Customer Rating: 
Summary: Premium sound and quality, for a less than premium price
Comment: The number one problem with most "home theater in a box" offerings is the manufacturers usually pair a low-end receiver with even lower quality cheap speakers. The larger the number of speakers (5.1, 7.1, 7.2), the even greater likelihood you'll end up with the cheeziest possible speakers and a home theater receiver that just barely offers a decent range of features. We had a Kenwood HTiaB, bought maybe five or six years ago, and in that short time the sub-woofer blew out (okay at low levels...but raise it to normal movie volume and it crackled), some of the inputs never worked right (optical was hit-or-miss), I have $100 computer speakers which sound better than the Kenwood set, and the front display on the receiver sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.
Most of the time there's no offering in the price point above the discount junk and the audiophile-level hardware. The low-end stuff just gets features added to it (hello Onkyo) -- but it's still not very good, and I saw from reviews that these systems were prone to failure, sometimes right out of the box. Meanwhile, most of us don't have a few thousand bucks to blow on a high-end home theater system. I nearly went with a Yamaha receiver, but leery about the comments noting it ran hot...plus then I'd still need to get speakers, which would've pushed the cost much higher (esp. since shipping for speakers tends to be insane).
This Denon / Boston Acoustics pairing is one of the few exceptions. Over the years, I've only owned a few Denon components, but they were always the ones that lasted the longest and sounded the best. As for the speakers -- okay, these aren't Kef or Klipsch -- but Boston Acoustics makes a fine speaker and this set is well-matched to the Denon receiver. I appreciated the fact the center channel speaker wasn't just a satellite turned on its side, but has two 3" drivers with a dome tweeter.
Why a 5.1 set-up instead of the newer 7.1 or 7.2? First, the Denon can support 7.1, so if later on we want to add the extra surround speakers, we can. Secondly, we're in a house situation right now where running a ton of wires just isn't going to happen, plus I've been told that most people can't tell the difference between a 5.1 and a 7.1 system anyway. Heck, most of Bose's market is based two or three speaker systems, and they're not hurting for business. Again, just as I wanted a 'happy medium' on cost, I figured I'd go for the same on the number of speakers.
The shipping packaging is solid, with the BA speakers and Denon receiver each in their own product box and these inside a larger, very sturdy box. (As I write this, if you have Amazon Prime, you can get it shipped free, or $3.99 for overnight.) Everything was there, including surprisingly adequate lengths of pre-trimmed speaker wire (most times the supplied surround wires are way too short). I had my own 16ga wire, but this was welcome anyway.
Set-up was easy and hampered only by my existing rat's nest of cables (now much less due to the receiver's HDMI capabilities) and the fact I had only short 6' HDMI cables (I've ordered a longer 3-meter one from Amazon Basics). The automatic Audyssey sound leveling took a little effort & time, and one might need to chase curious talkative family members away so as not to interfere with the tests. One note: Audyssey reported a phase error with the center and surround speakers; I checked the wires and they were correct. The manual mentioned certain kinds of speakers could produce erroneously detected phase errors.
After that, I checked the connections, fixed some input assignments, set the remote control codes, and boom, it was ready to roll. I popped in our Avatar blu-ray disc and it sounded and looked amazing. Even a regular DVD in our Yamaha region-free player looked better than normal.
Cons:
- Wish there were some straight RCA stereo out connections, so I could route non-HDMI sound to my TV, which is an older DVI-HD model (Hitachi projection set...approaching due for replacement). On the other hand, the Denon/BA sound combination is so much better than the old TV speakers, I'm not sure why I'd want to use them anyway.
- The speaker connection posts on the back of the receiver are very awkwardly placed, making it rather difficult to get wires on securely. I've ordered banana plugs for future use, but why they didn't put the entrance holes at the top and bottom of the posts rather than at the 2pm/8pm positions, I have no idea.
- The programmable remote couldn't control our Yamaha 5-disc DVD changer, and there's no way to program it to run our media player (plays AVIs, WMVs, MP4 video files off an attached hard disk). Minimal learning capabilities would've been appreciated.
- Also, for some reason, the media player doesn't retain its 1024i video setting between switching or powering up; it'll pass through fine if I reset it, but I think the player keeps defaulting down because it's confused as to the receiver's capabilities. Not the receiver's fault, I'm sure, because the blu-ray player doesn't lose its setting.
Pros:
- Excellent sound; our living room is very echo-y (stone floors, high ceiling) and even without the Audyssey compensation, it was a vast improvement. Afterward the adjustment, it only got better. Previously unintelligible movie and TV show dialog is now totally clear.
- Both the speakers and the receiver look and feel like high-end equipment
- The receiver runs surprisingly cool
- Loved the assignable inputs, a huge help when connecting non-HDMI equipment with a variety of optical, coax, and/or component cables
- The remote main controls glow in the dark, and the most used buttons are large enough to see and operate easily (the numbers/letters at the bottom of the remote might be problematic for those with large fingers though)
That old Kenwood HTiaB set? Recycled.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great system at a great price
Comment: I ordered this for Father's day at the time Amazon did not have it available directly so went through one of the listed vendors EE. I actually called them directly and they were exceedingly helpful. Also gave a great deal.
The system is well packaged and very nice for the price---I'm not an expert audiophile but it sounds great to us. The Audyssey set-up is very easy. (although there are plenty of manual controls for those who like to tweak). The manual may be helpful to those who know what they are doing but for us it was confusing and we ended up calling for help. (One of the front speakers was not hooked up correctly and therefore none worked--once we resolved that the rest was pretty easy). Those who have set up surround sound before should have no problem.
The whole system is quality build not cheap HTIB. Of course this is not a thousand dollar or more system but for the average buyer it is a great sound and great price. Similar systems for the same price cannot compare. Speakers are nicely made and fit just about anywhere. Again Boston Acoustic makes a very nice product. The speakers are well matched to the reciever. Our Room is 16 X 22 feet, very high ceilings, hardwood floors and lots of glass. It also is part of an open floorplan. Plenty of full-bodied sound for us.
We set up cable box to receiver and then HDMI to TV. We can run TV without turning the whole system on which is nice. You will need 3 HDMI cables. One for the cable box to receiver, one Receiver to TV, and finally one from receiver to your DVD or blue-ray player. There are also plenty of conventional jacks.
This unit has a USB port for ipod and optional dock is available. The system uploads/coverts older VHS to almost HD quality. There are very few reviews out there on this system (as I write this) but the DHT-590BA is last year's model and this is an improvement. (new on screen menus and three quick-set buttons on remote) You can also find reviews for just the Receiver AVR-591BA (old model AVR-590BA)
I went with the EE recommendation and I talked to many retail salespeople before selecting this. I have an old Denon receiver that worked great that I have passed on to kids. They build a quality product.
One advantage this has over many comparable Receivers is it runs cool. Over time this adds to the longevity of the unit.I hope this helps others make a decision.
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