Adcom GFR-700HD 7.1-Channel 145-Watt High Definition A/V Receiver Review

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(More customer reviews)I had been coveting this receiver/amplifier for some time, knowing the Adcom reputation and that this unit would be a perfect fit for my system, so when I saw it drop below $1K I knew I had to finally get one. Originally released in 2005, and a bit long in the tooth now, it nevertheless sports 2 HDMI inputs and one output (all rated to 60Hz) along with optical and coaxial digital inputs (3 each) and the usual complement of component, composite, s-video and RCA inputs/outputs. The user manual can be downloaded at Adcom's website for full technical details.
I've had this amp for just under a month now. Initial setup was somewhat difficult (I consider myself experienced) and took a few tries before I got everything right. It took time to get used to the unit's remote and menu system, though once you get the hang of it, it's fairly straightforward. One tip hidden in the manual that is vital to know early on: there is a button on the remote called "Main" that needs to be pressed if/when the amp seems to be ignoring the remote's commands (I have not yet started exploring the remote's 'multi-remote' programmability).
My primary concern for this amplifier is stereo sound reproduction. The surround/home theater side of things is secondary to my needs, though still important. Adcom is well known to audiophiles as a maker of top quality amps, and this unit is no exception. Once I got everything set up correctly, the sound quality was spine-tingling from the get-go and continues to impress as the amp 'breaks in'. In true audiophile fashion, there are no tone controls available (bass/treble) unless and until you instruct the amp to go into bypass mode, which routes the signal through the circuits that perform those functions. Otherwise, those circuits are avoided. In a similar vein, the R/L front 7.1 inputs can be employed as a straight "pure analog" input, completely bypassing the amp's A/D converter (I'm using this for my turntable-preamp input with spectacular results). The bass delivered by this amp is especially impressive, very full and natural. I have as yet no complaints about the sound. Surround performance is awesome also.
There are a few quirks, some of which may be fixable, I just may not yet have found the appropriate function or menu choices yet. For instance, the amp resets the volume to -40dB whenever you change inputs, or whenever it comes out of the setup menu. This has gotten a bit tiresome on occasion, as I've been frequently adjusting the setup in these first few weeks. And why do you have to reset the volume if I'm just making a video adjustment? Then there's the one major design quirk: though this is a 7.1 amplifier, you only get 5 speaker terminals plus a sub output, essentially 5.1 output. To get 7.1 sound, you have to hook up a SECOND AMP to the rear surround channels via the Adcom's 7.1 outputs, and power those two rearmost speakers with the second amp. The Adcom will not power those last two speakers by itself. I knew this limitation going in and it was not a deal-killer for me. As I said I'm most interested in stereo music, home theater is secondary.
But on the surround front, the Adcom provides a number of surround options (most of which will be familiar to those who have used surround amps before, see the Adcom manual for details on all the different modes) and I must give a particular thumbs-up to the "5 Stereo" mode, which simply sends right and left to their appropriate speakers (front and rear) and a combined (mono) signal to the center. The processing employed by most amps/modes to translate stereo into a 5.1 setup is typically abhorrent to audiophile sensibilities, but the Adcom's 5-Stereo mode achieves a more-than-tolerable stereo surround with commonsense simplicity.
The 700HD is a multi-room amp capable of managing a "room 2", though an additional amp is required to power those speakers, the Adcom will just act as the input source. I have not set any of that functionality up yet.
The video upconversion & processing abilities are impressive as well, but here I think is where this model is starting to show its age. Though I have not yet been able to perform all the testing I want on this yet, it does seem that there is a bit more video artifacting at 1080i going through the amp, as opposed to a straight cable-to-TV HDMI hookup. But from what I read no cable system dishes 120Hz HD, so the 60Hz limitation of the amp shouldn't be a factor there. More testing on my part is required to confirm the artifacting differences. Soon I will have a BD and will be able to check how a true 1080p 120Hz source looks through the amp (I suspect I'll be hooking the BD straight to the TV for video). I will update this review if I discover anything remarkable.
In conclusion, this amazing audiophile HD receiver is an absolute steal at any price point under $1000, despite being a five year old design. I am very happy to own one and would recommend it to anyone who cares about good sound.

