Denon AVR-2809CI 7.1 Channel Multizone Home Theater Receiver Review

Here at HI-FI reviews we try to give open and informative reviews of Hi-Fi kit of all stripes, bad good or indifferent. But occasionally we like to have a quick look at what others have deemed “best in class”. The Denon AVR-2809CI 7.1 Channel Multizone Home Theater Receiver is one such unit and when you look at its feature set and hear the sound quality it produces its really not hard at all to see why it has been universally praised.

Basic Features
The AVR-2809CI comes with 4 HDMI 1.3a inputs and a Faroudja FLi2310 to allow convertsion of analogue signals to 1080p, audio wise it also decodes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio ensuring great audio from Blu Ray players. Overall the AVR-2809CI does a fantastic job with diverse video and audio sources.

Denon AVR-2809CI Front - Click to enlarge

Check current Amazon Pricing on the Denon AVR-2809CI Home Theater Receiver

Interesting features

The AVR-2809CI comes with Audyssey Dynamic Volume, and Audyssey Dynamic EQ the first of which is an audio mode that keeps a stable volume level to stop the annoying tendency for commercials to be played at a louder volume than programming that gets on so many peoples nerves these days, I see this feature as a great boon that is likely to be used by many owners. Secondly there is the Audyssey Dynamic EQ which is supposed to make quiteter passages sound richer. We felt that this option didn’t really deliver and in fact we felt the unit performed better and with more clarity with this feature left off. Denon has also fitted the AVR-2809CI with Audyssey MultEQ® XT, a proprietary automatic speaker calibration system. The units included microphone is used to analyze sound from up to eight different listening positions, then automatically adjusts level, equalization, and delay settings for each speaker. We found this feature quite interesting and fairly simple to set up, likely to keep the tweakers amongst you happy for quite some time.

General Sound & Specifications

The surround processing section of the AVR-2809CI is powered by two 32 bit floating point DSP chips, and features extremely high resolution surround decoding with 192kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog converters for all channels. The seven channel amplifier section features 115 watts of power per channel, and provides the choice of driving a 5.1 channel system in the main room, with another stereo speaker pair in another room with independent source selection.

The AVR-2809CI’s channel isolation is second to none and provides excellent signal purity, the unit also includes denons “Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit” technolgy which gives you discrete circuit blocks for such tasks as DtoA conversion, AtoD and surround decoding. All of which makes for an extremely clear, responsive and pure sound.

Manufacturers Specifications

115 watts x 7 into 8 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.05% THD
192kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog converters for all channels
Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD™ Master Audio, Dolby® Digital Plus, DTS-HD™ High Resolution Audio, Dolby® Digital EX, DTS-ES™, Pro Logic® IIx, and DTS Neo:6 decoding
Audyssey Laboratories’ MultEQ® XT eight-point auto setup and room calibration system (microphone included)
XM Satellite Radio Ready (requires XM subscription and optional XM Mini-Tuner package)
Neural Surround decoder for XM’s HD Surround channels
ALPHA 24 Plus upsampling for stereo digital sources
Dolby Pro Logic IIx – with Cinema, Music, Game Modes
Active Center Channel In All Surround Modes
Pure Direct/Direct/Stereo Modes on Digital/Analog inputs
Analog Audio Inputs, Incl. Tuner: 11 (inc XM)
Phono Input: MM type
Analog Record Outputs: 2Composite Video Inputs: 7 (inc 1 in front)
Composite Video Outputs: 2 (plus Mon/Z2)
S-Video Inputs: 7 (inc 1 in front)
S-Video Outputs: 2 (plus Mon)
Component Video Inputs: 2
Component Video Outputs: 2 Main Zone
Dolby Digital Surround EX Decoding
dts ES Discrete 6.1 Decoding
dts ES Matrix 6.1 Decoding
dts Neo:6 Stereo-to-Surround Cinema and Music Modes
dts 96/24 5.1 for DVD-Video Processing
dts-HD Master Audio
SIRIUS satellite radio capable (requires SIRIUS subscription and optional SiriusConnect™ home tuner kit)
iPod® integration (requires optional Denon ASD-11R, ASD-3N, or ASD-3W)
Compressed Audio Restorer for better sound with compressed music sources like MP3 files
Audyssey Dynamic EQ™ for fuller sound at lower listening levels
Audyssey Dynamic Volume mode to keep listening levels steadythree-room/three-source output:
line-level and powered stereo audio output with volume, balance and tone control for 2nd room (using powered 2nd room stereo output allows 5.1 home theater in main room)
composite video output for 2nd room
line-level stereo audio output with volume control for 3rd room
conversion of optical or coaxial digital signals to analog audio output for 2nd and 3rd rooms (PCM signals only)
high-current, low-impedance amp design
Pure Direct modes switch off all unneeded circuitry for the cleanest possible sound
on-screen display for easier system setup and operation
learning/multibrand touchscreen electro-luminescent remote
basic remote for second or third listening room (requires remote control extender system, not included)

Denon AVR-2809CI Back - Click to enlarge

Check current Amazon Pricing on the Denon AVR-2809CI Home Theater Receiver

Connectors

1080p-compatible HDMI digital video switching (4 in, 1 out)
analog-to-HDMI video upconversion (up to 1080p) with Faroudja DCDi™ video processing and scaling
HDMI version 1.3a with support for Deep Color, x.v.Color, auto lip-sync, 7.1 uncompressed 24/96 audio, DVD-Audio, SACD, and HDMI-CEC
component video switching (3 in, 1 out)
component video conversion (composite to S-video, or composite and S-video to component)
digital audio inputs: 3 optical (including 1 front panel), 3 coaxial
digital audio outputs: 1 optical
7 audio/video inputs, including: 1 front-panel & 6 rear-panel inputs with composite and S-video
2 audio-only inputs (inc phono)
7.1-channel analog audio preamp input
7.1-channel analog audio preamp output
RS-232C port for automated control systems
detachable power cord
2 sets of main speaker outputs
back surround speaker channels re-assignable for bi-amping front left and right speakers

Physical Specifications

Weight: 28.2 lbs
Width:17.1 inches
Height: 6.75 inches
Depth: 16.55 inches
Warranty: 2 years
RRP: $1,199.00 (Check current Amazon Pricing on the Denon AVR-2809CI Home Theater Receiver)

Share and Enjoy: