Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Customer Reviews for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

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Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Model: AVR-2308CI
SKU: 8355549
UPC: 081757507790
Learn more about Magnolia Premium Installation   Experience your movies in stunning high-definition with this A/V receiver's 1080p support. Whether you're listening to music or being blown away by a movie's special effects, this receiver delivers 700W of power and a host of digital decoding options to ensure exceptional performance. 799.99
Average Customer Rating:
4.583 out of 5
4.6
 out of 
5
(12 Reviews) 12
Open Ratings Snapshot
Rating Snapshot 12 reviews
5 stars
9
4 stars
2
3 stars
0
2 stars
1
1 star
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92% of customers would recommend this product to a friend 
(
11 out of 12
)
Customer Reviews for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver
Review 1 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Denon 2308

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Lipper
from Tampa
on 02/17/2009
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Sound Quality
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: sound
What's not so great: setup a tad bit complicated
Have added this on the advice of some "audioholic" recomendations. Extremely pleased. Speaker setup via the integrated sensors is magical. I have 8 seats, and every one now is a perfect loccation to hear everything you're suppose to. Have EMP HTP 5.1 speaker set and just couldn't be happier. My home theater f-ing rocks...Thumps. 700 watts is plenty. Adequate # HDMI inputs if you're keeping it simple. for a lot more the 2808/2809 can give you some better decoding and an extra HDMI but with propper Bluray player that decodes correctly this isn't necessary. If you look around and read various chatboards you'll find Denon is highly recommended over other brands..
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 2 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Graet Sound

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: livinproof
from St Paul, MN
on 12/21/2008
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Sound Quality
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
3.0 out of 5
3.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: great sound fairly easy to set up
What's not so great: terrible remote
this unit for the money I spent was a great purchase. Got it on sale for $499. I replaced a Pioneer Elite that was about 7 years old that had problems from day one. Got tired of haveing it repaired. The Denon out preforms my old reciever by far. The only bad thing is the remote. It has functions on the back and when you use it and if you press to hard it will activate the functions on the front. It does talk about this in the owners manual so I fell Denon should do something to take care of this problem. Other than that it preforms great.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 3 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Great Receiver

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Hray
from Austin, TX
on 12/12/2008
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Sound Quality
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: Easy to set up, lots of options, good sound quality
This is a great receiver. I have heard good things about this brand, so decided to go with it. It's great to have it hooked up to so many things and be able to switch from one sound output to the other very quickly. The sound quality is great and it's a good value for what you get.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 4 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Wow, great sound

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: simplyme22
from Euless,TX
on 10/26/2008
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Sound Quality
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: Excellent sound quality
What's not so great: set up is a little confusing
This has the best sound for our home entertainmnet system and after the initial setup it is really easy to use.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 5 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

A worthy upgrade

Customer Rating
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Posted by: wilks
on 04/22/2008
What's great about it: HDMI 1.3a with Audio switching; 1080p upconversion; decent power handling; fantastic sound; easy auto-setup with Audessy
What's not so great: no preamp out; terrible remote;
I purchased this AVR with the expectation of getting higher quality sound out of my speakers, as well as finally moving into a receiver that can handle Dolby/DTS decoding.
Here's what I loved about the product:
Audessy autocalibration tool. Easy to use, just takes patience and a quiet (I mean SILENT) house. The mic is extremely sensitive. It takes room acoustics and distances into account and correctly adjusts the speaker levels to what sounds best. It makes a mediocre piecemail sound system sound pretty good.
HDMI 1.3a switching with 1080p upconversion. This feature was crucial to me if I expected this unit to last me more than a few years. Many receivers out there don't do HDMI audio for this price point.
Here's what I liked about the product:
It has an MP3 restorer function which can be set for any input. This feature attempts to pump frequencies lost in MP3 files that result in a lower quality playback (compared to CD audio.) Not a bad feature if you plug your MP3 player into your stereo from time to time.
It's not extremly difficult to tweak. The menu system is pretty straightforward.
It can handle 6ohm speakers, but not if you're going to operate 2 zones at once, according to the manual.
Here's what I disliked about the product:
The remote! Terrible. All the reviews I saw out there made mention of this and I thought "big deal." If you don't have a universal remote, you'll be begging for one when you try to use this piece. Simple things like trying to figure out how to directly enter a channel when surfing are either A. Not possible or B. Too hard to figure out how to do.
Switching between controlled devices is also difficult as it requires a lit room to see and you have to adjust 2 tiny slide bars at the bottom of the remote.
I like that it has the ability to switch sound modes on the receiver, but that's on the back of the remote and again is too hard to do in a dim room. Blech denon!
No preamp output. If you want to buy 4 ohm speakers, this is not the amp for you. If it had a preamp output, you could always use a separate amp to do the job later down the road, but this unit does not have this feature.
Doesn't decode HD audio. I don't know how much this format will be used in the future, but it stinks that it's not a listed feature.
Possible issue with DVD audio: When watching DVDs, when the track switches (like when watching the previews), I hear a popping sound as the unit loses then re-analyzes the audio signal. I'm not sure if it's a problem with my unit or a design flaw, but it's something to keep an eye out for.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+2points
2out of 2found this review helpful.
Review 6 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Found one, after LOTS of research