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Yamaha NS-555 3-Way Bass Reflex Tower Speaker (Each) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought these speakers only after I made the mistake and purchased the NS-125s. After being very disappointed with those speakers, I was looking for anything to cheer me up. Then when my package of NS-555's came, and I set them up...wow!! I am using them as my main speakers, along with my Yamaha receiver, center, rear and powered sub. I wanted to go wtih Yamaha speakers as my main to complete my setup.
All I can say, after I figured my receiver for the better main speakers, I was litterly blown away. These speakers rock and now my TV room sounds like a movie theater. I was worried that my receiver wouldn't have enough power for these speakers. I am running 75 watts per channel in theater mode and 100 watts in stereo mode. Even with the 75 watts, I can not even turn my system above -30 before the sounds starts to rock the entire house!!! This was the sound that I was looking for when I first had my idea of a home theater system.
Overall I highly recommend these speakers. I could not beleive the power difference between the NS-125s, and for only $50 more per speaker, the choice is all ready made easy! These speakers sound great. I can hear sounds in movies that I never heard before, seeing I was using a 2 way speaker and upgraded to a 3 way. All I need now is to upgrade my center to a 3 way and I am done!

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Yamaha's NS-555 speaker system has been designed specifically for home theater applications. The floor standing speaker is a bass-reflex design that can be used for main channels and incorporates a pair of 6 1/4-inch Polymer-Injected Mica Diaphragm (PMD) cone woofers, a 5-inch midrange cone driver and a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter. For improved imaging, the midrange and tweeter utilize Yamaha's exclusive waveguide horns. Unlike most homes, movie theaters use sound absorbing materials on walls and ceilings. The result is that the sound reaching your ears is the sound wave produced by the speakers rather than reflected off the walls. Yamaha has created wave guides that greatly reduce reflected sound and increase the proportion of directly generated sound waves reaching your ears. The result is a clear and precise sense of sound direction and placement. Yamaha has chosen to ensure optimum sound quality by internally wiring some of the components with Monster Cable. This ensures a clean, clear signal from the crossover network to the speaker driver. Yamaha's matching speaker stands provides the solid footing necessary for full floor contact, enhanced stability, and minimal vibration resonance. The stands also provide an attractive counterpoint to the cabinet. The speaker is magnetically shielded, so it can be placed on a TV or video monitor without degrading the picture via stray magnetic fields. To further maintain signal purity, Yamaha provides bi-wiring capability for the NS-555 speakers. There are separate +/- terminals for the woofer and other drivers. The separation reduces modulation distortion and better sound quality. The EF series speakers are enclosed in an Elliptical Form cabinet with a high gloss black piano finish, which provides solid construction with minimal sound diffraction. New grill design and grill cloth provide an attractive and acoustically transparent protective cover for the drivers.

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Denon AVR4310CI 7.1-Channel Multi-Zone Home Theater Receiver with Networking Capability and 1080p HDMI Connectivity Review

