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(More customer reviews)Right after the warranty expired on my Onkyo TX-SR606 the HDMI ports starting acting flaky.After some research I found that this receiver did have some issues with the HDMI processing board. Instead of sending it off for service, I decided to get a new AV receiver and started the process of narrowing my choices down. As you know since you're reading this, the task can be daunting to say the least.You can read dozens of favorable reviews on certain receivers and then read a few bad ones and you're off in search of the next "perfect" receiver. Also, at this point in the year we are just months away from the 2011 models so then you wonder what you're going to miss out on if you don't wait. I decided to not concentrate on every single specification but on what is most important for any av receiver: SOUND!!! Next I wanted iPod connectivity and finally reliability since my other receiver lasted a little over two years. The problem with choosing a receiver based on its sound quality is that this subjective and can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I listen to a lot of music and well as enjoying Blue Ray movies for their clarity and digital sound so I wanted a receiver that could handle both well. As I was researching the thing that kept cropping up about the Denon receivers was their excellent sound. I still use my 15 year old Denon receiver on the back porch and have always liked their products so Denon was definitely at the top of my list. I narrowed it down to the Pioneer VSX-1120-K and the Denon AVR-2311CI. The deciding factors in choosing the Denon were the reviews that kept saying how good this receiver processes both the digital video audio as well as music, the USB port for direct iPod connectivity and the 3 year warranty vs. the 1 year on the Pioneer (the Pioneer was a slight bit less expensive but by the time you purchased a 3 year warranty the prices were about the same.) I have had the Denon now for one week and I couldn't be more pleased! It worked flawlessly right out of the box and the Audyssey set up was accomplished without even cracking open the manual (one flaw of the receiver is the plastic cover that covers the front inputs for a digital video camera and the Audyssey mic. You press in on it expecting it to open like a hinged door. Instead it pops completely out). I have Mirage M490 bookshelves as my fronts and a Polk RM85 surround system (using 5.1 with no rear since almost no Blue Ray HD audio processes 7.1 channel), a Polk PSW110 powered subwoofer and a Panasonic DMP-BD55 Blueray. My TV is a Samsung LN52A630. The first Blueray disk I tested was The Lord of the RIngs The Fellowship of the Rings and I must say I was blown away!!!! My Onkyo sounded good but the overall sound quality of the Denon was unmistakable!! I was hearing things I had not heard before and the surround separation was superb. When I plugged in my iPod I was disappointed in the sound so I know I had some adjusting to do so I grabbed the manual. Some reviews of this receiver indicated that you had to be a true Audiophile to accomplish some of the more nuanced features of the receiver and this is true to an extent. If I had not had previous experience with my Onkyo some of the setting would have been difficult. The manual assumes a lot in my opinion but in many respects it is very thorough which is a good thing. Believe it or not, the most complicated task was getting the remote set up for it to control all my other components. The only component I couldn't get it to control was my PS3. Other than that, I now have only one remote (it easily set up to control my Disk Network DVR)!!! The remote could use some updating as the buttons are small and not intuitive in many cases (e.g. you press the "Standard" button to switch between the different Dolby Digital outputs). One plus on the remote are the three Quick Select buttons that you can easily set up to access your TV, Cable/Sat and Dock with the touch of a button. There are separate surround modes for video and music output which, when set up, makes the music come alive!! In the music mode, you can adjust the surround depth "forwards and backward" the sound coming from the center out towards the fronts left and right to give a more full sound for music. There are also treble and bass adjustments under "Tone". Once I got this set up the music from the iPod was exceptional!!!! The Graphical User Interface is very good and easy to use. When the iPod is attached, you can navigate all the menus on the iPod on TV screen using the remote. Other functions such as switching from surround video to music are easily accomplished. Video upscaling to 1080 is excellent as well. The display on the receiver gives you all the information you need.
Overall I couldn't be any happier with this receiver and the sound it is producing and its overall look and performance. I highly recommend!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Denon AVR-2311CI 7.2 Channel A/V Home Theater Multi-Source/Multi-Zone Receiver with HDMI 1.4a Supporting 1080p and 3D (Black)
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