Customer Reviews

Denon AVR-486S 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This unit is a conservatitely rated 75w x 7 receiver with all of Denon's usual crispness, features, and quality of build. It's virtually identical to Denon's higher-powered receivers, minus exactly that - the higher wattage. I'm sure you sacrifice some true audiophile trappings, but if you're like me - somebody who simply appreciates awesome sound, massive flexibility, and still far more receiver than you'll likely ever need in your home - you'll be floored by this receiver.

The first thing I noticed was how clean the unit is - I've auditioned Onkyo, Harman Kardon, and Yamaha, and the Denon easily matches them in quality. Fear not - at this point, it's primarily personal preference for the appearance of the unit, and the Denon is an attractive design, to be sure.

The second, and huge consideration, is the fact that it's got *reams* of inputs. This is the *only* receiver I've seen in this price range to include 3 component inputs. Coupled with about a half-dozen S-video/composite inputs, you'll never want for connections. If, by chance, you have an HDMI or DVI requirement, you can simply run that straight into your TV/Projector, and the Denon will still output via the 2 digital coaxial and digital inputs from the same DVD player.

I have my top-flight Panasonic S97S DVD player (also available at amazon.com) hooked up via an HDMI cable straight to my Panasonic AE900 projector, but the Denon is using a Digital Coaxial cable from the same DVD player to drive the surround speakers. Every other piece of electronic gear in my living room is running completely through the Denon:

Cheap DVD Player (editing and parental control software): composite video input (I could use s-video, but the s-video is wired so that if you use s-video in, you've got to use s-video out, and I didn't want yet another 25' cable running to my projector)

PS2/GameCube/XBox: Each using a component video input

Sirius satellite receiver & CD Changer: each has a dedicated RCA input

All I do is flick the buttons on the (hugely powerful) remote and can use any of of them *instantly*.

Pure heaven!

Although the manual does an adequate job explaining things - and it will get you up and running - it will take some time experimenting with all the bells and whistles this baby's sporting. From the usual speaker-delay distance, to the Dolby ProLogicIIx/Ex/DTS/ES/Neo/etc/etc, it's all here.

Another awesome input: the receiver has (2) AC power outs - meaning, you plug up to 2 subwoofers into those, and when the Denon powers up, it sends a signal to the subs to turn on, too! Sweet!

The receiver is feature rich and does far more than I'll ever need - in fact, I was astonished that as Denon's so-called 'entry' receiver, I have little doubt it would easily hold it's own against receivers costing twice the money, if not more. The quality is unparalleled for the price.

This receiver *IS* a Denon. It's top-flight quality and has reams of features I'll never even use. Only a true audiophile would want more than this unit provides - it looks, performs, and sounds absolutely magic. For amazon's asking price, you will *never* find a better bet on quality - it easily holds it's own, in pure sound quality, with models costing more than twice the price - it simply has less digital doohikies that 99% of HT users (sans audiophiles) will never even touch. It's perfect for a room in the 400 square foot range, as 75 watts x 7 (or 110 x 7 if you use 6-ohm speakers) is more than sufficient to power a highly competent home theater.

Bottom line is this - I can't imagine needing any more than this unit provides. At $300, it's not only the centerpiece of my home theater audio, it will probably be for as long as it runs... which, for a Denon, is usually a *long* time...

I'd have to disagree with the two previous posters. Let me share with you my experience.

First off, my system is a Polk Audio RM6800 Series home theater in a box system. Don't let the home theater in a box designation throw you off, this system is amazing in terms of clarity and some say is even better than Bose's Acoustimass Series.

I've tried three amplifiers with these speakers, a yamaha HTR5920S($300 canadian), this Denon AVR-486($499 cad), and a Harmon Kardon AVR140($699 cad). Of all the amplifiers, the yamaha turned out to be the best in terms of sound quality, home theater experience, and music reproduction. Why? It simply has more clean power(110watts RMS) per channel. When I tried the yamaha with my favorite movies, at loud volumes or even low volumes, I was amazed.

The Denon amplifier did not sound good out of the box, and yes I did do the setup of speaker sizes, distances to listener, etc. I found it to be lacking in mid range. I had to really crank it up to hear the midrange, and then the lows and highs were then too loud. I ended up compensating for this by increasing the center channel level by a few notches, which slightly improved the sound, but the sound wasn't as clean. Listening to music was good, but didn't give me that "wow" feeling as with the yamaha.

The Pros of the denon was being able to switch different sets of front speakers(A/B), it also looked better than the simple yamaha, remote was better although the yellow fluorescent buttons are kind of tacky(some say the denon's remote is cheezy looking). I'm sure it is a fine amp for most people, but in my opinion the 75Watts/channel is mediocre, espeicially if you like it loud.

Bottom line, decent features, sound quality is good but if you like it loud and clean-underpowered.

I purchased 7 speakers individually (mostly Missions and Energy). The receiver delivers as it advertises, powerful and clean sounds on all speakers.

I purchased this receiver for my speakers that are installed in my ceilings and outside on the patio. From the 1st day I have had the system it would turn off if I turned the volumne up, I had to play the receiver on low volumne. 2 days before Christmas 2006 I had company over playing music the system shut off, I turned it back on and it started sparking in the rear. I contacted the company who installed the system and complained about how hot the system would get then turns off. The receiver doesn't have a fan in the rear to cool the internal parts. It had to be shipped off to be checked, I'm awaiting the company's findings.