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(More customer reviews)I got this only 2 weeks ago, so this is a preliminary report:
From my testing so far:
Pros:
1. Great sound; drastic (positive) improvement over previous Denon 1508 I had in this setup.
2. Video: The upconversion from any source to HDMI is good and works without a hassle. (The worst case testing of standard cable to 1080p doesn't look good and is more grainy than I would have liked; but standard DVD looks fantastic on my Panasonic 1080p plasma with this receiver).
3. Audussey setup: was quite easy (just took some 10 minutes) and once done, had done a good job of measuring distances and capacities of speakers I have (Martin Logan Aeons for the front, Vignette for the center, ML Grotto for the sub, but a low end polk audio for surrounds in my 5.1 setup), and correctly set the relative power etc for the speakers. I can see the difference in one of the side chairs in my listening setup.
4. On screen GUI: Great improvement over my previous Denon/Marantz etc. Again this works flawlessly, and the GUI, while it can be improved, is good enough for most people.
5. The remote: the primary remote, after you get used to it, is great. Now I could dispose of my Panasonic TV remote as well as my DVD player's remotes and just use one remote effortlessly. I also have a Harmony remote that I stopped using long time ago, and this remote is better than the harmony remote in my experience (one simple reason is that harmony remembers the state of the equipment and expects you to use only the remote always; so if you do manual change, for e.g, walk up to the TV and switch it on, harmony gets confused!). Again a great improvement over previous/lower end Denon models.
5. Network access/firmware upgrade: just having these features is a plus (BUT...I had lot of issues with this - that I am covering below)
6. Ipod direct connectivity using front USB input: great again. (I was able to connect both iphone first gen and a ipod video 5th gen as well as a ipod nano 3rd gen and use them correctly using the onscreen menu). There is an audio improvement mode that improves the compressed mp3 music ("Restorer" - has 4 modes - off or no processing, 64, 96bit and HQ - high quality?)
7. Several inputs - 6 HDMI inputs there is even a set of front inputs - hdmi, composite,USB inputs for convenience.
8. Doesn't get too hot! I tried pushing this - a higher volume on my sub-4 ohm Martin Logans and no sweat! Receiver does get hot but not too hot that you will burn your fingers! This is one big reason I bought this receiver - my experience with other brand rececivers was quite bad - at 75-90 watt/channel, these receivers trip my house fuses frequently; Denon (both my old 1508 at 75 watts and 4310 now at 130 watts) does admirably well in this regard and I have no complaints - only superlative praises for the efficiency and power handling of Denon.
Now for the CONS and the problems I encountered:
1. Poor, unfinished, mediocre web access - while it does allow you to change the source, do the setup of components, control multi zones, volume control etc using [...] (browser) access), it looks very primitive - not one that you expect in a 2000$ receiver.
2. NET/USB and other network Modes: Several bugs here - let me try a few,, but I am not finished finding them yet!
a. Doesn't recognize any NAS drives in the home network; only sees Windows media servers in the network! So to play music in a NAS drive, I have to first add it to a WMP library and then I can play that from Denon. This is more a feature request than a bug.
b. While navigating through list of songs/albums etc, there is no page up/page down keys and so going down one entry at a time and lack of search is a pain when you have thousands of songs.
c. There is a minor bug in playing media server/USB files: while the display goes to sleep after a minute or so, the album art stays in the screen in the same place - this will be bad for plasma TVs!
d. Ipod troubles: I have a first generation iphone and so when I connect that, there is a warning on iphone that says this device is not compatible and so I should put the phone in airplane mode. Say no to this screen and it continues to work normally! Not sure if it is apple's bug or denon's bug! But Denon is recognizing older ipods to current generation.
Quite a few problems I saw with NET/USB/Media server/internet radio have been solved with the firmware updates over the last month..
I want to give 4.5 stars, only because most of the problems I saw can be fixed by software updates (I hope Denon will act fast), and the rest, the most important thing for me - audio quality, video quality, power handling - are worth 6 stars.
I haven't got to testing Audussey DSX - the height and wider channel features presented by this receiver. I will update this review as I test more features...
Update: July 2010: After almost a year and several firmware upgrades later, I still haven't tested the Audissey DSX feature. But the problems I noted with media server/Net are still there - in particular, the media server is still sooooo slow, I can't really use it. In fact, my Denon is wired to the wireless router. Sharing music between my systems using wireless on Windows 7 pcs/notebooks is reasonably (much) faster but Denon is quite slow - literally takes several seconds for each key press. Internet radio, napster, usb drives etc are quite useable (no issues there).
The http screens for this receiver are still primitive - no changes there. You will still need the on-screen menus if you want to make changes. The best you can do with http access is to change the input, change volume/mute (more like a simple remote).
Ultimately, the sound quality is great and audio performance of this receiver rocks - the sole reason for my buying this receiver. In spite of all the other small issues I mentioned, the sound quality and power performance (runs quite cool for the power it handles) is one of the best I have seen at this price range.
UPDATE: 11/26/2010: With the latest firmware updates, the network access and Ipod/USB access etc seem to have improved several fold. Now access to media on my NAS box in the home network is quite snappy, and I can play a song in a couple of seconds after selecting the song.


