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Review 2 of 3
Price Paid:
$0.00 Summary:
When comparing the Denon S-301 to any rival HTIB or 2.1 surround sound system it becomes very clear that there is absolutely no comparison; the Denon S-301 is in a class of its own.
THE S-301 IS THE COMPLETE PACKAGE! Even if it is an awfully expensive package...IT'S STILL WORTH IT! Strengths:
I believe that the strongest selling point of the Denon S-301 is its superb design. I didn't know anything about this system until I walked past it at Best Buy. I stopped, turned around, and marveled at how beautiful and elegant it looked when set up next to a wall-mounted, high definition LCD TV. I couldn't help but think to myself, "Wow, that would look REALLY nice next to my brand new LCD!"
Obviously there is no denying the elegance of the S-301's design, however I wasn't interested in buying the HTIB that looked the best, I was interested in the HTIB that sounded the best. I've been listening to music off of two Mackie SR-740 Studio Monitors for the last 3 years and it takes A LOT to impress me with respect to sound quality. As much as I love my Mackie's, I wanted a "surround-sound" setup in my room without taking up too much space. The satellite speakers on the S-301 are heavy, well crafted, and in my opinion, ooze of quality. Similar HTIB's from Bose and Sony had very flimsy feeling satellites; I was NOT impressed by the competition.
I played a couple of reference CD's to check out the quality of the speakers. I played some rock, some rap, some jazz, and some R&B. The S-301 was able to handle everything with ease. The sub could handle the deep bass of Snoop Dogg's tracks while the satellite speakers comfortably jammed alongside Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I turned up the volume to high, higher, and then highest. I had the attention of most of the guests at Best Buy that afternoon. We were all amazed at how a small little system created such clear and powerful sound.
I didn't get a chance to test out the DVD player while I was at Best Buy, but I was already sold. The design and sound quality was light years ahead of anything in its class. Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled with having to pay $1,500, but I saw this HTIB as an excellent investment.
I took my new baby home with me that night and plugged it into my HDTV via HDMI. OH MY GOODESS...Really...the DCDi, HDMI, and virtual surround sound was an absolute treat while watching Spiderman 2. Awesome, absolutely awesome. Denon put in one of their best DVD players to this outstanding audio package; the image quality really shows. Because of this DVD player and its HDMI up-conversion, I have absolutely no need or no desire to "upgrade" to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. It's really quite impressive.
Did I mention that the remote that is included with the system is a universal remote?
iPod feature works exactly as advertised and is one of the best "show off" features of the system. People's jaws drop when they see their iPod on my TV and then start controlling their music via the remote control. It really adds to the "wow" factor.
I hooked an external hard drive up to the S-301 via the USB port and created a "pseudo-jukebox"!
The virtual surround sound REALLY WORKS! Honestly, it's not as good as a 5.1 setup, but I'd rather have this system than a mediocre 5.1 system. I live in an apartment and don't have space for 5 huge speakers and a sub.
This is the absolute PERFECT system for a bedroom or a small living room. It's not cheap, but I believe that sometimes you simply have to pay for quality. In my opinion, the Denon S-301 is worth every penny spent on it.
I see retailers selling it for about $1,000 now. It is a VERY SOUND INVESTMENT that WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.
Weaknesses:
Expensive. I went shopping on a $1,000 budget, but this system impressed me so much that I felt compelled to pinch pennies in other places to afford its $1600 MSRP.
Only one HDMI port. I really wish the S-301 was a receiver/DVD player. It is, but it isn't. There's enough connectivity options on it for most people, but for enthusiasts such as myself will find it lacking with respect to expandability (for $1600).
Remote, which is actually exceptionally designed, doesn't have an LCD on it or any form of an illuminated screen. It only has illuminated buttons. I'm nitpicking here because I'm being honest; I don't see any reason why I should have to spend another $150 on a Harmony remote when the remote included is in fact, a universal remote.
Manual is kind of confusing. Similar Products Used:
Bose 3-2-1 system. The S-301 wipes the floor with Bose's best offering. If I was Bose, I'd be embarrassed to release such a grossly inferior competitor. Anyone that knows anything about audio, video, electronics, or what true quality really is will agree that the S-301 is WAY AHEAD of its time.
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4.67 of 5
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