Electronics Reviews Top - Home Audio & Home Theater

Review from JDK
Time July 16, 2010 at 11:18 am

This issue the above poster discusses is not the fault of the 591, rather it is typical of an HDMI handshake issue that is common with many different types of cable/satellite boxes connected to HDMI repeaters (ie AVRs).
Rating: 5 / 5

Review from W. G. Brooks
Time July 16, 2010 at 12:22 pm

I wanted to upgrade our bedroom system and came across this unit. We all know and love Denon so that part was a slam-dunk… But check out the details, it’s fully 3D ready with 1.4a HDMI, it’s got the Audyssey system for calibrating all your speakers and decodes the latest sound tracks [DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS ES 6.1 ...] and pumps out 75W/ch. –plenty enough for ANY bedroom system! WAIT WAIT WAIT, I forgot to mention the coolest part, I got this baby delivered all the way to Maui in less than a week for under $400 tax, title and tags!!! Now my system in the bedroom sounds just as good as the living room at a fraction of the cost.. and the girlfriend loves it to because we now go to bed a lot earlier!

BTW, if you didn’t already pick it up, I LOVE this receiver! All thumbs up!
Rating: 5 / 5

Review from C. Covalucci
Time July 16, 2010 at 1:34 pm

Talk about a modern feature set. Whether or not firmware will upgrade HDMI 1.3 or not on your existing system, choosing a system with an HDMI 1.4 repeater for all inputs is a good idea and this unit certainly has the skill to do so. Let’s jump right into the pros and cons of the unit because it certainly isn’t perfect. As a long-time user of Pioneer/Sony ES/Denon receivers, I think Denon’s done a fair number of things pretty well.

Pros:

- HDMI on-screen Audyssey eq and assignment functions. This helps a lot because the small screen on the unit won’t suffice. Using the same technology as the Alpine imprint system (which works great in the car), you can tune to your environment. Not unique, but well done all the same

- HDMI repeater for all inputs. This is a pro and con, read more to find out why.

- HDMI 1.4 for future 3D capability. Plan for that future 3D screen (Especially good if you already own a PS3)

- Denon reputation and audio quality compared to similar priced Pioneer/Sony units

- Price, very reasonable for the feature set

Cons:

- Power rated at 6 ohms, which, as you might expect means that it doesn’t have quite the juice of its rivals (70w/channel at 8ohm). I definitely notice the lack of power with many inputs more than my previous Sony unit

- HDMI repeater is not particularly good with component inputs. Using the component inputs on the Wii, direct connection to the TV is vastly superior visually to the HDMI conversion the Denon performs

- Relatively steep learning curve. You will find a little frustration with some of the advanced functions as the manual is a bit tedious. This is par for the course though, so nothing specific to Denon.
Rating: 4 / 5

Review from Kelley Peagler
Time July 16, 2010 at 3:18 pm

I received this for my Father’s Day/Birthday gift (actually I have the kit-in-a-box with the Boston Audio speakers) and it is amazing! Took me parts of two days to hook it up, as I had to disconnect the old receiver, devices and speakers, connect and configure the devices and install the home theater speakers. Fairly straightforward to configure the speakers using the Audyssey MultiEQ application. When I finally got everything hooked up and configured – impressive!! I watched my first Blu-Ray movies via PS3 (Star Trek and 2012) and my wife yelled at me because it was too loud – I had the sound at -10 db! My only complaints (and they are minor) is that I wish it had more than one component input (I have an 1G XBox 360 and a Wii), and the transition from input to input is slow. the audio seems to sync faster than the video. It can take several seconds to see the picture from the DirecTV receiver (it is a HDMI DVR, but it is probably the DVR’s problem). I’ll resolve the situation by getting a new XBox that supports HDMI and connect the Wii to the component on the receiver. Best money we’ve spent on electronics in YEARS!
Rating: 5 / 5

Review from Angus66
Time July 16, 2010 at 5:49 pm

The AVR-591 is a solid receiver that does everything I need it to do. This is my 1st Denon product and I must say that it seems to “ooze” quality. Using the included mic with the auto setup program was simple and produced great results when using 5.1 for movies. Needless to say I’m very happy with my purchase.
Rating: 5 / 5