Customer Reviews

Denon AVR-687 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

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

 

 

Let me preface by saying the sound and capabilities of this receiver are best of the bunch for this price point. Not only are there multiple inputs and outputs for every video source, but excellent quality conversions as well. The sound definition and reproduction is fabulous as well. Read the tech specs and brag sheets from Denon for all the info...it's all true.

The main criticism I have is the Owner's Manual and System Setup. I am a tech geek. I love this stuff. But I have never found a manual so poorly written or organized. Instructions on setup are incomplete. Directions concerning how to access certain menus don't work if one switch on the remote is in the wrong position (this switch is never referenced in the directions, by the way...happy hunting). Seemingly simple actions, such as selecting Zone 2 speakers On, are convuluted. There is a Zone 2 button on the front of the actual unit. Seems easy, yes? Just press it. But pressing it does nothing unless you navigate (without much help from the manual) to section 2 of System Setup and scroll to the Preamp section. From there, choose between Zone 2, Surround, Speaker Set A or B. Apparently the Zone 2 Preamp (a separate preamp from the main) also powers a second set of surround speakers used in a 7.1 configuration OR a set of Zone 2 speakers for use in a secondary location. That's great...that's fine. But why would you put a Zone 2 button on the face of the unit AND a Preamp setup in the 4th level of a System Setup Menu? It's redundant. Worse yet, the button on the face of the unit doesn't even work properly if the System Setup Menu isn't configured properly. Clearly, if I want that set of speakers to be used as Zone 2, shouldn't I just press "Zone 2." If I want them as Surround, couldn't I just press it again to de-select? Why not make the button on the face "Zone 2/Surround" and be done with it?

This is just one example of an overly complicated receiver. Here's another seemingly simple item. The volume control increases in increments of 0.5 db per volume touch on the remote. This is pratically imperceptible and with a range of -80db to 16db, you can quickly get frustrated hammering away at your remote like a video game controller. Alternatively, if you press and hold the volume button on a remote, the volume increases too fast and overshoots. Why not make this control interval adjustable? If you're going to preset a volume control at 0.5 db per touch (which is ridiculous), why not allow the user to customize the interval?

Bottom line: The hardware and performance of this unit is great. But the engineers that designed it are not. And the individuals who wrote the owner's manual and designed the remote must have been playing a practical joke. Did they not product test these items? For ease of use alone, I would seriously consider an Onkyo or Harmon Kardon before buying this unit.

Denon always has great sound, so I'm not going to waste time talking about that. I'm going to try to concentrate on some very minor things that I lost when upgrading from my JVC. So if you don't like nitpicking, then hurry out and buy this unit! If interested, read on to see if these little things matter to you, too.

New features that I love, and why I upgraded:
3 Component video inputs. This was actually hard to find, as many new receivers have only 2, or have HDMI instead.
Multi-source, multi-zone. I've always had yard speakers but never multi-source.
Video up-conversion. That means that I can just leave the TV on component video all the time without pushing tons of buttons to control the TV's input source. Much easier to plug a camcorder on rare occasions.
Independent Video/Audio select. This wasn't really rant/raved about in the specs, but I think it is very cool because you can listen to some audio while having say, a news scroll going in the background on video. Also, it turns out it is incredibly important for me, since I don't have enough video inputs (see below) for my VCR and media center together, so I have to do some fancy wiring to capture old footage from camcorders and VCR's into MPEG2.

