Video Asylum

Posted by Ace (i) on May 26, 2000 at 13:07:02:

In Reply to: New or used Pre/Pro or receiver for $1000.00 to $1500.00 posted by brilon on May 14, 2000 at 04:59:00:

I have been using a Denon AVR 3300 receiver, which cost me about $900 new, for three or four months and have been pleased with the sound and functionality. It has component video switching. The DSP modes all sound pretty stupid to me. However, the 5-channel stereo mode can be addictive on electronic-heavy music (dance club music and the like). I switch back to stereo for more traditional music. The universal learning remote would appear to have all of the functions I would ever use, but it is for whatever reason cumbersome and I end up using the remotes of the other components for tasks other than switching and volume. It has pre-outs and (helpful for upgrades) 8-channel analog inputs. The multi-room function seems to me to be fairly useless as it requires an integrated amp in the other room.

I consider the piece a very good value. As you can see my discussion is fairly feature-focused; it is my first home theater system and I don't really feel qualified to say much about the audio/video fidelity, other than that I am very pleased with it and that it sounded "better" than the other units (in the same price range) I auditioned before buying it.