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Slappyjigg
from Phoenix
on 04/20/2008
What's great about it: Amazing sound quality, plethora of power, easy auto setup, lossless video conversion quality
What's not so great: Geared towards veteran audiophiles...almost too many set up options
I have done plenty of research with different A/V receivers, returned a couple, and finally settled with one quite amazing mid-priced, mid-range receiver. This thing, once hooked up, works perfectly, has AMAZING sound quality (the clarity is kinda freaky...I had no idea my speakers could belt out such highs (or lows) before!), AND the unit itself stayed relatively cool, to my surprise, even at high levels too, which I know is a problem with receivers getting scolding hot. All that heat can, over time, lead to problem and the unit dying before it's time ladies and gentlemen! The bass management is superb...really bringing to life my definitive tech sub not just with power but with tone and some of the lowest frequencies I've heard. It opens up the room and really brings life to a movie or regular cd...I actually just replayed tons of my older CD's due to the fact the receiver can "repair" any low-quality audio sound by simulating and completing the data they lost in downloads (extra-high highs and deep lows). It's amazing on my IPOD. Now this receiver does NOT have the abilities to play DTS-HD audio in either PCM or bitstream format that Blu-ray disc are capable of outputting, but hardly any blu-ray player has the ability to decode the audio as of now. The PS3 got a firmware upgrade as of 4-15 enabling it to decode the audio, so that solved it for me, but more and more blu-ray players are now decoding the audio internally and sending it to your receiver, solving your problem, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
As far as set-up, the auto detecting set-up using the mic worked very nicely (if not annoyingly...there is a 20-25 second pause between speakers which really makes the auto set-up longer than it should). It detects the distance of each speaker (which it did accurately) and sets up the tones automatically (I did correct the center for more clarity and gain, but left everything else the way the system set it). Once I DID look into the manual set-up on the on-screen display, it was rather dizzying in regards to how specific you can actually set the frequencies with each speaker. It's a great addition and option, but people who want simplicity may be turned off (or just use the auto set-up and you'll be fine). There are those typical "hall, game, stadium" sound scenes, but I'm not sure how much the general public goes into those things. I know I really only use the cinema option for movies, the music option (which actually splits your music into all 5 or 7 of your speakers giving it a very symphonic and much-needed sound and power boost...it works lovely. Denon (keying into those hard-core video-game freaks like me) even made a game-movie hybrid sound option which made me speechless on some of my games I played...I was VERY happy with that.
In regards to video processing capabilities, this thing has absolutely NO problems when it comes to up-converting any video signal (480i to 480P or 720P OR 1080i OOOOR 1080P). I will tell you that the signal when up-converting is slightly DARKER than the original (without upconverting), but I only noticed this because I'm extremely picky and crazy like that. The regular consumer won't notice a thing. Most importantly is that there was no video quality LOSS, such as pixels becoming large and distracting, weird lines either horizontally or vertically, or color misrepresentation. This was KEY to me because I wanted everything to go in the darn thing and come out via 1 HDMI cord, which I can now do, simplifying my MESS of cords behind my entertainment center. Well done. Speaking of HDMI technology, this receiver WILL transfer both audio and video from 1 HDMI cord. I know a lot of people were worried that only the video and NOT the audio would come through to the unit (from, for example, a blu-ray player that uses HDMI TO the receiver allowing the sound to play from the receiver (not just the tv), then a HDMI from the receiver to the TV for all the video. Apparently some receivers don't convert the audio from a receiving HDMI cord, making you side-step that and using different cords for the audio, but I find this useless. That's what HDMI is for, less cords and simplicity! Either way, this receiver doesn't have that problem, but if it DID you can just use the analog audio cords or an optical cord. Whatever.
If you're like me, and have a Wii, PS3, Cd-player (don't really need it, but whatever), Ipod dock, Dvr, and X-Box 360 hooked into your receiver and have to mess with complicated switches to get all the units in synch, you'll LOVE this denon. You can personally configurate an option for a certain input (for example, since there is no PS3 input on the back, I put it in DVD player), you can rename that input so it shows on the front display, set up and lock the audio preference on each, and REMOVE any unused channels. This means that, for example, I don't use "tuner" or "phono". Never listen to the radio, and never use phono, lol. Because there is this convenient "cycle through all your inputs" nob on the front of the system, I "remove" them from that list it would normally cycle through, and keep only the inputs I use. I never have to pass the radio or phono or other not-used input in the cycle, making it very easy to switch to cable if I need to watch something on TV or PS3 if I want to play a game. Love it
On a final note, I am extremely happy with the unit. I realize that with these things, the more you spend, the more likely you are to get what you asked for, but for 850 this thing felt like a steal. The audio is amazing, powerful, accurate, and...ear opening? The video quality is far above most of the competition, even in units that are $1500 or more! Somewhat complicated once you get in the menus (i guess it would have to be if it's the central hub of your entertainment), though it's simplified with the auto-set up. Go out and buy it! Denon's got a name to uphold and they haven't done anything to let it down yet.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+3points
3out of 3found this review helpful.
Review 7 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Gratefull