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The new AVR-4310CI is a technological tour de force, designed for consumers wanting to network their AV system. Ethernet connectivity opens up your AV system to host of exciting capabilities like audio and jpeg photo streaming and Internet radio. Additionally, subscription music services like Rhapsody and Napster are supported. The AVR4310CI packs a punch with 7-channels of onboard amplification producing 910-watts of total power (130 per channel). The amplifiers can be assigned for 7.1 channel surround sound, or a 5.1 channel system in the 'main" room and power a pair of speakers in a second 'zone". This only scratches the surface of the AVR4310CI Multi-zone (3) / multi-source (3) capability. Enhanced power amp assign features, second and third zone programming feature allow the AVR4310 to be the hub of a sophisticated whole house system. For video connectivity, the AVR4310CI is equipped with 1080p compatible HDMI 1.3a Repeating technology, delivering both audio and video to your HDTV with single HDMI cable. This HDMI connectivity supports the latest generation surround sound formats available on Blu-ray disc, including Dolby TrueHD and DD+, dts-HD and dts-HR. Also included is Dolby Laboratories new Pro Logic IIz Matrix decoding featuring front height effects channels that expands front soundstage. The AVR4310CI boasts a number of Audyssey technologies, and is the first to offer Audyssey DXS processing. DSX (Dynamic Surround Expansion adds front height and/or width channels to expand the soundstage. Advanced Audyssey MultEQ XT analyzes a speaker systems interaction with room acoustics at 8 positions, and then delivers custom tailored correction processing to optimize clarity and tonal balance throughout the listening space. Audyssey Dynamic Volume is an automatic volume-leveling system that tracks audio dynamics to eliminate the irritating volume swings between TV shows and commercials.

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Sony SSF-7000 Floor-Standing 4-way Speaker with 8" Woofer (Pair) Review

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(More customer reviews)Purchased and Received these speakers just a couple days ago. The free shipping was great considering the weight of the speakers.
They are great! No complaints here. I was upgrading from my original aiwa speakers (made by sony) in my home entertainment system. The difference is amazing. Highs mids and lows are all great. I always recommend a powered sub woofer, I do have one. However, if you get these speakers you can get by without one.
My listening interests are varied. I have listened to Kiss, ELO, The Hollies, Peter Frampton, Supertramp and some classical on these speakers so far. I have also viewed a couple movies using them. All sounded great. "Do You, (Feel Like I Do) sounded GREAT! All the ELO was crisp, clean and clear. The only "booming," as mentioned in the other review, that I heard was while listening to "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" by the Hollies. However, it did appear to be a bass sound that was appropriate with the song, not anything abnormal. But then again, it may just be different taste.
Oh, and the picture shows the speaker as looking more of a grey than black. They are black, not the grey like the picture shows. that is good since my tv and all my entertaiment system units are all black.
My advice is you cannot go wrong with these. If anything changes I will update.

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The ultra-powerful SS-F7000 floor-standing speakers will refresh your appreciation for music. With pristine sound reproduction and high-quality drivers, these speakers bring new life to your music collection. Just as the original composer intended, the sound quality is so rich you feel like you're at a private concert. Lows, mid-ranges and high tones are recreated in high resolution audio, making even the most subtle sounds music to your ears.

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Denon AVR-4806 - AV receiver - 7.1 channel Review

