Denon AVR-2307 7.1 ht receiver - champagne gold :
Feb 2008 TechradarAV review : The AVR-2307 comes to the table for £600. Although launched last year, it packs plenty of cutting-edge features including video conversion to HDMI and like-for-like format processing that will turn 1080i component video into a 1080i HDMI signal
Denon's affair with Audyssey continues but in this model the room equalisation is done by a standard 8-band parametric EQ system that you can then apply Audyssey curves to. Which I found odd
Two-in one-out HDMI switching to 1080p is handy for your Blu-ray or HD DVD player, and these connections feature active repeaters. This is more unusual at the price and means you can run cables up to 15m into the AVR-2307 (30m from source to display) without losing the signal. Full auto setup with microphone supplied and two-zone multiroom audio is par for the £600 receiver course
Under the hood is the usual solid Denon engineering with 100W for seven channels and the option to use channels 6 and 7 for rear-back speakers, active zone 2 or bi-amping the main left and right speakers. Connectivity is good enough. You get a port for an iPod dock, lip sync to 200ms and three individual user preference modes
On the downside, the onscreen display takes us back to 1995 with block text and Denon's pointy-hand cursor, and there is no USB port or networking ability. Instead you get a phono turntable input, which would be seriously retro if owning a turntable wasn't so damn cool lately
You also get a new and rather stylish remote control if you can live with having buttons on the front and the back (under a flap) and no backlight (just glo-keys)
I like my home cinema with drama and the AVR-2307 scared the willies out of me... during setup. The white-noise pulses are loud and abrupt, resulting in category 5 tea spillage and dog bolting. It's not the swiftest to get going and seems to use metric metres shorter than the norm, but the relative distances and channel balance are both good
As default the system measures the room for the parametric EQ filtering during set up and gives you the option of applying the result to the front speakers only, all speakers, or off. You can view the frequency, Q and gain for all eight filters on each channel
In the AVR-2307's case, and it's by no means alone in this, I ran the auto-set up five times and got five widely differing filtering results. Hey-ho
With the EQ switched off, the receiver gets straight back to business with a robust and full blooded sound, rich with detail and low frequency effects to joggle your spleen
Denon receivers warm to action and adventure and the AVR-2307 does not disappoint when wheels are squealing and guns blazing. Percussive shots and big explosions have plenty of edgy attack and the gung-ho automatic sub level makes for an adrenaline-charged evening
Stick on a disc like Miami Vice, pull up a beer and simply enjoy
It's not as comfortable with moody dramas and genteel orchestral scores. It doesn't quite reach the depth and 3D soundstaging of the more subtle amps at the price and dialogue sounds stuck inside the centre speaker
Giving the volume a crank pushes up the sheer scale and projection for a truly immersive experience but nudge the volume towards 0dB and it gets a little harsh and glaring. Despite its feast of filtering, engaging the EQ system in my room neatly brought the dialogue to the fore at normal listening levels and smoothed the bass output from gratuitous to plain excessive
Either way, you can't help feeling that the AVR-2307 is all about crafting a larger than life sound rather than one focusing on accuracy, detail and subtlety
The same is true of its two-channel sound with music, this Denon certainly favouring the rock/pop genre over string quartets. There simply isn't the separation and fidelity for stunning hi-fi performance, but for a bit of high volume Snow Patrol this model is ideal
The AVR-2307 is a well-specified, well-built, and well-featured receiver with a penchant for bass, beat music and action movies. That's no bad thing, of course; the Denon just has a distinct focus
If you like your music and movies fast and furious, then this receiver could be just the octane boost your system needs
Features :
• Discrete 7ch amplifier with 7 x 130 W (6 ohms)
• Assignable Surround Back amplifier for Front Bi-Amping
• Auto Setup with high quality mold microphone, Room EQ
• New easy to use remote controller (preset function)
• 32-Bit floating point DSP, full 96 kHz processing, 192 kHz DACs
• Multi Room/Multi Source with assignable amp, RS-232C, IR in/out
• Audio Delay (0-200 ms), Night Mode, 2 lines FL display
• User Mode Function, Setup operation at front panel
• Large screw type speaker connector, Front speaker A/B selectable
• 2 HDMI in 1080p, HDMI out, HDMI Repeater, V-Conversion to HDMI
• Rec Selector, Phono Input
• 8ch EXT in for future sound formats, 7.1 ch Pre out
• S-Video inputs, 3 component inputs (100 MHz)
• Digital component video conversion
• 2 coaxial digital inputs, 2 optical digital inputs, optical digital output
• Dock Control connector for ASD-1R
Specifications :
Power Amplifier Section :
-:®:- Rated output [THD figures for power amp] : Front: 100W + 100W [8 ohms, 20Hz to 20kHz, 0.08 % THD],
-:®:- Stereo Dynamic power : 120W + 120W [8 ohms, 20Hz to 20 kHz], 170W + 170W [4ohms, 1kHz, 0.7 % THD]
-:®:- Centre: 100W + 100W [8 ohms, 20Hz to 20 kHz, 0.08 % THD], 135W + 135W [6ohms, 1kHz, 0.7 % THD]
-:®:- Surround: 100W + 100W [8 ohms, 20Hz to 20 kHz, 0.08 % THD], 135W + 135W [6ohms, 1kHz, 0.7 % THD]
-:®:- Surround Back: 100W + 100W [8 ohms, 20Hz to 20 kHz, 0.08 % THD], 135W + 135W [6ohms, 1kHz, 0.7 % THD]
-:®:- Distortion [Direct mode] : < 0.008% THD
Preamplifier Section :
-:®:- Input sensitivity / Impedance [CD, CDR/TAPE, DVD/VDP, TV/DPS, VCR1, VCR2] : 200 mV / 47kohms
-:®:- Output level / Load impedance : SUBWOOFER: 1.2V / 10kohms, CD, CDR/TAPE, DVD/VDP, TV/DPS, VCR1, VCR2: 1.2V / 200 mV/47kohms
-:®:- Frequency response : 10Hz to 100kHz [+1/-3dB, Tone Defeat On]
-:®:- Signal-to-noise ratio : 100dB [IHF-A weighted, Tone Defeat On)
FM Section :
-:®:- Tuning frequency range: 87.5 to 107.9MHz Usable sensitivity : 1.0μV [11.2 dBf]
-:®:- Signal to noise [IHF-A] : mono: 77dB, stereo: 72dB
-:®:- Quieting sensitivity [-50dB] : mono: 1.6μV, [15.3dBf], stereo: 23μV, [38.5dBf]
-:®:- Total harmonic distortion [1kHz] : mono 0.15%, stereo: 0.3%
AM Section :
-:®:- Tuning frequency range : 520 to 1710kHz &nbs; Usable sensitivity : 18μV
-:®:- Dimensions [W x H x D] : 434 x 171 x 417mm
-:®:- Weight : 13.0kg, ~ 14.5kg packed
SOLD February 2014 on trademe to Whangarei
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