)Ovation was having a sale, as some models are being discontinued this time of the year for future products. They had the Denon AVR 1601 for $300 ($100 off the regular price). You can find it this cheap online, but if you buy it from an authorized retailer, you get a 2 year warranty.
Well, all I can say is that the quality is vastly improved upon my old receiver. I am now using the coax digital input from my DVD player instead of the analog 6 channel output. I also get DTS decoding now. I have watched The Mexican, Cube, and Joe Dirt in the past 3 days, and all I can say is wow. Compared to what I was hearing, the new receiver is really a lot cleaner, and the sound is more immersive. The dialog never once was stressed sounding in The Mexican (thanks in part to the DTS mix), and the 2 Channel Pro Logic mix in Cube sounded great, too. The DSP in the 1601 seemed to do a better job mixing the Center and surrounds from the stereo source than my old set up.
Even though the Denon is only rated at 60W per channel, it sounds more authoritative than my 100W/Channel pioneer. This leads me to believe what I suspected before... The Pioneer ratings are slightly fudged. 60W may not sound like a lot, but it is plenty. I watched The Mexican at -10 (10 dB below reference sound level), and some scenes shook the room (max volume is 18 dB above reference). The Denon allows me to route the bass through my sub AND main speakers, which really surrounds you with bass. When the trucks would drive by, or when they were riding thorugh the tunnel, I could really feel immersed in the sounds (mostly due to the good bass management). Gun shots were also very sharp, and up front. I went to get a snack and a gun shot went off. It really sounded like a gun was fired0 in the other room. It in fact startled me a bit
All summed up, I am a happy movie-watcher.
)