Now, here are my gripes:
First, I've always had JVC receivers, but they stopped making receivers with enough inputs for me. So I had to switch brands. I've always loved JVC for what I think is a good mix of advanced features but user friendly enough for the wife or visitors. Well, this new Denon bad boy is tough for even me to navigate until I get used to it, and I haven't even tried to demo how to use it to my wife yet. I understand they are less expensive, but I don't like switches on the remote. Rather I prefer the device selection by button, with some indicator (glowing or LCD display) to show what is currently selected. Also, it is still difficult to figure out when the buttons on the back are active or not for each source. This will take some getting used to but I haven't figured out the pattern yet. Oh yeah, speaking of the back, it is very difficult to open unless I've got a long thumbnail!
Another small gripe is the "dB" volume indication, rather than all positively offset from zero. I've had other components like this before, but it is still weird. Also regarding the volume, it steps very small with a single press, but then advanced too quickly when held down. Last gripe on volume: With my JVC, it remembered the last volume level for each source when you switch back to it. This is VERY handy since not all sources have the same input level. So with the Denon, sometimes you switch sources and get blasted with sound.
One more thing that many people won't care about, but I certainly do. Normally when you plug headphones into a receiver (or most devices), the speakers are muted. With my JVC, you could leave the headphone jack plugged in all the time and you just switch the speakers on/off, while having headphones + speakers active. This was great because I have a wireless base station that can be picked up upstairs by my wireless speaker in the shower, or I like to listen on wireless headphones when everyone is asleep. I don't have to plug/unplug headphone jacks all the time. Well, as I expected, this is a rare, unheralded feature that I lost when upgrading to this Denon.
I also wish there were just one more rear video input source. I have DVD, Cable, and a Meda Center PC connected, which doesn't leave an opening for my old S-Video VCR, which I occasionally need. Now if I need it, I have to do a little rewiring, and then wire it back. And why isn't there an S-video input in the front for video, rather than just composite? It is cool this upconverts to component at the output, but I'll still lose a little quality when hooking up my camcorder.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great unit, and I was very pleased to find a Denon that met nearly all my needs without breaking my bank.

Don't buy it! Powere shut off and power indicator blinks red. The troubleshooter says overheat (I placed a fan over vents) or bad speaker connections at back of unit. I checked, and tried different connections over and over again.

I bought this a couple months ago to round out Home theater, and for the price, I am very impressed.

As many said though, the manual is rediculous, it took many tries to get things working right, especially seeing I used the surround rear remapped to bi wire my fronts. Once it was set though, amazing results. Just stick with it, and read/understand the whole manual before tweaking anything, reading as you go will doom you to confusion of a whole new level, because they do this thing where certain parts of the setup are not grouped together, and are explained more 10 pages in, maybe mentioning the final info you need 20 pages in. And thats just for speaker setup!!

Took a little bit to connect all of the equipment I have, but was very simple to do. Using the speakers from a samsung htib that this replaced, with a larger gauge wire, I have noticed an immense improvement in sound quality. Depth is still a bit lacking, but this is more than likely the samsung satellites that will be replaced. Using a Harmony remote, my wife has no difficulty operating this unit.

Pros:
All 7 amps sound great, Digital Dolby sounds great, Many different surround modes, HD over component and video format conversion

Cons:
Always have to flip over double sided remote - Not a good layout, No HDMI inputs.

Summary:
This is a great quality receiver for a bargain price. I am only using it for the audio inputs, so I can't speak for the video performance. It has 2 coax and 2 fiber digital inputs which work great. I don't think I will use analog inputs again if I can avoid it.

I bought this on Amazon for 40% less than C City, & I feel like that I stole it. I have this hooked to Sat & DVD, it is only used for TV. The room is 30' x 23' & I have not had it over 0; it is way loud. I was a little concerned since it was rated 75w, but @ 6ohms it is rated 110w.
This is my first experience with this level of equipment, so the manual was confusing & redundant; plus when you made some adjustments it automatically undid other adjustments that you had made. With some inputs you are adjusting speaker volume [which I understood], but the inputs that I used [optical]. The only adjustment is in feet. I did figure out less feet = less volume. I did all my adjustments from the Receiver [it seemed much easier]. The auto-setup mic in my case was useless. One feature that I do like is you can cut it off on the receiver & it uses no electricity. I did get it balanced perfect, excelent sound; & unbelievable price.