Customer Reviews

Denon AVR790 7.1-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this to replace my 2 year old Yamaha RXV-2600.

Pros: Excellent surround sound performance thanks to Audessy auto setup, perfect HDMI switching performance, great value

Cons: Muting the sound makes a noticeable "click" sound as the amps are turned off, cryptic manual, lack of THX certification

Despite a couple of minor cons, this is a fantastic receiver. It blows away my older (but much more expensive) Yamaha in terms of sound quality and HDMI switching. The Yamaha YPAO wouldn't automatically calibrate my subwoofer (but Audessy does!) and would give HDMI HDCP errors about every other time I turned on the receiver. The Denon has been working flawlessly for a week.

I would recommend going online and downloading some of the Denon setup guides from avsforum, they are *much* better than the weak excuse of a manual that comes in the box with the receiver.

Highly recommended for an entry level 7.1 receiver!

This is a great reciever no matter how you slice it. The sound quality is very good and the Audessy auto set-up is awesome. The only issue I had was an HDMI communication problem with my Blu Ray player, but it was resolved by switching from HDMI 2 to HDMI 1 input, and everything works great now. The Dolby Digital True HD sound is really amazing, when you see that blue light glow on the Denon, you know you are in for some killer sound! Get some good quality speakers so you can hear all the great details the Denon is giving them. Granted, the on-screen display is like playing pong (old video game reference :) ) but then again, you only need to use it when setting up or changing major settings. The manual can be difficult to understand, but just be patient and read it twice if needed, you will figure it out. For the price, the AVR-790 cannot be beat for sound quality and features. FYI, the AVR-790 is identical to the Denon AVR-1910, except for an A/B speaker switch for the mail left and right speakers. This is only needed if you have two sets of main front speakers, one set for music, and one for home theater. If you plan on running one set of speakers for music and movies, like most people will, the buy the AVR-790 for $50 less than the AVR-1910!!!

Seems like everyone is enjoying blaming the Denon products for awful manuals. Frankly, they're not any worse than the others. Setting up AV receivers can be complex for those with a lot of devices. For most people with HDMI devices and an HDMI TV, it's pretty simple. HDMI in, HDMI out, connect speakers and that's pretty much it. Analog devices are sometimes more challenging with the mix of component, composite, S-video, and the like. Just remember that you can only use an input label once even if it has HDMI, component, and composite options (such as the DVD input) and that each input type into the receiver needs the same type going to the TV.
On to the receiver. The audio is outstanding but one also achieves video improvements with up-converting from non-HD sources. My main gripe (cost them a star) is the VERY narrow range of the IR receptor. The remote basically has to be pointed strait at the device to operate. My Logitech Harmony remote almost always fails to turn the receiver on, something I never experienced with the Yamaha I had before. Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control (Black)

A friend recommended Denon as a good receiver when I started shopping for a replacement for my 30 year old Sansui Stereo. He worked for a Home theater installer and said they never had an unhappy customer after setting them up with a Denon system. I've been using this receiver for a couple of months now and couldn't be happier with it. Set it up with some good quality speakers and you won't regret buying it. I went with Cerwin Vega VE series center and surrounds to go with a pair of Cerwin Vega Three way floor speakers I already had. The system sounds better than any boxed system I've ever heard. I listen to a lot of music (all kinds)and it's a joy to hear old favorites with a degree of clarity and precision I didn't know was possible. With my home made 12" powered sub woofer my home theater sound rivals any theater I've been in. Just hearing the Dolby Surround or THX intro noise at the beginning of several movies has sent shivers of pleasure up and down my spine! Literally! And the reciever does a great job of converting Any stereo or 5.1 source, digital or analog, into great sounding 7.1 surround sound. The Audyssey auto speaker calibration works great, just plug in the supplied microphone and follow easy to understand on screen instructions. I found the manual to be a little confusing at first and the two sided remote takes some getting used to but now I do all I need to with ease. I would highly recommend this receiver to anyone that wants 7.1 sound or 5.1 with stereo in another zone such as bedroom or patio. You can download the manual from the Denon website for a more in depth look at the possibilities and capabilities of this marvelous (IMHO) receiver.

Pros
Good sound
Lots of connection
HDMI Pass-through

Cons
Weird remote
Worse-than-Atari On-screen menu

My favorite part is definitely the HDMI pass-through. It's the only name-brand receiver in this price range that I'm aware of to have this feature. With TV, I only use the receiver when watching movies, sports or special events so this feature allowed the TV speaker to be used when the receiver is not turned on.

The remote is weird and not very user friendly. The rudimentary graphic of the on-screen menu reminds me of the old Atari 2600 but only worse.

Overall I'm quite happy, as I was able to buy this receiver and the iPod dock for under $500 total.