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(More customer reviews)I started out looking at $500 A/V receivers, and gradually worked my way up to the Denon AVR-4806. Sometimes I think I must have been crazy, but more often I glad I bought this unit. What do you get for 3 grand? Needless to say, you get great sound, but you get a lot more.
It is THX Ultra2 certified and will handle up to 10 speakers. So no longer do you have to live with a mere 2 channels of surround sound. It actually gives meaning to the word surround. It comes with a microphone (on a 20' cord) used to set the system up you plug it in and place the mike in various listening positions, and it determines all the distances and sound levels for each speaker automatically. Very cool!
It has 3 HDMI inputs, so you can plug in your DVD player, Tivo Series 3, and Playstation 3 using HDMI and output them all via HDMI to your TV. In the present technology world this is the best way to connect things digitally. If your equipment doesn't have HDMI outputs, it will also accept component, analog and optical output and upconvert them flawlessly.
The manual is about 150 pages, and not terribly easy to understand. When I bought it, it was offered by Crutchfield, and from Etronics (for several hundred dollars less). I paid the premium that Crutchfield charged, and I'm glad I did. With all the possible settings and confusion, I've already taken advantage of their lifetime tech support to get things working.
The AVR-4806 is now discontinued, and is replaced by the AVR-4806CI. I understand the CI stands for `custom installation'. What the exact differences between the two are, I don't know, but for the additional $1,000, I doubt they're worth it.
If you want an audiophile quality receiver that is able to upscale all your inputs to 1080p, and can afford the relatively steep price tag (although half the price of the next level up), you won't be disappointed in this unit.
Although no longer listed on Amazon as a vendor, Crutchfield still has a few left for $2,999 (the AVR-4806CI is $3,999 from them).
Update 01/10/2007 - I must apologize for this review. After trying to hook up a 1080p device I learned that this unit does NOT switch 1080p. In fact that is the main difference between the AVR-4806 and the AVR-4806CI. The unit is now at Denon being upgraded to a CI. The AVR-4806 is discontinued, but still available from a few vendors (no longer at Crutchfield). I would not recommend buying from somewhere that doesn't offer robust tech support as it is a very complex piece of electronics.
Again, my apologies to anyone who may have been mislead by my erroneous information.


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Onkyo A-9555 Integrated Digital Stereo Amplifier (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I ordered this amp on a whim as a companion for an Onkyo DX-7555 (single disc "audiophile" CD player) since they share a sophistocated remote system. I owned, and still own, a somewhat esoteric AudioLab 8000S which I consider to be sonically flawless and offering great flexibility even though it's almost 15 years old and really didn't expect the Onkyo to be much other than a typical import amp with a lot of bells and whistles but not outstanding performance.....big surprise. This amp is easily the sonic equal of my "British hand crafted" AudioLab, is robustly built and very, very musical. A great bargain at less than $500.
Particularly rewarding is a better than decent MM phono section allowing me to retire a separate head amp for those rare occasions when only vinyl will do. Additionally, while the unit includes bass/treble/and a subtle "loudness contour", the additional circuitry can be bypassed for a "direct" mode which essentially provides a straight wire of gain to your speakers...very clean and powerful. With the companion CD player it's a knockout combination and I recommend it highly.

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Onkyo Digital 85 Watt Stereo Receiver

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Audioengine 5 - PC multimedia speakers for iPod - 45 Watt (total) - 2-way - white Review

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(More customer reviews)
These speakers represent a mindblowing, inconceivable price-performance proposition for the true music lover. The clarity, neutrality, musicality, staging and transparency is simply unreal for a

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Audioengine A5 Powered Multimedia Speaker System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)These really do deliver remarkably clean, powerful sound for their size, and they also do well at lower volumes. There's no shortage of gushing reviews for these on the web, so I'll just add a few tidbits of possible additional interest to prospective buyers:
- Each speaker is satisfyingly heavy, and the entire bottom surface is covered by a solid rubber pad to help keep the speaker in place when you're driving them hard.
- The speaker enclosures are silky smooth (no sharp edges or seams anywhere) and feel thick and well made. Overall fit and finish is lovely to behold. You can't help but believe that these will last for a long time.
- The large speakers are exposed (as pictured), but they're made of kevlar, so they look tough and feel tough, and you won't think twice about the lack of a speaker grille.
- The volume control is on the lower-right corner of the left speaker. It's a knurled dial the size of a standard button, and it turns with a nice, smooth resistance for a feeling of scratch-free precision. Ideally, I'd like to see the volume knob on the top of the speaker for easier access, and I'd rather it extended outward a bit further (it's a bit shallow). But tastes will differ depending upon speaker placement.
- The LED power light is on the lower-left of corner of the left speaker. It's a muted, cool blue that looks great when the lights are off. Not too bright to be a nuisance. The kind of blue light that you know is there but almost seems to disappear into the blackness.
- The power on/off switch is on the middle back of the left speaker, near the outside edge, so you can easily wrap your fingers behind the speaker and feel for the switch to turn it off. Not as easy as I'd like it to be, but not a big hassle. Still, if you like to turn your devices off when not in use, you'll want to place them in a way that allows you easy access to the left side of the left speaker.
- The USB port on the top is for charging only, not for audio pass-through from your iPod, but the makers helpfully provide several short lengths of audio cable suitable for connecting your iPod or other device.
- The secondary audio input jack on the back is analog, not digital, so you won't be able to take advantage of the digital audio-out option of an AirPort Express, for example, but the analog connection sounds fine.
- There's no remote control. Here the speakers suffer in comparison with some similarly priced systems that appeal to iPod users, but clearly the decision was made to divert the cost of that feature into creating the best possible sound at this price point.
- When driving these speakers hard for extended periods, the back of the left speaker (containing the power supply) gets very hot. Very hot. Seriously--you could fry an egg back there, so you'll want to ensure proper ventilation if you plan to rock out a lot. My only concern here is that the hottest area is the area surrounding the AC jack into which I plug my AirPort Express. Can the AirPort Express take the heat? Well, it has so far.
- The bass response is great on these, but if you want even more, you can always hook up a subwoofer, because a subwoofer jack is provided. What more could you ask?

