Denon AVR-988 7.1-Channel/5.1+2-Channel Multi-source/Multi-zone Home Theater Receiver (Black)

This is my second Denon. I purchased the AVR-988 because I wanted HDMI. I was happy with my first Denon, just as happy with this one. The extra bonus was the $500 price that I got this from Amazon. There is not a better deal in the market.

Ordered this product at a very good price as a closeout after denon announced their 989 version. Very little difference except price and number of hdmi inputs. Set up was pretty straight forward if you read the manual and had some experience. Running straight HDMI from bluray and HD cable box to HDTV makes the unit very easy to use. Set up with Audessy room equalization was simple and effective. Set up and ready to use within an hour. Highly recommended and includes a phono input which is unusual these days but necessary for me.

I like Denon products and have owned a few. I bought the AVR 988 to replace mt AVR4800 because I wanted HDMI and 7.1 without a second power amp. gave up a little power and hefty amps but the AVR 988 is a very fine unit. Remote is terribl. THE REAL ISSUE: It took three recievers to get a good one. The first one had no sub-woofer output, the second one worked one day, enjoyed Dish and DVD's. turned unit off. Next day NO AUDIO or VIDEO would pass thru the HDMI. Spent about 3.5 hours on phone with Denon. The technical support had me repeatedly doing the same things I already tried no resolution. I got the third one on Dec 24 and it has performed wonderfully. Great AVR but 2 out of 3 bad that effects the rating.

This is a very heavy and capable receiver judging by the comparison with my Sony STR-DE197 it is replacing. Its about twice the size and twice the weight which is a good thing since you can't run high current and high power without some size. So it scores very high on power and construction. Now the down side -- it is very very complex. Overly complex. If you love the ipod for its simplicity, this is about 180 degrees the other direction. Lots of switches, menus, plugs etc. Its complex. For my application, I am powering a 5.1 surround sound system in my family room, then for a second zone, I have speakers in the kitchen, dining room, living room and outside.

I got frustrated enough that I boxed it up and was going to ship it back. I started to looking for another high power amplifier (like an onkyo) for my application-- guess what. No one seemed to have figured out how to easily do this. So I unboxed the Denon and started again.

Now I am growing to like it as I figure out some good features. First - the second zone has separate volume controls. Since most of the speakers in the second zone have independent volume controls in the room, the receiver allows you to set the volume for zone 2 and keep it fixed allowing them to be controlled independently in each room.

Second, the 5.1 configuration has a front A and front B L/R speakers. So essentially supports 4 front speakers plus the center channel. For me, this allowed me to connect the family room speakers and kitchen essentially together. Since the rooms are next to each other, have all the speakers on the same system makes sense.

Finally - the system supports an iPOD dock and the remote can run the ipod dock. Cool feature, but extra.

So -- if you have a complex, multi-room set up, this receiver is good. otherwise, you may find it overly complex.

I bought this amp to replace a low end Onkyo that came with a packaged HTIB system. I had already replaced the Onkyo speakers with Kirsch reference series all around. After purchasing a blu ray player it was time to upgrade the amp so I could get Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio along with all the other pre existing codec's. The set up does take a bit of work but once it is done you are really cooking with quality sound.
The remote is awful and I use my Harmony One instead. Some of the remote functions are not in Logitech's data base and need to be "learned" by the Harmony , but once this is done the AVR-988 is a joy to use and operate.
I listen to stereo music as much as movie and TV sound so I appreciate the ability to bi-amp my front Klipsch RB-81's. The sound quality is just SO MUCH BETTER than anything I have previously used or owned. There is a true difference in how the dynamics and frequencies are handled. Truly it is music to my ears.
I find this amp has more than enough power for my needs and never chokes during "busy" musical passages or heavy effects laden movie soundtracks. Regular TV viewing with sound in 5.1 Dolby Digital has become more of a joy lately as well.
The amp is a quality piece of gear and right now the price is truly unbelievable. I have been using it now for 2 months and can't find anything I do not like about it except for the remote. You can even pre program your own custom inputs with individual parametric EQ's and sound fields and recall them with a touch of a button. The auto calibration worked well for me and I used 8 locations and let the onboard computer really do it's thing to give me the best it had to offer. Build quality is high and this unit is made in Japan, not China or Malaysia.
Basically, everything I listen to sounds better now. MUCH better! Other than only 2 HDMI inputs the choices for input modes is almost endless. Get an Oppo HDMI switcher is you need more than 2. This is easily the best purchase I have made since buying a Pioneer Kuro 6 months ago. Home theatre has never sounded so good....