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Entered CNET Catalog: 04/16/2003
SKU: 0081757504102
Manufacturer: Denon
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Manufacturer description
Featuring a multi-room audio function, along with video selection and high power, the DRA-685 serves as the heart of a stereo music system while providing stereo sound for stereo video sources. With a prodigious 100 watts of power per channel, the DRA-685 can easily drive virtually any modern loudspeaker system with authority and clarity. A full suite of convenience and switching functions makes the DRA-685 an indispensable choice for a well equipped music system.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 04/25/2005
Editors' note:
Denon Electronics will not honor the warranty on Denon components purchased from unauthorized dealers or if the original factory serial number has been removed, defaced, or replaced. If in doubt about a particular online or brick-and-mortar retailer, call Denon at 973-396-0810. The Denon DRA-685's bland styling recalls Denon's previous generation of A/V receivers, and despite having only two internal amplifiers, it's no smaller than most midline 5.1-channel receivers. The chassis measures 17.1 inches wide, 6.6 inches high, and 16.4 inches deep, and it weighs 22 pounds. The LED display is informative, but the front panel's printed gold-on-black labeling is nearly illegible under low-light conditions.
Denon equipped the DRA-685 with two remotes; the second one controls the second zone. The main remote is so jam-packed with tiny buttons--even the volume controls are minuscule--that it's not a lot of fun to use. And thanks to the remote's indifferent design, half of the time when we picked it up, we found ourselves holding it upside-down, with the business end facing us.
Setup chores, at least if you only want to outfit one room, are as friendly as can be: hook up your CD and or DVD player, a turntable, a cassette deck, and just a pair of speakers, and you'll be ready to rock. Multiroom setup, on the other hand, makes the tax code look simple (see Features for more).
Denon also offers two other stereo receivers, the 80-watt-per-channel DRA-395 ($349 list) and the 50-watt DRA-295 ($249). The Denon DRA-685's standout feature is dual-zone, multiroom capability. It allows you to enjoy different sources--say, CD in your main room and an FM radio in a second room with that second remote control. You can also control the volume independently in each room, but setting up this feature is convoluted, to say the least.
First, you need to install a separate stereo power amplifier and speakers in the second room and run stereo interconnect cables back to the main room. Then you'll need to purchase an RC-617 infrared sensor for the second room ($45 list, or $40 for a wall-mount version) and an RC-616 infrared retransmitter for the main room ($140) and run another set of wires between them. Whew! We'd rather stick with the DRA-685's A/B speaker switching and put sound in a second room without the assistance of a custom installer.
The front panel's bass, treble, balance, and loudness controls remind us of the good old days; power is specified at 100 watts per channel.
Connectivity is straightforward, with a total of six stereo inputs labeled Turntable, Tape Recorder, CD Player, DVD Player, VCR, and Video Aux (the three video-enabled inputs are composite only). Two stereo outputs plus monitor and VCR video outputs are available. Pre-out and main-in connectors permit the use of a separate, higher-powered amplifier, although subwoofer outputs, present on Harman Kardon's HK 3480, go missing. Speaker wire hookup is a breeze, thanks to the DRA-685's banana plug-compatible connectors. Since we were on a channel-reduction diet, we wanted to try the Super Size Me DVD for the home-theater portion of this review. The documentary made a convincing case that eating a steady diet of McDonalds' food can be hazardous to your health, but since the DVD didn't have any weighty bass or massive dynamic challenges, it couldn't demonstrate the Denon DRA-685's affinity for home-theater duty. We needed something a little more demanding, so we popped in the Panic Room DVD. This taut thriller, about a mother and daughter holed up inside a special vaultlike room as bad guys try to get inside, kept us on the edge of our seats. Director David Fincher skillfully used sound to keep the tension up, and the panicked sounds of the victims' voices in the claustrophobic room, along with the visceral poundings of the baddies trying to get in, were frightfully realistic. The suspense came across with such vivid clarity that we never once thought about the fact that we were listening through just a pair of speakers.
A brief shoot-out with Sony's similarly priced STR-DE997 7-channel receiver demonstrated the advantages of losing 5.1 channels if sound quality, rather than quantity, is your goal. The DRA-685's firmer bass and superior clarity/transparency might be enough to cinch the deal for music-oriented buyers.
DVDs passed muster all right, but music is this stereo receiver's real forte. Holly Cole's Temptation CD sounded immediate and very alive. Cole's sultry pipes had just the right amount of presence, and David Piltch's stand-up bass was richly presented. The DRA-685 took us inside the music, with an intimacy that made us feel like we were in the room with Cole and her tight, little band. The DRA-685 sounds sweet, but its stereo soundstage wasn't as deep and expansive as that of Harman Kardon's HK 3480 stereo receiver. The HK's tonal balance was also richer and weightier--we judged its sound to be slightly superior overall.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 User Rating: 
9/10
sounds great-buy equalizer
Pros: good sound, powerful
Cons: need to buy an equalizer with this bad boy, which all serious audiophiles do regardless
Review:
User Rating: 
1/10
Don't buy Denon! Bad quality, horrible customer service!
Pros: None at all!
Cons: Bad quality, horrible customer service
Review: I owned the AVR-1706 product for about six months and several problems have developed. First the receiver would just randomly change input settings. For example, many times I would be sitting on the couch watching TV and the receiver would go from the TV/DBS input to the radio without me touching the remote. This would happen about once a week and was very annoying. The other problem is that the audio in for the TV/DBS failed but the video still works which means I cannot listen to my Directv on the receiver if I have the video going through it.
Customer service? There is none. I called several times and after sitting on the phone for over 50min each time (try calling and see if I'm kidding 201-762-6665 Option 2) , I gave up. The only live person I was able to get in touch with was the operator, Christina, who was rude and told me I had no option but to sit and wait.
This is the first and last time I buy Denon. I'm going back to Harman Kardon where I have purchased several of their products with no problems.
Customer service? There is none. I called several times and after sitting on the phone for over 50min each time (try calling and see if I'm kidding 201-762-6665 Option 2) , I gave up. The only live person I was able to get in touch with was the operator, Christina, who was rude and told me I had no option but to sit and wait.
This is the first and last time I buy Denon. I'm going back to Harman Kardon where I have purchased several of their products with no problems.
User Rating: 
10/10
The best stereo ever made
Pros: This is the best stereo ever made. i will tell you this. it has all the options that you can find. pre-out,main-in 100 watts per channel, analog moterized volume with bass,treble,balance,loudness. it has everthing. the price on the otherhand is a little h
Cons: the price is a little high that is all. i think it should be $150-200 dollars. everthing else is all good to me.
Review:
