Great Home Theater Reciever, November 20, 2008
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. The first thing you'll appreciate is the automated speaker setup and synchronization system. It makes life pretty easy and eliminates the need to manually calibrate the sound output...read full review
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. The first thing you'll appreciate is the automated speaker setup and synchronization system. 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. You'll need a good 2 hours to get the receiver setup, synchronized, and mapped to your inputs. One thing that some may find hard to do is the setup of each input. It requires you to map each audio, video, and source with each of the primary functions such as DVD, TV/CBL box, etc. But once you do the first one, it becomes much easier.
The remote control is a bit funky though. Denon decided to save space and created the remote with buttons on both sides. The botton side is primarily used to setup the receiver and select the various equalization modes. The front side is used to control each of the devices. 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. I cross shopped the Harmon Kardon 354 series, Pioneer Elite, and new Marantz around the same price range. If you have a PS3, you'd better check out the blogs first. The HK has a lot of issues with the PS3 and even after the latest firmware update, there are still some remaining issues. This kept me away from the HK even though that was my original choice.
The Marantz didn't have as many features as the Denon, even though it was just released. 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.
For home theater, it really drew out a lot of nuanses that my Sony was simply not reproducing. 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. It was much clearer and had a deeper sound stage with better separation. 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. 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. I would have rated it a full 5 out of 5 if the remote was a more user friendly.
Hope this helped. minimize
Sony LCD owners beware!, February 5, 2009
Hi,
I had this receiver (Denon AVR-2309CI) for less than a week and a half before I returned it to 6th AVE. The sound is great and the video passed through perfectly fine as well. There was a problem though. It took a week researching on what could be the problem and it looks like others are having this problem as well.
read full review
Hi,
I had this receiver (Denon AVR-2309CI) for less than a week and a half before I returned it to 6th AVE. The sound is great and the video passed through perfectly fine as well. There was a problem though. It took a week researching on what could be the problem and it looks like others are having this problem as well.
If you have a Sony flat panel LCD that starts with the letters KDL (ex. KDL-52XBR4, KDL-Z4100, KDL-W3000) then you will have picture and sound dropouts. They will last for 3 seconds then picture and sound will restore. It'll happen anywhere between one to five times an hour and can get quite annoying.
I've spoke to Denon and there is no cure (firmware) or settings that can fix this problem with Sony LCD TVs. Those with rear projection Sony LCDs should be fine.
Trust me I've tried everything from new HDMI cables, different HDMI inputs and outputs, and even power conditioners. It just loses signal then regains the signal. This happens with the Denon-2809CI as well. I've tried both! minimize
Great Product, August 28, 2008
Denon released 2309CI pretty recently (Even BestBuy doesn't have this model in their inventory yet.) After few weeks of research I decided to go with this model. I am glad that I did. My setup is KEF 3005 speakers, Samsung LN46A650 LCD, Atlantis set-top (can't remember model), Year 2000 Panasonic DVD player. 2309CI mint all these devices together ...read full review
Denon released 2309CI pretty recently (Even BestBuy doesn't have this model in their inventory yet.) After few weeks of research I decided to go with this model. I am glad that I did. My setup is KEF 3005 speakers, Samsung LN46A650 LCD, Atlantis set-top (can't remember model), Year 2000 Panasonic DVD player. 2309CI mint all these devices together without any issues. Sound and picture quality is amazing. However, Denon's setup menus are little complicated and looks like 90's old systems. Once you go through that little hump, you won't be disappointed with the price you pay for this product. minimize
Not hard to setup, great receiver, December 9, 2008
I was a little nervous ordering this based on reviewes from people who had a difficult time setting this baby up. I ahd alloted two hours of setup time to intergrate into my setup, and debug, etc. I was done in a little over 1/2 and hour. And most of that time was the audyssey/mic setup. Otherwise, I'm amazed how easy it was to set up.
read full review
I was a little nervous ordering this based on reviewes from people who had a difficult time setting this baby up. I ahd alloted two hours of setup time to intergrate into my setup, and debug, etc. I was done in a little over 1/2 and hour. And most of that time was the audyssey/mic setup. Otherwise, I'm amazed how easy it was to set up.
If you connect your HDMI devices into the suggested ports, the Denon will see them and there is aboslutely nothing to configure.
I set up:
HDTV
Apple TV
PS3
HD DVR
HD DVD
(wii will be added shortly)
I connected everything, and turned to each input and the Denon switched everything over correctly (my harmony remote was controlling everything at this point-after updating the remote for the Denon). So In less than an hour I was watching TV and enjoying the Denon.
Sound quality is superb with my Paradigm studio 5.1 system. Video switching between HDMI devices is fast and painless. No green screens, no flickering, just a flash and then video.
Excellent unit, highly recommended. Only down side are the switched outlets are controlled by complete power off(as opposed to just stand by) to control the outlets. So I can't control a backlight for my TV unless I completely shut off the unit every time (I use stand by currently)
minimize
Great Work Horse with Great Sound, January 6, 2009
I've always been a Denon fan; a great work horse system. I recently upgraded my AVR-1804 to the AVR-2309 after purchasing an HDTV from Amazon. Although I can see the point of reviews claiming a set-up which wasn't overly easy and a manual lacking in some detailed information, it really only took me about an hour and a half to have all seven...read full review
I've always been a Denon fan; a great work horse system. I recently upgraded my AVR-1804 to the AVR-2309 after purchasing an HDTV from Amazon. Although I can see the point of reviews claiming a set-up which wasn't overly easy and a manual lacking in some detailed information, it really only took me about an hour and a half to have all seven speakers and all audio/video connections swapped from my 1804 to the new unit. Not half bad, considering the bulk of the time was spent contorting my body to fit behind my shelving...and I may have accidently swapped a left and right front speaker which needed to be rectified. All said and done, the sound is fantastic through my 5-year old Definitive 5.1 surround sound, only made better with the addition of a 4-year old set of Mirage surround sound standers. The existance of the photo port was my main reason for opting for this system over less expensive models, but thats also not to say I wouldnt have chosen this one anyway. With three HDMI ports, along with composite options, I can't complain of a potential lack of future resources. For those needing a fourth HDMI port, the AVR-2809 may be a better option for not much more money. All and all, I've been a huge biased fan of Denon equipment for over 25 years, and after hooking up the 2309, I have a feeling they'll have me in their pocket for 25 more. minimize
