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"CNET Review is quite flawed" on by ezatnova
Pros: I own the 2310 model (the one up from the 1910) but I just had to chime in about how wrong the review of the 1910 was (see below). The receiver is a great choice overall, and solid, as are most Denon products
Cons: Price, remote
Summary: The CNET review first complains that Audyssey misrepresented the front speakers at Small and they manually reset them to Large. Anyone who knows even the slightest bit about Audessey (which is used in a ton of good receivers) knows that you ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS set the front speakers to SMALL. I have 4 foot high 80 lb JBL studio series fronts...and they are set to small. You NEVER want your sub-woofer frequencies to be sent to the mid size cones in your fronts, which is what happens when you set the fronts to Large.
Second, the reviewer complains that the sub-woofer distance was incorrectly identified by a few feet. Again, LEARN ABOUT AUDYSSEY before incorrectly complaining. It CLEARLY states (right in the Denon manual!) that sub-woofer distance is NOT MEANT to be an actual distance, and NOT TO TOUCH THE SETTING once it is automatically calculated.
The thing that hurts my head is, you even REFERENCE Batpig's "easier" manual, which has a TON of Audyssey info right there!
I suggest Matt and Steve read the manual and brush up on Audyssey and then re-write the review. -
"Great Receiver, CNET review flawed" on by AVaddicted
Pros: Great video upscaling
Great Sound (CNET is very wrong on this aspect)
Multi-Zone capability
Upconverts everything to 1080p on HDMI, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g
Denon qualityCons: No phono input
Bad remote but not as bad as its made out to be
Manual isn't straight forward, you kinda have to study the thingSummary: Ok I have to say that I have no clue what CNET is talking about, the sound is great.
Let me quote What Hi-Fi magazines review
"Hugely entertaining sound; tight, punchy bass; unbelievable amount of detail"
and
"Denon amps at this price point have traditionally been very competitive, but this is on another level."
one more
"This is a frighteningly good all-rounder, with movies and music. It loves being driven loud but still gives you fantastic insight at lower volumes."
I am not going to say I don't respect CNET's reviews because I go to them a lot, but What Hi-Fi out of the UK is a little bit more experienced than CNET on anything A/V. So I am going to say that CNET missed the mark on this one.....by a lot.
Now my opinion of the receiver: I went to multiple A/V shops and demoed this receiver and many many others. I even went to one and brought my speakers to hear the difference. I'll tell you not one came close in its price range.
The video processing on this bad boy is clearly leagues ahead of the others, Denon made the switch this year from Faroudja to Anchor Bay across the line, while everyone else is still using either aging Faroudja DCDi technology or their own. It is very very noticeable.
As far as the price goes, Denon has better quality components than any other competitor so you kinda pay for it there. The AVR-790 is essentially the same but it doesn't have an A/B for the fronts meaning no dual front speakers.
Overall I am going to agree with What Hi-Fi and place this one at the top of its class.
Sorry CNET but you were wrong -
"HIgh Performance Features Justify the Higher Cost" on by jzh10
Pros: Superior video upconversion
Powered Zone 2
Excellent, detailed surround performance
Attractive DesignCons: Poor Remote
Poorly written ManualSummary: I've switched from Onkyo to Denon as my primary midrange AV receiver line. While Onkyo performance was very good, Onkyo design is horrible, maybe the worst on the market. As well, I was tired of explaining to customers that Onkyo was good even though they had never heard of it!
I was BLOWN AWAY by the Denon 1910 DVD upconversion when I first tested it, it was visibly superior. Even the first customer whose house we installed it into, commented that he thought his DVDs looked better all of a sudden. The powered Zone 2 is becoming a feature that is more and more rare in it's price range.
Yes, this is not the receiver if you want to max out the volume in your surround rig, but for anything below that, the 1910 throws a very detailed and smooth surround field. Vocals are easily distinguished, surround effects are clear. We match if with quality mid price speakers, for example Atlantic Technology, and are very pleased.
The remote and the manual are crummy, but we do the installation for the customer and always include a universal remote or a full AV automation package, so those features aren't important to my customers.
The upconversion and surround quality are features that customers notice, and that they will pay for. Customers won't see setup menus very often so they don't have any perceived value to them.
Lastly, the Denon LOOKS like a quality piece with a smooth elegant design and recognized name that at least some customers have heard of, which makes it an easier product to sell than the Onkyo which may have comparable performance but looks and feels inexpensive.
We've installed a half-dozen so far and have been very pleased each time. -
"Very Nice Receiver" on by JohnD73
Pros: Great feature set.
Sound is very good.
The audio "Dynamic Processing" makes listening to movies late at night great
Surround sound on the headphones is nice.
Automatic configuration with the included microphone worked greatCons: Manual is not very good and setup was sort of a pain mostly because of that.
Terrible remote. It has buttons on the bottom side of it.
Characters on the display are small and hard to see from a distance.Summary: It is replacing an old Onkyo TX575X. It sound wonderful and the dialog is much better than the old receiver. The Dynamic Volume mode really work great when you have to listen to a movie and dont want to disturb others. This mode of operation equalizes the loud sounds and dialog so you dont get blasted out and dont have to keep adjusting the volume. The automatice setup using the included microphone went very well and even found a speaker that I had out of phase. The only real complaint I have is the manual and remote. The manual can be confusing, lacks information and has no index. This makes setup an unenjoyable experience. The remote is ill organized and has buttons on the back behind a door. Get yourself a Logitech Harmony remote. You will be miles ahead.
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"Spectacular sound quality!" on by donnoj
Pros: Beautifully detailed soundstage with plenty of drive. My movies and music have never sounded better. Audyssey equalization really improves the sound in my living room
Cons: Remote sucks. Required some manual settings tweaking after running the Audyssey ?auto set-up?.
Summary: This is a wonderfully sounding Amp. My music and movies never sound better! However, after running the auto set-up I needed to adjust a few settings my self to get the best sound. The automatic set-up incorrectly set the wrong crossover frequency for most of the speakers and sub. I also needed to increase the volume of the center speaker and sub. Once everything was adjusted I was blown away with how great it sounded.
The Denon Amp was an upgrade to a 5 year old NAD 5.1 receiver. I was happy with the sound but wanted to get HDMI switching and also thought the Audyssey EQ would help improve the overall sound in my living room with hard floors and a vaulted ceiling. My speakers are Klipsch Cinema 8?s with a 12? Klipsch sub. The fist thing I noticed was how much more bass the Denon produced. The sound is fuller; music has more drive, bass lines and movie explosions are tighter and more powerful. The Denon is much more detailed as well. With music I can pick out each instrument more clearly. With movies the sound effects and music are more separated. For example, during one of the battle sequences in Gladiator the loud explosions and surround effects tended to dominate the sound field with my old amp. I can now hear the music soundtrack more clearly, as if it were being emitted from a separate set of speakers.
The Denon AVR-1910/AVR-790 is very refined and powerful. I plan on enjoying it for many years.
Denon AVR-1910 user reviews (black)
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