Denon AVR-1909 7.1 CH/5.1+2 CH Independent Zone Home Theater Receiver

I purchased a new Samusung 52" LCD set (52A650) a few months ago to pair with my Playstation 3. I love to watch movies, especially on Blu ray, and I wanted a great set to maximize the video quality. Well, needless to say, I love the Samsung's picture quality. The problem was, as a self-proclaimed techno-geek, I wanted the audio (lossless) to match.

I had an older JVC receiver that sounded perfectly fine paired with a good set of Athena Point 5 speakers and a Velodyne sub. In fact, I was curious if these lossless formats (DTS-Master Audio, Dolby Tru HD, LPCM) really sounded better. But, as the curious person that I am, I wanted to upgrade the receiver to see what everyone was raving about. After about a month of research (listening at local retailers, trolling forums, reading reviews, etc), I pulled the trigger on the Denon 1909. I had also considered the Onkyo 706 and Pioneer VSX 01, but I chose the Denon for the follwing reasons:

1)Audyssey MultiEQ, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Audyssey Dynamic Volume - I had read/heard a lot about Audyssey sound calibration, and what a great job it did to calibrate the sounds. Well, let me tell you that it works. The sound coming from the Denon is much "fuller" and "defined" than what I had before. I'm not an audiophile, but I can appreciate great sound quality, and this Denon has it in spades. Dynamic EQ works great to maintain sound quality and integrity at low volumes, which is great since I live in a small apartment. Now I dont mind watching movies late at night, because I can still get a very engaging sound field at low volumes. Dynamic volume also works great to "level" out the sound when there are dramatic volume changes (especially when watching broadcast TV).

2)Connectivity - All the receivers I looked at had all the connection options that I needed (HDMI, optical, component, etc). However, other brands had reported issues with HDMI handshake or video upscaling or other issues. From what I researched, Denon had a solid reputation for everthing working as it should. When I connected all my components, suprise! everything worked flawlessly. When dealing with complicated pieces of AV equipment, he last you want is connectivity issues and trying to figure out whether you did something wrong or which component is faulty.

3) Sound quality - Most recievers in this price range will provide good sound quality. This is a subjective measure of course, but by my ears, the Denon rocks. I re-watched my bluray movies on my PS3, and the sound was much more "enveloping" than before. Live Free or Die Hard on blu ray has both the DTS-MA and Dolby digital soundtracks. I switched between the 2 during the movie, and the difference is pretty profound. Lossless sound is clearer, louder, and a bit more realistic than Dolby digital. And the Audyssey sound calibration does a great job of accounting for my speakers and room acoustics.

As great as this receiver is, there are a few drawbacks. As previous reviews have mentioned, the manual is not the easiest I've read. You need to set aside a few hours for setup, mostly because you'll play with the numerous settings within the menu. Oh, and the menu is bit boring. It reminds me of an old DOS program, with its plain white on black text. Finally, the remote is kind of a pain in the butt to use when you're trying to setup everything. You have to access both sides to get to all the menu options. But, once everything is setup the way you want, you rarely have to go to the back side for anything.

Overall, I highly recommend this receiver for anyone with a bluray player/PS3 and a small to medium sized room. The sound quality from this Denon will blow you away!

I bought this to replace a Harmon-Kardon AVR330. I loved the HK, but after getting a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray player, I couldn't live without lossless audio support, nor without HDMI switching. I first bought a Sony STR-DG820 - long story short, audio quality paled in comparison to the sound I was used to from the HK, so I returned it.

The 1909 really shines in home theater use. It has a very precise sound. Machine gun fire in the "Band of Brothers" Blu-Ray DTS-MA track sounds incredibly realistic. Audyssey Dynamic EQ is a very useful feature. I live in a condo, so I have to turn my system down at night. With dynamic EQ, I get consistent frequency response even with the 1909 set at -41 dB. End result - satisfying sound without getting a knock on my door at midnight from a neighbor who can't sleep. Dynamic volume is more useful for TV - haven't used it as much, but it would be very useful for someone who watches a lot of TV. All in all, I am very happy with the sound quality I'm getting. It's probably not as warm sounding as the HK AVR330 I'm giving up, but that's more a concern for music listening.

As others have pointed out, setup is a bit laborious, but I can't knock a star off for that. Setup will take several hours, once. The post-setup performance will last for years. If you truly enjoy your home theater, a difficult setup shouldn't concern you as much as buying a product that will continually leave you underwhelmed.

Reading this over, it may not sound like a rave review, but I'm incredibly happy with the performance of the AVR-1909. It switches HDMI well, it's very easy to use (once you spend some time setting it up), and it sounds great in a home theater context - particularly with lossless Blu-Ray discs. You could go cheaper (Onkyo, Harmon-Kardon) but I wasn't willing to risk dealing with a flawed product (both have their problems). If sound quality isn't a concern, the Sony entry-level products (STR-DG820 et al) are fine.

