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I think the sound of the HK and Marantz is slightly warmer than the Denon, but you'll only really notice this slight difference if you're listening to a lot of classical, jazz or vocal pieces. The HK has a lot of issues with the PS3 and even after the latest firmware update, there are still some remaining issues. Even my wife and kids noticed the difference with the first blu ray we popped in. The detail was much more pronounced and the auto speaker calibration really balanced out how my speakers were reproducing the volume and sound accuracy for the room.For music, the receiver had quite a few equalization modes, but what impressed me was how much better the sound stage was in the direct bypass mode compared to my Sony.
The botton side is primarily used to setup the receiver and select the various equalization modes. I would have rated it a full 5 out of 5 if the remote was a more user friendly. This kept me away from the HK even though that was my original choice. It requires you to map each audio, video, and source with each of the primary functions such as DVD, TV/CBL box, etc. The Denon 2309ci did a good job of upscaling sources from my normal DVD and component inputs too.I'd recommend this unit to others as the features, compatibility, sound and picture quality are very good for the price. You'll need a good 2 hours to get the receiver setup, synchronized, and mapped to your inputs. The front side is used to control each of the devices.
It makes life pretty easy and eliminates the need to manually calibrate the sound output for your room.I have a fairly big room and was surprised how accurate it got my speakers tuned. Denon decided to save space and created the remote with buttons on both sides. The Marantz didn't have as many features as the Denon, even though it was just released. It was much clearer and had a deeper sound stage with better separation. For home theater, it really drew out a lot of nuanses that my Sony was simply not reproducing. If you have a PS3, you'd better check out the blogs first.
It's not quite audiophile specs, but it's much better than many of the other low to mid end consumer components I've listened to.The HDMI switching worked well with the PS3, Denon upscaling DVD player, and TV/CBL box I had hooked up to it. I bought this receiver to replace an aging Sony STI-910 receiver when I upgraded the home theater system with a Sony PS3 that we use for blu ray movies and games. I cross shopped the Harmon Kardon 354 series, Pioneer Elite, and new Marantz around the same price range. The first thing you'll appreciate is the automated speaker setup and synchronization system. This takes some getting used to and is a bit of a hassle for the price you're paying.But remote issues aside, the sound is great. One thing that some may find hard to do is the setup of each input.
But once you do the first one, it becomes much easier.The remote control is a bit funky though. Hope this helped.
The monitor is cloned to the second output. If the documentation was clearer I may be able to solve the 2 largest problems with the unit. Audio and video quality are excellent. All works great until the Denon selects a different source then returns to the PC input.
The Media PC video card has dual DVI outputs. Confusing and not clear. If I can make it work it will be a fine unit. A message of unsupported format displays on the TV. The PC drops the extended output when the Denon unloads the connection.
The only thing that restores the picture is power off/on of the TV. The second problem is the connection of my Media PC to the TV through the Denon.
The unit has like 6 inputs but I can only select 3 of them from the remote. Clear documentation may have helped here also.
About all the technical customer service will help you to determine is if you plugged the unit into the wall properly. The documentation does leave something to be desired.
Called Denon customer support and they said the the Samsung's were the problem. The following is prefaced with the fact that all of my input sources to my Samsung 52" LCD worked perfectly prior to Denon.
At the present time the TV loses the signal from the Denon once or twice an hour. I threw the box away so I cannot return the unit.
2309CI mint all these devices together without any issues. My setup is KEF 3005 speakers, Samsung LN46A650 LCD, Atlantis set-top (can't remember model), Year 2000 Panasonic DVD player. Sound and picture quality is amazing. Denon released 2309CI pretty recently (Even BestBuy doesn't have this model in their inventory yet). I am glad that I did. However, Denon's setup menus are little complicated and looks like 90's old systems. After few weeks of research I decided to go with this model. Once you go through that little hump, you won't be disappointed with the price you pay for this product.
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