Denon AVR-687 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver

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Product Feature

• 7.1-channel home theater receiver with 525 watts of total power; meaxures 17.1 x 5.8 x 16.1 inches (WxHxD)
• 75 watts at 8 ohms across seven amplifier channels
• Auto Setup feature precisely balances speaker levels and fine-tunes the delay settings (microphone included)
• XM Radio ready and XM-HD surround sound capable; control iPod via optional dock
• Surround modes: DTS 96/24 decoding for DVD video; DTS-ES 6.1 and Matrix 6.1; DTS NEO:6; Dolby Digital EX; Dolby Pro Logic IIx; Neural Surround

Product Description

Denon AVR687 Home Theater Receiver

Denon AVR-687 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver Review

Let me preface by saying the sound and capabilities of this receiver are best of the bunch for this price point. Not only are there multiple inputs and outputs for every video source, but excellent quality conversions as well. The sound definition and reproduction is fabulous as well. Read the tech specs and brag sheets from Denon for all the info...it's all true.

The main criticism I have is the Owner's Manual and System Setup. I am a tech geek. I love this stuff. But I have never found a manual so poorly written or organized. Instructions on setup are incomplete. Directions concerning how to access certain menus don't work if one switch on the remote is in the wrong position (this switch is never referenced in the directions, by the way...happy hunting). Seemingly simple actions, such as selecting Zone 2 speakers On, are convuluted. There is a Zone 2 button on the front of the actual unit. Seems easy, yes? Just press it. But pressing it does nothing unless you navigate (without much help from the manual) to section 2 of System Setup and scroll to the Preamp section. From there, choose between Zone 2, Surround, Speaker Set A or B. Apparently the Zone 2 Preamp (a separate preamp from the main) also powers a second set of surround speakers used in a 7.1 configuration OR a set of Zone 2 speakers for use in a secondary location. That's great...that's fine. But why would you put a Zone 2 button on the face of the unit AND a Preamp setup in the 4th level of a System Setup Menu? It's redundant. Worse yet, the button on the face of the unit doesn't even work properly if the System Setup Menu isn't configured properly. Clearly, if I want that set of speakers to be used as Zone 2, shouldn't I just press "Zone 2." If I want them as Surround, couldn't I just press it again to de-select? Why not make the button on the face "Zone 2/Surround" and be done with it?

This is just one example of an overly complicated receiver. Here's another seemingly simple item. The volume control increases in increments of 0.5 db per volume touch on the remote. This is pratically imperceptible and with a range of -80db to 16db, you can quickly get frustrated hammering away at your remote like a video game controller. Alternatively, if you press and hold the volume button on a remote, the volume increases too fast and overshoots. Why not make this control interval adjustable? If you're going to preset a volume control at 0.5 db per touch (which is ridiculous), why not allow the user to customize the interval?

Bottom line: The hardware and performance of this unit is great. But the engineers that designed it are not. And the individuals who wrote the owner's manual and designed the remote must have been playing a practical joke. Did they not product test these items? For ease of use alone, I would seriously consider an Onkyo or Harmon Kardon before buying this unit.

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