Denon AVR-3801 7.1 Channels Receiver

This receiver is a monster, it weighs in at a hefty 37 pounds. Every ounce of this receiver is great. I'm not exactly sure why the picture of this receiver is gold, the receiver is black in real life, perhaps it was a special edition. Also, the estimated price for this from epinions.com is definitely not accurate! Unless you buy it from an online site which is very shady, the warranty almost never included. At a real brick and mortar store expect to pay closer to $1100-1200. The main reason to buy this receiver over the Denon 2801 is that it has 6.1 Dolby Digital Processing, supports 7 Channel output, and the Optical Digital Output. It will take ANY source, analog or digital, and output it through the optical digital output. This is very useful for recording to a mini-disc player or other digital recorders. In terms of controls, the AVR3801 has very simple and easy to use controls. The Sony ES line is much harder to use, as is the Onkyo Line, including the TXDS989 and the Integra Series. The Denon AVR 3801 has superior sound, features and controls to any other receiver in this price range. This receiver also boasts multi-source, multi-room output which is very useful. You can have different volumes, and different sources in different rooms at the same time. Of course this receiver has Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro-Logic processing, as well as a 5 or 7 channel stereo mode which works great on non-digital sources like a VCR, cable-tv, CDs, and so forth. Sony does not have a 5 channel, let alone a 7 channel stereo mode.

Quick run down on the inputs:

-5 Composite Video Inputs (Yellow Video inputs)

-2 Composite Video Outputs

-5 S-Video Inputs

-3 S-Video Outputs

-2 Component Video Inputs

-1 Component Video Output

-2 Optical Digital Inputs

-1 Optical Digital Output

-1 Coaxial Digital Input

-9 Analog Audio Inputs

-3 Analog Audio Outputs

This receiver automatically detects digital or analog sources. You can also adjust the timing of each speaker in milli-seconds since some speakers may be farther away. This reduces any echo effect in a large room. Of course you got the very nice remote with learning and macro capabilities and a LCD screen with backlighting. This receiver is hooked up to my NHT 2.5I Front speakers, a NHT Super Center speaker, pair of NHT Super 1XU surround/bookshelf speakers, and a Energy EXLS-10 Subwoofer. The receiver is plenty powerful enough to not need a subwoofer for music with this setup. I work at a store where we sell Onkyo, Sony, and Denon to name a few and this receiver blows them all away.