as I try to use different features! Tried connecting HDMI input of DVD player to the receiver; looks like this receiver can only connect HDMI to HDMI (won't work unless you connect your TV to HDMI)
Update: Another thing I found was the volume is low with Martin logans compared to if I use a normal 6 or 8 ohms speakers - this does mean that it is straining to supply high currents.

I bought this as an inexpensive centerpiece for a basement AV system. Input, outputs and sound are fine. I almost wish I had paid more for a better designed unit. The manual is terrible. And there are so many "features" I will never use getting in the way of the simple ones I would like to find (for instance how do you get to the bass and treble controls!!!). Also, if you don't wear glasses then get some. The front panel controls are very small.

So if you're in the market for a used 1508, I'm pretty much saying, keep looking. Get a 2807 if you are committed to a Denon of this 2007-era design.

While it was working, as the other reviewers have mentioned, I found that the manual is an overly complex non-intuitive exercise in frustration.

It's very difficult to get the unit to match an audio input source with a video input source... the manual is of little help. I have been a radio producer and have built a radio production facility so feel confident that I know what is complex and difficult and what is not when it comes to using audio gear.

Also the other reviewer is correct, it will only output the HDMI if HDMI is input, it will not down-sample to composite.

Then the finale: while sitting on mute this week, the 1508 would not come back to producing audio. Yes, it blew up while idling.

The sound was OK, the remote had some features I never used and the buttons in the back of the remote is covered with a cheesy door that flops open when you don't want it to.

The bottom line is, it sure is NOT the 2908, which is my bedroom unit and is still working great.

I purchased this at BestBuy because I was told that it would play HD Radio. It does not. This receiver has particularly good zone-control for the speakers, so powering multiple rooms' worth of speakers is what it can do very well. I liked the way you can turn on and turn off sets of speakers through various settings, as well as tune the output of the individual channels with a tone generator to get the best sound mix. The sound can be varied also by source, so a given set of speakers can sound different depending on whether you are listening to TV or a CD. The sub-woofer output is a phono plug only so if you (like me) have simply a stripped wire pair you will have to do some work. The input for an iPod requires the Denon iPod dock, or again you will have to work at adapting the headphone stereo plug to a pair of phono plug inputs.