What Hi Fi Sound and Vision 27 JUL 2008

Denon AVR-1909

£ 450 4

* * * *

The Denon may no longer be a five-star product, but it remains talented enough to warrant serious consideration

For
Robust design; rich presentation; weighty sound
Against
Not as dynamic, detailed or musical as the very best

Back in our September issue, Denon’s AVR-1909 wrestled with the Onkyo TX-SR606 in a Group Test, and eventually emerged the winner. But, in this month’s Supertest, we’ve seen fit to strip the Denon of a star.

Before you launch a volley of rotten tomatoes in our direction, please let us explain.

The AVR-1909 is still a very capable and good-value receiver. It is sturdily built and there are numerous bells and whistles to admire, including 1080p upscaling, bi-amping of your front speakers (when using a 5.1 surround system) and onboard decoding of high-definition audio codecs (DTS-HD Master Audio included).

It pays to set up properly
To aid set-up, the Denon uses an Audyssey auto-calibration system that caters for six listening positions. Sitting through the set-up and moving the mic around can be laborious, but it pays in the long run, especially if the whole family like to get involved.

The receiver’s on-screen menus aren’t the most sophisticated or colourful of the amps on test, but they’re functional and do a job. The remote is intuitive and uncluttered: all the major buttons glow in the dark, while buttons used less frequently are banished behind a panel.

Fire up the Denon and skip to the warehouse scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As the Russians chase after Indy, the AVR-1909 keeps the explosive action under control.

There’s a comforting lack of brightness as gunfire rains down on our intrepid hero, with the Denon’s rich tonal balance removing the potential for any earache.

However, when compared with the best the Denon doesn’t display the same level of clarity with Blu-ray or DVD soundtracks. It lacks the agility and outright dynamics of either Yamaha, while it can’t quite match the Sony for timing and detail with CD playback.

In isolation, the AVR-1909 is very easy to listen to and its relaxed character will be the ideal tonic for any sprightly speaker packages. If you own such a package and are a Denon fan, this could be the the amp you are looking for