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Audioengine AW1 Wireless Adapter Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I share my thoughts, I want to emphasize that I'm not only commenting on the product itself, but also on the Amazon partner that sold it and the manufacturer of the product as well.
I placed the order with Amazon. OneCall was the Amazon partner to actually fill the order. The product arrived well in advance of the advertised date. Due to other conflicts in my schedule, it sat on my desk for about 2 weeks before I had a chance to even look at it. Regretfully, when I initially set it up, it did NOT work....I am relatively saavy with respect to computer trouble-shooting and was able to conclusively determine that the sending and receiving units were NOT able to see one another. All of the other aspects of set-up were fine...computer saw the USB sender device, patch cords allowed me to connect the USB receiver device to my 20-year old Sony stereo receiver (red/white RCA inputs).
I initially attempted to contact the manufacturer, AudioEngine, over the July 4th weekend. Duh.....stupid move, of course, on my part. Never-the-less, I also contacted OneCall after the July 4th weekend to explore their return options. For the record, they were more than eager and ready to accommodate my return for credit or a replacement unit. That being the case, I indicated I wanted to give AudioEngine a chance to reply to my contacts to them. The next day, I received an e-mail from AudioEngine support verifying my situation and affirming that I probably did have a defective sender or receiver in the package I received from OnceCall. (Oh well, as the expression goes, S%$# HAPPENS.) AudioEngine, ON THE SPOT, IN THE FIRST E-MAIL to me, indicated that they would be sending a replacement unit.....no questions asked. The replacement unit arrived via FedEx two days later....along with instructions and an RMA# for returning the defective unit directly to AudioEngine.
FOR ALL WHO READ THIS, PLEASE HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR, ONECALL AND AUDIO-ENGINE WERE POSITIVELY AWESOME IN THEIR RESPONSE (Just read some other product reviews here on Amazon to realize that this isn't always the case.)
I AM VERY PLEASED TO WRAP UP MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS PRODUCT BY STATING THAT THEAUDIOENGINE W1 PREMIUM WIRELESS AUDIO ADAPTER WORKS LIKE A CHARM.....EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED BY AMAZON, ONECALL, AND AUDIOENGINE. I might add that I live in a home that is about 80 years old and, that being the case, the walls and ceilings are all plaster and steel mesh (not chicken wire or wood) lathe.....all that steel lathe holding the plaster to my walls has given some wireless routers I've tried a run for their money. Not sure why....but absolutely NO ISSUES here with that this time.
Anyway, I must concur with and support the highest praise of the 9 other reviewers of this product. I know individual experiences and situations will always exist, but this unit worked "plug & play" and exceeded what I would have expected based upon my experiences with other "wireless audio" products.
A+++ to Amazon.....OneCall....and AudioEngine for service, support and product! Praise earned....Praise due.....Praise given!
(By the way, I am a professional musician, performer and educator....music is my life and listening to it almost 24/7 is a part of that life.)


