Denon AVR-X2000 7.1 Channel Integrated Network AV Receiver with AirPlay (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

The sound is amazing out of this unit. But features on this receiver are far more ancient compared with the competition. Interestingly enough, the competition costs a lot less. Don't get me wrong, I loved this unit (although ultimately I ended up returning it when the hdmi out port died on the 3rd week of use.) But not asking for a replacement was not an easy choice for me. At the end of the day, these are receivers and are supposed to produce quality sound which this does quite well. If your intention is a modern day entertainment computer (which most of the other receivers are with all that they offer) or your want ease of use, multi function, and are value conscious, this unit is not for you.If you are obsessed with quality sound and are wiling to give up modern day technology such as (updated app, updated remote control, not having the ability to switch from zone one to zone two without having to rewire the whole thing, being able to configure unit from your desktop, having more ports in the back, having pre-amp out ports,,,,) this is the one for you.The cell pone app is as bad as a nail on the bottom of a shoe. Long delay (and no, it's not my home network), boring inter-phase, no equalizer, and on and on and on.7.1 with ability for zone 2 MUST have 9 speaker ports. These have 7 and basically, you'd have to choose if you want a full time 5.1 with 2 for zone 2, or you want 7 speakers in zone 1. If you change your mind, you literally have to pull wires out of unit and plug in zone 2 and then reprogram zone 2 on the receiver. LAME LAME LAME.Also, how about zone 1 speaker preamps? How about zone 2 preamps? How about zone 2 display? NONE, offered with this unit.

The GUI for this maybe isn't as good as my Sony internet TV, but is still fairly nice. I previously bought a Sony STR-DN840 receiver 2 weeks ago, which was nice, but the interface was so, 1990's or so, and wasn't quite what I was looking for (but is quite a bit cheaper than the Denon). I have finally semi-retired my Harman Kardon DPR-1001 which is about 10 years old. The interface of the HK I'd say was the same or somewhat better than the 10 year newer Sony receiver that I tried out.The wife hasn't played around much with the Denon, but the little she has, she liked. She wanted simplicity and ease of use. That's where the Denon really shines. Operating the receiver with the nice GUI will make it much easier for her. The ios app is easy to use, and doesn't require any special registering of the phone to the receiver. Just make sure that the receiver and phone, tablet etc are on the same network and you're set. My music that streams from my Nas to the receiver is displayed nicely on to my TV, including album artwork. The album artwork is even displayed on the phone when using Denon's remote app. I personally like to tinker with things and can deal with a less than stellar GUI (like the Sony I mentioned above)), but the boss calls the shots sometimes lol.So after showing her the improvements the Denon has over the Sony, I was able to return the Sony back to Best Buy, and we bought the Denon as an open box "used" condition off Amazon to keep the price down. The open box models have since jumped about $75 since I bought mine last week. The price actually jumped about $25 overnight from when I was thinking about buying to when I did buy. My receiver came in a like new condition as far as I can tell.I'd also like to add the speakers I'm using, though sound quality is somewhat subjective.Polk Monitor 70's frontPolk CS1 centerPolk RM6751 surroundsPolk PSW 10 subwooferI have enough speakers for 7.1 setup, but I use 2 of the RM 6751 surrounds for zone 2 currently.

This receiver is impressive on paper. It has a laundry list of specifications and capabilities.However, the saying "they don't make them like they used to" most certainly applies to the X2000.I received my unit from Amazon, packaged well, and unboxed it, eager to try its myriad options.I connected my speakers, ran the built-in room calibration and sat down with my wife for How To Train Your Dragon.About 20 minutes into the movie, as the sound effects swelled and the action began to pick up onscreen..."Click!" -- Blackness. Silence.I checked the projector. Still working. The screen went blue with a "No Signal" message. I checked the receiver. It was dark, with a single, rapidly-flashing power light as my only clue.I looked this up in the manual: Protection Circuit. "Check speaker connections or try listening at a lower volume level" was Denon's helpful troubleshooting tip. I checked my connections and plugged the receiver into a cleaner power outlet and tried again.40 minutes later, the same thing happens. I'd been known to watch movies much more-loudly than I was that night with my wife, and my Pioneer never seemed to miss a beat.I sent the first unit back to Amazon for an exchange, thinking that perhaps I'd gotten a bad sample. Denon was supposed to be a high-end brand, and all the reviews of the unit were overwhelmingly positive. I gave it another chance.Amazon shipped the return unit to me overnight and I had it set up and running that evening, after work.I tried again, with Tron: Legacy. Things were going well, until Sam enters the grid. You know that awesome, sub-sonic "whump" that accompanies his transport to The Grid? You guessed it:"Click!" -- Blackness. Silence.By now it was Friday and I was supposed to host a movie-watching party the next day, and couldn't wait for a new unit to arrive from Amazon on Monday. I queued the second Denon up for return with refund and went to a local high-end audio store where I got an excellent deal on a lightly-used Anthem for about the same price as the Denon.In short: Denon -- I'm very much not impressed.Amazon -- you're amazing. Keep it up.

Love this Denon amp had some issues and Denon stepped in to resolve the situation fast