Great Deal Denon AVR-688 Dolby Digital Surround Receiver



Rating : 3.0/5.0
Price : $449.00
Offer Price : $399.95
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Best Deal @ Amazon Order Now !



Denon AVR-688 Dolby Digital Surround Receiver Features

  • 7.1 channel home theater system with 75 Watts per channel
  • Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS decoding
  • Component video switching with 3 inputs and 1 output
  • XM Satellite ready
  • Automatic room equalization



Denon AVR-688 Dolby Digital Surround Receiver Overviews

Dolby Digital Surround Receiver


Denon AVR-688 Dolby Digital Surround Receiver Specifications

The AVR-688 surround sound receiver is network ready and can integrate into a home networked system when used with the optional ASD-3W/3N iPod docks, allowing more sources for playback then ever before. HDMI 1.3a video switching has been employed for today's demanding HD sources, providing rich color quality for 1080p signals. Digital audio is distributed by either optical or coaxial connections to high speed surround processing circuits for premium quality Dolby Digital and DTS Digital decoding. Seven high-current style amplifiers are used in the AVR-688 to deliver clean, clear performance for unmatched sound quality from your DVD or set top box digital devices. Analog video up-conversion makes switching various types of analog video signals easy, as duplicate wiring can be eliminated and signals channeled into one single component video output. Audio Delay is provided to allow for exact matching of audio and video signals when signal delays occur from some audio/video sources. Our newly styled pre-programmed remote control provides ease of use for the newcomer, or enhanced use for the seasoned user.


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Customer Review

Best Customer Review : Not sure about the negative comments. This is a fantastic receiver for the going price of 0. Its a generation older, but has the goods. As has been mentioned in the other reviews, unfortunately processing HDMI Audio is not supported by the unit and you need to connect either an optical or coaxial digital audio cable to get Digital Dolby or DTS. This all works fine with my HDTV and my PS3. The Dolby Pro Logic II, Neural and Neo functions do a reasonable job of converting stereo into multi-channel. True Digital Dolby and DTS both sound great! Just beware that you will not be able to access some of the newest HD Audio formats as they are only supported across HDMI, but by using a toslink cable, the PS3 will happily pump out DTS or Digital Dolby tracks.

Took me about an hour to set up everything, including setting the mic at the optimal 6 listening positions for the audyssey auto-calibration, setting up the assignable optical and coaxial inputs to the selected devices, running the tuner preset function, and setting the remote to work with my other components. Once setup, the auto-calibrate proved to be very accurate.

A couple things to note, and this is what may have led to some of the bad reviews. First, there is a small power button next to the much larger Standby/On button. I didn't expect it, but this was off when I unpacked the unit. So, after hooking all the speakers up (The Boston Acoustics Horizon Series MCS100MDNT 5.1-Channel Speaker System (Black)
also bought from Amazon on a Hot Deal of 0 and a great speaker system) and the PS3, I plugged in the unit and nothing. But after going thru the admittedly weak manual and looking carefully at the front panel I found the power switch, and everything came to life.

During the auto-calbrate, after the measurements of the 6 locations are done, the receiver will hop to the Calculate function. The manual says it will go to a check function afterward. What it doesn't specifically state is you have to kick off the calculate. I sat there for about 10 minutes before I thought something was up. Hitting the left arrow on the remote, the display then started flashing Calculating. A minute later it advanced to the check function.

The remote is a bit bizarre with the two sided operation (The back side controls are under a flip door), but works fine and can be set independently for each component. It now can control my HDTV for instance.

All in all I am very happy with this purchase and the BA Speakers.


Customer Review 1 : circuit protection disables the device after a few months - Dustin J. Bixler - cincinnati OH
design error in this receiver presents itself with a blinking red power light shortly after turning the unit on. the blinking light is the circuit protection detecting a short in the circuitry, the only problem is that the circuitry shouldnt be shorting out after only a few months. you will find this a common problem for this unit if you search online. Denon makes it very clear in the one year warranty that the store where you bought it (circuit city) is responsible for repair and tech support. if you are trying to fix your AVR-688, use a multimeter and check the resistance between the speaker +/- outputs (red and black) and signal inputs (check each input with every other input), along with the resistance of the components in the power board (the board that the power goes into is reasonably easy to remove with a philips screwdriver and needle-nose pliers). if you find the short, desolder and solder in a new part, or if its a speaker channel you can live without (you already lost your money), just clip one of the wires in the short circuit path.

one good thing- this reciever has a lot of nice features and settings (even though it doesnt do dolby through the HDMI port)



Customer Review 2 : Great powerhouse for a minimal outlay. - Old Scout - Ohio
I am writing this as many people have complained about how hard this was to setup. This astounds me, I had this setup in the matter of a couple of hours. That might sound like a lot, but I'm running a Wii, a Mac Mini, Technics CD player, bluetooth gateway and HD cable out to my main tv. I can also recommend the Polk TSi line of speakers with this for both Home Theater and Music. This receiver gives you a lot of options for input and output, deciding on what you want and need will take you a bit, but the results are well worth it. I've had this for a little over a week and I'm still discovering the full power of this beast. If you have a chance to grab this at a discount price jump for it.


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