If you want to have a great theater experience without spending four figures (or close to it), don't want to deal with potential problems, and are willing to spend more than a bare-bones solution would cost, this is truly a 5 star product. It isn't ideal for the music-oriented audiophile (still love HK's sound for music), and it's more expensive than an entry-level buyer needs to spend, but for a mid-level home theater enthusiast, this is perfect.

I was finally ready to upgrade to an HDMI receiver with the latest HD audio options so I could take full advantage of my LG BH200, Samsung LCD, Cox Cable HD DVR and Polk speakers. Previous receiver was an Onkyo TX-SR504 and I really liked it, so my first look was at Onkyo receivers. However, after reading the AVS Forum and Amazon reviews, the heating issues of the newer Onkyos concerned me.

Enter the Denon AVR-1909 with multi-eq, Audyssey, and Dynamic Volume, 3 HDMI inputs, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master processing. Glowing write-ups from users at AVS really had me psyched (and provided a great deal through J&R Electronics). I have to say that this receiver is incredible for the price.

I love the multi-eq and the dynamic volume is a big help while watching TV so I don't go from quiet TV shows to blaring commercials. The Audyssey set-up was extremely easy, and really makes this receiver shine. Even my mother, who doesn't really pay attention to surround sound, commented it was "really nice to hear the sound all around" while watching "Independence Day" on blu-ray. The sound out of this unit is fantastic.

Having said that, the one big weakness of Denon is the manual. As mentioned by another reviewer, check out and print the FAQ section on the AVS Forum to help you set this AVR up because the manual is totally insufficient. Even with the help of the FAQ, I still spent a couple hours getting inputs assigned and setting up the various profiles for TV, DVD, etc. and I generally don't have problems with electronics. I also spent the next couple of weeks haunting the forum to see how others had wired their speakers and tweaks they had made to their systems so I could get the most out of this unit. I know there are still way too many things I don't understand about it, but since I have it sounding the way I want it to I don't think I need to delve any deeper.

So this is a great receiver, well worth the money, but with a very poor manual- which is why it garners 4 stars.

Spent a while looking for an AV receiver, and looked at many of the same models other reviewers report evaluating (Onkyo, H/K, etc.) This is my first Denon and I've been just wow'd by the sound it produces. The Audessy EQ feature works incredibly well -- you get perfectly balanced sound when watching a movie. I'm using KEF 3005 speakers in a 7.1 set-up.

I also concur with the other reviewers who comment on the complicated setup. Granted, any decent AVR will take a bit of time to setup, but the Denon manual seems to go out of its way to make the process more convoluted than it needs to be. There's a great setup "crib sheet" and FAQ on the AVSforum site -- a must read before you set yours up. Without that, I'd still be lost in the weeds!

The upside is that after a few hours of cursing the setup process, you're rewarded with the best sound you'll hear unless you're willing to spend thousands more.

Looking at the back of the unit, I wasn't at all intimidated by the number of inputs and connections. I rate pretty high in geek-factor, so I had no fear. But sadly, the manual is more "technical reference manual" than instruction manual, so getting the inputs set up took hours. Though I have just a few inputs (DVD, iPod, Satellite TV, and 2 game systems), assigning the inputs took several iterations and connector swaps; sometimes I had only sound, sometimes I had only video. Yet after some hours, I've hit a brick wall and simply can't figure out why I'm not getting iPod video. One thing that made this unecessarily complicated was that the manual, the on-screen assignment actions, and the rear of the unit all used different and sometimes overlapping terms to refer to the connection locations. So you end up kind of guessing at times.

Even the most mundane activities required several minutes to figure out. For example, you probably want the subwoofer going when listening to music, yet you must figure out the TLAs (three-letter-acronyms) and complicated menu system to get find that feature. Turned out that "LFE" setting won't get subs, I needed "LFE+MAIN". Seem obvious? Not to me.

Overall, there are numerous TLAs that I still don't understand, and I've gradually accepted that I'll never understand even a third of what this unit can even do. For example, the manual has page after page of different functionality available to the dozens upon dozens of sound modes. Skip. I'm oddly curious about the Restorer button on the front. I can't even fathom what that does, even after playing with it.

I liked the Audyssey auto setup, and I think I might even understand its purpose. Regardless, the system sounds great and seems to be performing properly (mostly). The first unit I bought had its front display fizzle out after a few short minutes. Fortunately, I purchased locally, so replacing it wasn't too much of a chore.

I haven't yet experimented with the Dynamic Volume, but I suspect this will be a useful feature. Fingers crossed. Next step is to read about the remote control, which appears brutally complicated. I just need to learn enough to get my universal remote set up, and I dread that chore. Overall, a good unit with great features for the price, but apparently intended to be installed by only a professional.