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Denon AVR-1909

Sony and Pioneer receivers edge out the competition in CNET shootout

Back in November, I asked the question, "What's the best midpriced AV receiver?"--but had to confess that we hadn't reviewed as many as we would've liked. Since then, Senior Associate Editor Matt Moskovciak and resident Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg sequestered themselves in the CNET listening room and put several models to the test.

When the smoke cleared, the Sony STR-DG920 was at the top of the heap, with the Pioneer VSX-1018AH and Onkyo TX-SR606 impressing us as well. The Denon AVR-1909 sounded great and was packed with features, but that model's confusing remote control … Read more

Review: Denon AVR-1909 sounds great, looks great, but tough to set up

We like to encourage buyers to opt for a dedicated AV receiver over a home-theater-in-a-box system, but there's no doubt that buying separate components requires a little more AV know-how.

The benefit of separate components is that you'll get better sound and more features, and it's easier to upgrade in the future. The Denon AVR-1909 is a good example of this, as we felt its sound quality was a cut above the norm, and on top of three HDMI inputs, it offers strong support for older analog video connections as well.

The downside, however, is that it'… Read more

What's the best midpriced AV receiver?

Update (February 12, 2009): Check out our follow-up story, with full reviews of all the products mentioned here.

I receive a lot of e-mail asking why we haven't reviewed many AV receivers in recent months. First off, let me say: mea culpa. Reviews coverage of this category has suffered, mostly because AV receivers are among the most time-consuming products to analyze (because they now need to be examined in detail for their audio and video performance). But enough of the excuses; here's what we're doing to remedy the situation. … Read more