HDMI 1.4 for 3D, Audyssey Sound Equalizer, DTS-HD and Dolby TRUE HD formats.
Cons
I can not really find any, unless you want more Inputs and outputs on your receiver!
Review
My Wife bought this unit for me for an early Xmas present, I've been researching A/V receivers for a few months now and I was almost going to purchase the Onkyo TX-SR608 100 Watt per channel, but there seemed to be alot of issues with HDMI boards burning out and such. so I went with the Denon, due to the CNET review and other consumers. I used to work in the High End A/V business and sold Denon receivers so I knew the quality of the product ( I just couldn't afford it at the time ). I've had a Sony Receiver Dolby Digital/DTS receiver for the last 6 yrs and it wasnt a bad unit, but I needed to "Upgrade" to the new HDMI inputs and newer DTS-HD and Dolby TRUE HD formats.
I opened the box , hooked up the speakers using the Banana plugs and the HDMI for Blu Ray and Coax for my Cablevision Box ( I used the HDMI from cable box Directly to the TV ). Then I set up the Audyssey Sound Equalizer which provides advanced audio calibration. this took around 10 minutes to do.
I put in Toy Story 3 for a demo and I was amazed the quality of sound that was coming from my Sony Full range speakers! My Velodyne Subwoofer sound (VX-10) was incredible too! the soundstage is amazing with this receiver which only pushes out 75 watts per channel vs my Sony 100 watt receiver.
Also the Sound quality of just Dolby Digital 2.0 using the Pro Logic II was awesome too! For the price this receiver is worth every penny. The room is 10 x 15 and it had plenty of power! I couldnt put it past -5db on the amp!
Beautiful unit and very easy to operate and set-up. Audyssey Sound Equalizer is a plus.
Cons
The sound occasionally "bottoms" out for a second while watching Blu-rays.
Review
For the past 12 years I had been living in a prison. The name of the prison was "Home Theater in a Box." I purchased my first one when I was working at Circuit City and replaced that one later with and Onkyo HTiB. Due to the extra cost of assembling your own home theater system with separate speakers, and subwoofer, and receiver, and a lack of funding, it took me some time to get out of that prison. But I finally broke free about 6 months ago and I couldn't be happier.
Finally, unable to bear with doing without DTS-HD and Dolby True HD, I broke down and ordered a 5.1 set of some really great Boston Acoustics speakers. Well, they needed a little power behind them so I went to Best Buy and purchased this sweet little Denon AVR-1611 "gem" on clearance. I picked this little puppy up for only $212.
Set-up was a cinch, thanks in part to the Audessey EQ. And the sound, compared to my old crappy HTiB Onkyo, was more than just noticeable, it was unmistakably striking!! This receiver can put out some loud sound for my 20x30 living room. I don't think I can turn halfway it up without it getting unbearable.
My only issue is it seems to lose sound for a couple of seconds, as though the sound just drops down significantly before picking back up, while I am watching Blu-rays. It doesn't do it all the time but it does it enough that is can be very distracting. Now it appears that this mostly happens with newer releases, and so it could simply be a firmware problem on the Blu-ray's end. But I have occasionally noticed it with older Blu-rays and even watching DirecTV at louder volumes it tends to do it. That is why I believe the issue is with the receiver. But that is not a big enough issue for me to despise the receiver. I am happy with what Denon has made and I would gladly recommend this to others.
Yes
