Customer Reviews

Denon AVR-889 700-Watt 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver

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

 

 

Sound Quality - A
This product sounds very good. The bass is heavy, power is sufficient for its class and the highs are remarkable. It is also very quite. The audio generated is very clear and crisp - you hear new instruments in songs that you are familar with. It's very surprising. Visual clarity is as expected - excellent. Audessey audio enhancement is top notch and actual makes a noticeable difference

Build Quality - A
Sturdy. The unit does not feel cheap in anyway. The knobs and buttons are well designed and built to last.

Presentation - B
The unit is heavy. It is also longish meaning that it may not fit in a generic shelf - mine hangs out by at least 4 inches. I guess this is the new 'standard'.

Ease of use - B
Receivers are implicitly complicated. Gone are the days when you could buy one, plug it in and forget about it. That said, it would serve you well to read the manual first and keep it close. I am not a manual reader, I dive in. I got lost, spent several hours groping before I had to go to the manual. After you run autosetup and get everything sounding perfectly, you can always return to that state by performing a parameter restore if you mess up your settings by poking around. I use it often.

Supporting Documentation - B
The supporting documentation is thick. Everything is in there. I would have liked it categorized a bit better so that common functionality is more prominent. For a complicated product, I thought the manual did a good job but there is room for improvement. In particular, tips and trouble-shooting should receive more focus in the document body. It's in there in note form, but not that much.

Long Term Durability - NA
I had my Sony for 8 years before it started to misbehave. I hope this lasts as long.

Peripherals - C+
The remote is a challenge to operate. The remote contains both sides, one top and one hidden on the back side. Intuitive! but definitely not obvious to joe the plumber. The remote also serves as a universal remote control, you can program your other home theatre components with it. Getting around with the remote requires focus and attention to detail. An inattentive click causes grief.

Connections - A
There are ample connections for any one buying in to this price range. If you need more connections, you need a higher end system and should be at a higher price point. This will handle all your home theater connections and then some.

Overal Experience - B
For the price point, this receiver delivers in a major way. The multi-zone is an added bonus. For instance, in a couple of minutes I was able to configure the unit to play music on 2 speakers while my son played Xbox on 6 speakers. In a large room, this unit complements the notion of 'family time'.

Auto-setup is a huge time-saver. I spent 4 hours tuning the speakers, auto-setup did it in 20 minutes and, admittedly, better than my best efforts.

Bottom line is that this receiver will be current for the next few years at least, which makes it a good investment for that price today. For instance, Autosetup kept telling me my front speakers were out phase which i did not believe. Finally, I checked because it would not let me proceed past that point. It was right. It was late at night, I was tired and I connected +ve for -ve. Priceless!

The unit has a large number of options that make tweaking a dream (or nightmare) for those inclined. However, the large number of options makes it that much more complicated. For instance, it is easy to shoot yourself in the foot with this and spend several hours trying to figure out how to 'fix' it.

If I had the money, I would buy this again. What I would do different is that I would use autosetup to configure my speakers (20 minutes). I would read the manual first (20 minutes) and then start connecting. If you have a weekend to burn, toss the manual and dive right in - it's worth it.

I found a lot of complaining about how hard it is to set these (Denons) up. Granted, it does take some time and investigation to find a few customization steps to ensure the best sound for your listening area. Pay attention to what you are doing and you can get it set up without too much difficulty. Setup can be challenging regardless of what receiver you have. There are some basics of setting up this stuff. Each connection must be to the right input and output or it won't work. However, if you follow some directions in the manual and look to the AVS forum for suggestions you will NOT be disappointed with the sound. The clarity and responsiveness are great. The Audyssey Auto set up is not difficult (I highly suggest using a camera tripod for this don't use your hands). I got my AVR-889 from a closing Circuit City store for $562.00 and also got a 5 year protection at an additional cost. This was a GREAT deal I could not pass up. I have it paired up to Floor Standing Klipsch VF-35's, center is Klipsch VC-25, good Kenwood Sub, and affordable Polk Audio T-15 rears. The sound is amazing. I love the receiver and could not be happier with it. The controller is terrible but I plan on setting it up with Harmony One controller in a day or two. If you want a machine with GREAT sound paired with all the new technology at a true 100 watts per channel this is your receiver. If listening to music you can use Audyssey Flat mode, Direct, or Pure Direct and the music quality is superb. I have an older Mitsubishi 65 inch rear projection so I did use the upscalling feature and it did work pretty well not jaw dropping but good upscalling for older TV's. No flickering noticed at all. If you have a newer TV you might be better off turning the Denon's upscalling off and using the TV's instead (or a blue ray player). I did a ton of research on it and in my mind it is easily the best in its class. Receiver is quiet and does not run hot like some other comparable brands. I should comment that the 4.5 rating is because the controller is useless and a receiver of this price should have a better remote. Also, worth mentioning is I have been getting distortion in Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo 6 mode all other modes work fine. I suspect it is the micro-processor and will need to have it serviced or replaced. It was an open box so that could be the reason for this. The sound in Dolby Digital is great and I would recommend this receiver.

