Denon AVR 1909 7 1 Channel Multizone Home Theater Receiver
Ready for the future, the AVR-1909 is equipped with the latest high resolution surround sound format decoding capabilities, including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD Master Audio the latest high resolution audio formats found on many Blu-ray high definition discs. The powerful seven channel amplifier section can be configured for 7.1 channel surround sound, as well as being able to drive a 5.1 channel system in the main room along with powered stereo speaker outputs for second zone audio.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Overall great receiver
The setup on this beast is complicated and I consider myself very competent when it comes to electronics. I still can’t get anything but fm radio to the 2nd zone. I have everything setup running through this receiver and it sounds fantastic powering my klipsch 5.1 speakers. I still highly recommend this or a Onkyo – onkyo is way easier to configure.
3 Stars Great Sound, Poor Quality & Laborious Set-Up
Receiver died only after ten (10) months of average usage. Spent $30 to return unit to Denon for warranty repair. Three (3) to four (4) weeks turn around time. This is a MAJOR inconvenience since this receiver is the cornerstone of my entertainment system.
All the reviews indicated that Denon makes quality receivers with great sound. The sound is incredible but the quality is disappointing for such an expensive unit. Also, setting up the unit is not for the faint of heart and something I do not look forward to when I get the receiver back from Denon.
1 Star Wish there was an option for ZERO stars
In short, I have had THE MOST negative experience of my life with both DENON customer service representative D&M HOLDINGS, as well as my brand new AVR-1909. After purchasing my unit in Sacramento (no local DENON dealers), more than 5 hours away from my home I hooked everything up and everything worked for 20 minutes tops. I attempted to return the unit to the store (BEST BUY) but they have no means to accept shipping returns, so I turned to DENON corporate, relying on their reputation to take care of this situation. I would have to drive 10+ hours, get a hotel room, and pay for gas to return an item that worked for less than 1/2 hour.
I contacted D&M Holdings, who are the corporate headquarters for DENON as well as other high quality audio equipment. I spoke with Mary St. John about the problem, and suggested that since the unit was BRAND NEW and obviously failed as a result of a faulty part that they send out a new unit instead of making me wait for a repair. I was told the turn around for repairs was approximately 1 month. I informed her that waiting 1 month for something that has only worked for 20 minutes was unreasonalbe. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she told me that she was the supervisor and there was no one else for me to talk to… However, she did offer to place my unit to the front of the repair queue upon arrival and return it to me via next day air. This occured 5/1/2009. I was just informed today after I called that my unit had shipped out July 1…and not even overnight as promised. Lets see…average time is 30 days, but being placed in front of other repairs should get things out a little quicker than that…however over 9 weeks later I still do not have the unit. Needless to say, the item wasn’t even shipped overnight, and I doubt it was placed in the front of the queue. What a worthless company with no regard for people spending their hard earned money during tough economic times.
I would suggest to those of you considering buying a DENON product, that you buy an alternative… I know Yamaha has great products and service, among manny other offerings. I would stongly advise that purchases of DENON, McIntosh, Marantz, Snell, Escent, and Allen&Heath be avoided at all costs as their US service center representatives D&M HOLDINGS misleads consumers and offer the POORSET customer service I have recieved during my 36 years on this earth.
I plan on selling this receiver…most likely at a loss, and I personally will never own another DENON product in my life.
MARY ST. JOHN
[...]
4 Stars Be Prepared
The Good:
The Denon 1909 is priced as a entry-level AVR, even though it has many of the qualities and features of receivers that are significantly more expensive. The HD processing and 480/720i up-converting are excellent, as is the audio. Using Audyssey technology, the 1909 enables the owner to configure the surround sound to match the room, which is a significant advantage over many other receivers in this price range. Likewise, the 1909 has a volume-leveling feature that eliminates the annoyance of having commercials blasting way beyond the level of any TV program one is watching. I also like the fact that this is a solid piece of equipment, weighing in at around 26 lbs, giving it good physical stability.
The Bad:
It seems reasonable to assume that anyone buying an AV receiver knows something about technology and is confident about his or her ability to connect the 1909 to an existing system. In this case, any confidence is most likely misplaced. The 1909 is amazingly difficult to set up, in part because the user manual is essentially worthless. I got the impression it was written in Chinese by a native speaker of Swahili and then translated into English by a native speaker of Arabic. An important bit of information missing from the manual, for example, is that the remote has a hidden back panel that covers crucial controls for installation. Speaker configuration can take as long as two hours; device and audio mode assignment and can take just as long, or longer. Indeed, setup and installation are so problematic that AV Forum has (as of June 21, 2009) a thread dedicated to 1909 installation that is nearly 300 pages long. I recommend that purchasers go to the AV Forum BEFORE they attempt any setup. Doing so can save many hours and much frustration. Finally, many purchasers (like me) may be upgrading from a bundled “theater system” to enhance the HD and audio quality of HDTV and Blu-ray signals. These bundled theater systems have built-in amplifiers for the subwoofer, but the 1909 does not. Consequently, you will need to purchase an active subwoofer to complete your system. Your passive subwoofer will not function with the 1909.
5 Stars All you will ever need
This is the list of equipment I used to make my system.
Acoustic Audio HD515 In Wall Ceiling 5.1 Home Theater Stereo Speakers.
Dayton SA70 70W Subwoofer Amplifier.
DLO Home Deluxe Ipod Dock. (Not that happy with it, it has some software hangups).
Logiteck 1100 remote control. (See my report on this remote)
Any HD TV with HDMI input.
Any DVD/CD player with a HDMI output.
Use any 12awg or 14awg wire to connect the speakers.
The setup despite the reviews I have read is a breeze.
Fantastic sound.
Buy/More Info