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Anselmo
from Belo Horizonte - Brazil
on 03/01/2008
What's great about it: input. sound and image quality
What's not so great: no
I bought it to replace my old pioneer 609, and after installed it was a surprise for me so difference. It incresed a lot my system
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 8 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Great receiver...

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: bosawx17
from Glendale, AZ
on 01/11/2008
What's great about it: Sound, inputs, power
What's not so great: Audyssey is very sensitive
This is a great receiver. Denon has a lot of power in their receivers and I need it for my speakers. My speakers are...
Fronts - Def. Tech. BP7006's
Center - Def. Tech. ProCenter 1000
Rears & Surround Backs - Def. Tech SM350's
HDMI audio is great to have and the HDMI upconversion works great as well. Lots of inputs for whatever you may have. The setup of the Audyssey is easy, but very sensitive for the phase control.
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 9 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

best purchase ever

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: denon
from elba, AL
on 12/30/2007
What's great about it: sounds great
What's not so great: too pricey
i love the way it sounds, and its is loud, the reverb sounds great...
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.
Review 10 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

up-converting doesn't work

Customer Rating
2.0 out of 5
2.0
Posted by: tbishop56
from Boston
on 10/21/2007
I have gone thru two of these now and had the same problem with both of them. I used HDMI from my Cable box and HDMI to my TV. Picture was great. However, when I bring in any other format (S-Video, Component, etc) the picture on the TV was horrible. As long as I was staying with one format for every signal- this is a fine machine, but the up-converting to HDMI is busted.
I also found the setup instructions to be confusing, had to do lots of trial-and-error to figure out what the many settings do, rather than just be able to look it up.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
-1point
0out of 1found this review helpful.
Review 11 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Best bang 4 ur buck!

Customer Rating
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Posted by: bnmjimmy
from Miami, FL
on 09/21/2007
I bought this incredible receiver for my 7.1 sorround sound setup in my family room. So far so good, never had an issue just pure amazing sound management.
1: Set-up is really not that difficult, all you need is a little common sense; (u can find this at any drug store), if not, you can easily google installation pics online and you'll find where 2 connect the cables if you just can't look at the manual due to much "manly pride" like I did.
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2: The HDMI set up is also a breeze, connect and easily configure the setting right on the TV screen.
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3: It comes w/ a room microphone to configure the sound from your speakers based on the size and placement as well as the size of your room. Just a simple touch of a button.
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4: It also comes with incredible preset settings for different formats to either hear your TV, Movies, Video Games, and Music.
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Well my experience with this unit has been great, the only reason it's not a "big 5" is because the Unit tends to get extremely hot if it's been running for a long time. Try and keep in a well ventilated area. In my house unfortunately, the way my hometheater is built, the system is in a closed glass drawer with little ventilation but I still have not gotten any issues with it.
Buy it, you'll enjoy it!
I would recommend this to a friend!
+1point
1out of 1found this review helpful.
Review 12 for Denon 700W 7.1-Ch. XM Satellite Radio-Ready A/V Home Theater Receiver

Great Purchase

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: zigzag
from MN
on 09/09/2007
Best Buy installed as part of my Home Theatre system and it does eveything I need it too. Allows for a lot of variable set ups and I can even have music outside while the TV is on in the house
I would recommend this to a friend!
0points
0out of 0found this review helpful.