Summary: I got this at a pretty good price to use as a bedroom system. I wanted something small and nice-looking to complement my silver-bezeled LCD TV. This fit the bill nicely.
Not only is it a progressive scan DVD player (component or Composite/S-Video outputs only), but it also will play both Super Audio CDs (SACD) and DVD-Audio discs. Now--neither of these formats is destined to become a national sensation, but they do offer very high quality and an immersive listening experience for audiophiles and music nuts like myself. I have a handful of each kind of disc, and it is nice knowing that I can listen to them in my bedroom.
As a receiver, this thing is audio only (it will not switch video sources). This was fine by me, however, as the video input scene is currently in a state of flux right now, and for a bedroom system I've only got two video sources anyway (this, and an xbox 360). I am happy they saved the cost and space and ommitted the video switching capability.
The unit has a built-in AM/FM tuner, which I have only used once to test it out--seemed to work fine. There are inputs for separate AM and FM antennas on the back.
For music, you can choose between using all five channels (with dialog/vocals) anchored to the center, or simple stereo (which uses your front left and right channels plus subwoofer only). I prefer the stereo mode for music (unless it's SACD or DVD-Audio as these formats provide specific information for all six channels). For TV and movies, the multi-channel mode works well with pro-logic, dolby digital, and DTS decoding.
There are enough inputs for me. I use the analog TV input for my TV (I keep the internal TV speakers on mute). I was also able to use the optical (digital) TV audio input for my Xbox 360 and the unit switches properly between the two). There is also an AUX coax digital input (audio only) to which I connected my Roku SoundBridge music player. I did my homework on this unit and its inputs suit my needs to a T.
The unit has a metallic "look" to it but it's all plastic--not a big deal considering the price. The volume knob has a good feel to it (no detents) and the CD/DVD tray is not as awkward as it looks to get discs in and out.
The EL display is clear and bright and there is a cool blue LED that sweeps over a transparent plastic "slab" on the right side. The unit advertises a feature where you can automatically dim these lights when the unit detects a disc playing--which works well, but has no effect when listening to another source (TV, radio, etc.). They could have designed it to dim whenever audio was detected at the active input, but it's a small quibble.
Another small complaint is that the setup menus are somewhat complex to figure out. You have to be in the correct mode (multi-channel vs. stereo) to get to some of the options and for the most part you have to use the unit's EL display. Since the thing connects to your TV for the DVD output you'd think they could use the TV to display setup menus for all of the unit's settings, but so far as I can tell you only use the TV to set up DVD-specific features.
The unit offers another great feature for bedroom use--a sleep timer and TWO wakeup alarms! Those are not easy features to find, and the unit is very flexible in setting the audio source for the alarms, duration, etc. The only thing that would have made it better was an auto-setting clock. That's such a cheap feature for manufacturers to include nowadays and it can be a godsend for people in areas prone to power outages or who must adjust their clocks for daylight savings.
Since it is a Class D (digital) receiver, this thing is very energy efficient (a feature we should all be paying more attention to these days). It sips about 20 watts when not actively playing anything and goes up to a max of about 35 when audio is playing--even at quite high volumes. It has an energy star certification.
There are no speaker-level outputs for a subwoofer, so you should provide a self-powered sub that can provide a line-level (RCA) output. Fortunately, most subs do these days.
The speaker connectors are spring clips, but that's to be expected with a component of this nature/price. The lack of binding posts is not a big deal for most of us, and the spring clips are of sufficient diameter to accept up to 12-guage speaker wire.
All in all I am very satisfied with this unit. It sounds great, looks great, and has enough connections for most people in a bedroom or office. I would never use this as my main home theater receiver... but it really wasn't designed for that anyway.
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