I am very satisfied with this product, although I have only had it for two days. I initially bought another system for its Anynet integration with my other Samsung components and it was mediocre. I returned and decided to buy a quality system. I had an old Denon stereo system with speakers and I was very satisfied with it. So I decided to continue with Denon, and purchased this system. I opted for it over the AVR-1910 quasi-identical system because of the front button design (esp. the 1-2-3 quick switch buttons, which are larger than on the AVR-1910), which were easier to see and use for my kids. It worked as a charm with my old speakers, and the one switch button works as advertised and is very practical and usable for kids. The sound quality is excellent. I listen to it at 10-15% of maximal volume, and crank up if I want to make the roof vibrate. I am very satisfied with this purchase. Denon seems to make really good reliable and well designed products.

2011 Update: I have had the product for two years now and I am planning to replace it. The main problem (a well documented problem on the internet) is that the image drops for a few seconds every few minutes and we get a blank screen. The problem started after a few months, and is getting worse and worse. There will be 10-20 signal drops during a typical movie, which is very annoying. I have done extensive testing of my home video system and have pin pointed the problem to the Denon unit. And as I said, a lot of people have documented the same problem on the internet.

After 8 months the receiver lost all sound on allinputs. I sent it back to Denon and 6 weeks later, it was returned. The same problem recurred within 2 weeks and by now Denon had switched to an independent repair service, Panurgy. Again the This time the repair has already taken almost 6 weeks, and I have no receiver. When I called, they couldn't find the receiver with their own authorization number as they had given the same number to two people. They did not appreciate it was under warranty and did not order the part until I called them and they realized it was still under warranty. It took 10 days to get the part and another week before they got around to fixing it. I still do not have theDenon AVR790 7.1-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity receiver back and it has been gone 12 out of the last 14 weeks. The people I spoke to were unwilling to give priority in view of the fact that they had not repaired it correctly the initial time.
I will never buy another Denon product.

What an upgrade from my previous system- excellent surround sound with the Audyssey EQ. A great value for the sound alone, but also has upscaling/upconverting Analog to HDMI and HDMI to HDMI, to 1080p. My 7.1 is set up with surrounds in the back, but you have the option of front height speakers instead.

Hard to set up if you use the manual alone, so make sure you get Batpig's on-line guide (search "Batpigs Denon") and also read through the AVS forum owner's thread. The extra time it takes to understand the system and how to set it up is well worth it.

Let me tell you this avr is a fine one. Yes, you can get a better sound from DENON but, and I say but for this price it's a GEM and will give you a sound that's very close to the more expensive DENON at a fraction of the price !

Excellent sound CD or HD sound, gets only warm to the touch, like to play loud without a loss or aggresive change in the sound.

Very Neutral sound, on the warm side, better than the 5-6 years ago denon that Sounded Sterile and cold.
Mids are amazing, bass is agile and fast and just fine, could be 10-15% heavier..but still excellent.
highs are very good too, but still not class leading. Nothing aggresive easy to listen to.

FRONT BI-AMP is easy and very nice sound using 2 sets of speakers wire each side. Doing so, listening is better at low volume and more linear when leveled up! If not, you need to turn up the volume more to get satisfied, lot's of power reserve in my 13x23 ROOM with 2'' acoustic panels on walls.

Very good CD analog Pure direct mode, easy EQ setup and very USEFUL DYNAMIC VOLUME/Audissey EQ for older regular DVD Dolby digital and DTS tracks.

THE DYNAMIC EQ IS STATE OF THE ART REAL TIME RE-EQUALISATION CHIP from Dolby or THX labs( dont remember who worked on the project for denon). Nothing compare to it. no DSP from Yamaha come close. It render the older digital or DTS track like Lossless audio track of today upconverting the sound literally !! GOOD WORK TO DENON FOR THIS !!! We all want to rediscover our old movies collection thru this Receiver.

Audissey get's the job done with precise 3D positionning of the sound in the room and side to side effects.
It also get all the instruments sound natural and equal on a CD. But I dont use it because My room is close to Perfect. I use it for speaker distance calculations and looked at the EQ setting it made on the screen to work out my room to 0db on every frequency instead of letting the audissey do the EQ curves. Works well like that.

CONS: Would be nice to have 5.1 Pre-outs and IEC detachable power cord...if so it will be the best Receiver on the market today for this price range.

Excellent !! THE DENON 1910 is the same. The DENON avr-990 is EVEN BETTER, made in Japan and UK tuned. If you can find one, buy it. Highs are heaven and bass is powerful ! EDIT: FIRST BATCH OF AVR-990 was made in JAPAN only, now it's all made at the same place., but if you can find one used..go for it.

The Yamaha rxv-1900 is the only one that better it with power and movie sound quality and features/in out connections.

Experience with: Denon, pioneer many, HK many, yamaha rxv-1800, sony, cambridge, rotel..

This is an awesome receiver. The manual leaves a great deal to be desired. Very hard to follow and not great at explaining what the option really does. Its says what it is, but not what it really does. Aside from that, The included microphone makes setup a breeze. NOTE: must do setup first. The unit will not function out of the box properly. Thought the center speaker was dead as it was a new Polk set. Just do the setup and all will be perfect.