The AVR-889 was in the "sweet spot" for me in terms of performance and price. Thus far, I'm thrilled with the performance and build quality of this unit.

Pros
*Terrific sound for music and cinema in a small to mid sized room
*Very solidly built in Japan
*No issues with heat
*4 HDMI inputs

Cons
*The on-screen menu system is rudimentary at best

Recommendations
*Although the menu system looks like something from a Commodore 64, it works. Be patient.
*Setup can be daunting, but if you use the included microphone for automatic configuration, you can have very good sound within twenty minutes of plugging the device in.
*Read the manual. Several times. Things will make more sense if you are having difficulty with setup.
*Be sure to measure the depth of your av rack or entertainment center before purchase.
*As others have mentioned, invest in a Logitech Harmony One (or your favorite universal remote).

I've given this product five stars because it produces extraordinary sound, particularly with blu-ray disks. I'm not familiar with the performance of similar Denon products, but I would have to spend at least twice as much to get the same quality from competing manufacturers.

It is difficult to set up, however, and the manual doesn't provide easy access to all answers you may need. If you search the web, you can find some sites that provide more-easily understood directions for setting up Denon products.

I'll start with the pros and cons:

Pros: 4 HDMI's, good looking, sturdy, sounds great.
Cons: Horrible remote, big(hangs out of my cabinet), instructions(i know i need glasses but please make the type a little bigger), very long setup.

OK the main points are that it sounds great. Thats its main function. I'm no expert on this stuff and 99% of the time the defaults are fine. Why do the instructions go thru each settings? It took a good 4 hours of running the wires and plugging in all the stuff. Then running the config wizards. The review from Alvin Bruney is spot on.(he obviously doesnt work for denon).

For starters, this is a wonderful receiver at a very good price. I got it for $499.00 which made buying this even sweeter. The remote is probably the only item that I can complain about, my god it is cheesy, poorly laid out and you have to open a flap on the back to get all of the functionality. It feels like a piece of crap and it is. It has no backlighting, it cannot learn from other remotes and the little flap already broke on mine (not my fault). Now as for the sound, it is amazing for movies and music is not lacking at all. I have not listened to enough music to give a complete answer but from what I heard, it was great. I have some slight older Polk's and without this machine being calibrated it sounds incredible in 5.1, especially the 80 lb towers I have, it can actually get them moving. I do not care for how long it takes to switch between sources, about 20-30 seconds but that is a minor drawback. The picture coming out is perfect, especially when I used pass-through for my 1080p signals. I have a 65" Mitsubishi and movies look amazing in blu-ray or HD-DVD. I would have to say that anyone getting this receiver will be more than happy, the only receiver in this price range I would think about getting would be the Marantz 5300 (my mother in-law has it) $799.00. It's a great machine with fewer HDMI inputs but a better backlit remote and 5.1 pre-outs. If you have the means I highly recommend this device, cheers!!

Bought the Denon AVR-889 on the advice of a friend and I have to say I'm impressed. The device puts out a lot of power for its price range, was easy as pie to set up and the additional HDMI out port really makes the entire purchase worth it. Unlike my previous Yamaha receiver, the Denon's UI is straight forward and easy to understand, program and change. I would recommend this receiver to anyone looking for a good, solid sound system without having to go overboard on price.

Excellent Receiver. Follow the manual to set up, but assume you'll end up tweaking the connections and settings. I bought a Harmony 880 after a month of juggling about 4 remotes and trying to make the Denon remote act like a universal remote. The big difference is that the Denon remote will try to replicate each of the other remotes (e.g. TV, DVD, CD, ...). To change from one input device to another may require changes to the receiver and the source device, plus??. The Harmony on the other hand is designed around what you want to have happen. That is, if you want to see a DVD, it will change the receiver and the DVD pressing one button. Want to change to a CD?. It will turn off the DVD, and change the settings on the receiver and the CD. Setting up the Harmony was incredibly simple, since all the settings are kept on their online site for every device they have been able to come across. Don't hesitate. The Harmony shows up on sale on ebay continuously or on Amazon. Back to the Denon. DVD's played on a very old low end DVD player are up-converted and looks unbelievably great. It's slowed me down on buying a new DVD player as planned.

This AVR is controlling a 52" HDTV, Blu-ray, SACD player, and DirecTV. Incredible sound! Listening to DTS-HD movies is better than the theatre. The sound from music concerts off a Blu-ray is like being there, highly recommended. I installed this with the Harmon-Kardon HKTS-18 5.1 + HKS-9 - Satellite Speakers for a 7.1 system that simply blows people away.

Note: If you've ever set up an AVR before this is not as difficult as other mke out...