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Denon AVR-1611 7.1 Channel A/V Home Theater Multi-Source / Multi-Zone Receiver with HDMI 1.4a supporting 1080p and 3D (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)After having an unfortunate incident with a lightning strike at my home, my Denon AVR-1908 suffered irreparable damage. Within a few weeks my insurance company sent the check to replace it and the hunt for a new receiver was on.
Having owned a Denon, I was very familiar with the quality and outstanding sound their receivers can produce - but made the decision to research other brands such as Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer and of course the new line of Denon AV receivers. I have a 7.1 surround sound Home Theater so my future purchase had to meet that criteria. After some research I had narrowed my search down to the Denon AVR-1611 and the Onkyo TX-SR508 receivers, then visited a local electronics store to compare the two receivers in functionality and sound. After comparing the two I found that the Denon delivered a more rich, deep sound reproduction with outstanding surround sound imagery as compared to the Onkyo, at least in my opinion.
The Denon AVR-1611 offers some features that I definitely wanted, and some that I may want to utilize should I decide to upgrade my Home Theater. It offers HDMI 1.4a inputs and output for 3D movie features (still on the fence with 3D), if I decide to upgrade to a 3D capable Home Theater this receiver will accommodate this option. The rear I/O panel is extremely clean compared to older AV receivers, due to HDMI. There are 4 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output eliminating the need for multiple component inputs, this made for a much quicker and cleaner equipment setup. The various available sound formats, i.e., DTS Master, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus encoded with this receiver switch very efficiently with the source material - to date I have not had to adjust this manually. The receiver is very pleasing aesthetically, and fits in well with the rest of my components but does have some heft to it. The Denon AVR-1611 also offers ARC (audio return channel) via the HDMI output to allow for both sending and receiving an audio signal, but please note that your television must also have the ARC feature. The other plus with this receiver is the upconversion of standard definition DVD's due to the HDMI upconversion feature, althought it now sounds cliche - it truly makes my older movies look like new again with near HD resolution. The only criticism I have that prevented my awarding this receiver a perfect 5 stars is the lack of an AC Power Outlet in the back of the receiver. I found this to be a real convenience option for plugging in my JBL PB10 powered subwoofer. I wonder if this has been eliminated due to reducing the overall power draw for electronics in meeting with "GREEN TECHNOLOGY"? Regardless, I found that I missed having the outlet and wish they would incorporate it back into the design.
The owners manual can be intimidating, with its overview of all the features and functions designed in the AVR-1611 - this is where the AUDYSSEY AUTO SETUP feature shines! Denon included a specialized microphone to allow owners the convenience of letting the receiver setup your surround parameters without hours of manual work. Not only did this feature effectively set the surround sound parameters of all 7 speakers and my subwoofer, it also measured the distance from each speaker to the listening area, as well as decibel/gain setting for each individual speaker. It even determined the size of my speakers from small to large! To gauge the accuracy, I took out my tape measure and my Radio Shack sound level meter and began testing, and found the accuracy of Audyssey to be remarkable! For the novice setting up their Home Theater this feature would be invaluable.
To date I can offer no complaints, save for the missing AC power outlet. The surround sound imaging is outstanding, music CD's sound amazing, and the Denon AVR-1611 has real ease of use. It supports all of the most popular sound formats and upconverts my standard definition DVD's beautifully. I would highly recommend this receiver to anyone who is on a budget looking for an AV Receiver that offers a multitude of features and is as close to audiophile reproduction as you can get. It certainly pleases this movie buff.


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A versatile A/V surround receiver with a 7.1-channel amplifier, the Denon AVR-1611 is designed to be the centerpiece of an exciting home theater system. It supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding and it includes the latest HDMI 1.4a technology, which provides for 3D pass-through capabilities to your HDTV (broadcast and Blu-ray). It also features Dolby Pro Logic IIz, a technology that adds a vertical dimension at the front for a more exciting surround sound experience. Last, but not least, the high-performance AVR-1611 includes Audyssey MultEQ, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume for optimum tonal balance, with no volume jump due to commercial interruptions.

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