A Worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed VR-209
Dec 17 '99
Kenwood's reputation for manufacturing quality home audio receivers was given a major boost with the release of the VR-209, a dolby digital home receiver which received critical acclaim from audiophiles and bargain-hunters alike. With 100 watts per channel, banana plug connectors, and an array of high-end features, the 209 was an excellent piece of equipment. It should come as no surprise, then, that when Kenwood announced the follow-up VR-309 this year, many people were very interested. Would it correct the 209's shortcomings, and would the additional features warrant the increased price? Having owned both units, I have to say the answer is a qualified "Yes."
At $300 street, the VR-309 is not the least expensive DTS receiver on the market (although it is pretty close). But its feature set, in my opinion, justifies the higher price. 100 Watts per channel delivers everything from the most subdued violin concerto to the most explosive rock concert. Banana plug-capable connectors offer a more secure connection than the standard wire-wrap posts, and assure the best possible sound. SVideo inputs and outputs (an unfortunate omission on the 209, which has now, happily, been corrected) allow this receiver to be used with high resolution video sources such as Laserdiscs and DVD players, as well as with high-end monitors containing such inputs. Since SVideo is quickly becoming a standard feature on all but the smallest television sets, this is definitely a nice feature to have. Some additional thought was clearly placed into the redesign of the back panel to accomodate all of the new connectors, as I found the 309 much easier to set up and begin to use than its predecessor.
The 309 performs well on FM reception, but less well receiving AM signals. There are times when the signal seems to drop off for no apparent reason, and I have noted occassions where a $19.99 clock radio did a better job of pulling in some stations. If you are an AM radio junkie, this would be a concern. For all types of recorded media, however, as well as FM broadcasts, the 309 has performed flawlessly, bringing out highlights that even the 209 was unable to do.
Those who do not have a full home theatre speaker setup but who plan to get one, would be especially interested in the 309's emulation options. In addition to the now-standard 3 Stereo, the 309 offers a virtual surround mode which uses only the front soundstage to replicate the sound of a full set of surround speakers - often with surprising accuracy. And of course, if you _do_ own a full surround setup, the 309 can handle Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, and DTS encoded programming - automatically.
No review of this receiver would be complete without at least a mention of the remote. Some have panned the receiver just because of this misguided hunk of plastic. Personally, having had lots of experience with the VR-209 remote (which is identical to that which ships with the 309) I agree that it could be better designed, but have not found it hard at all to get used to. To select a audio/video source, for example, you must hit one of three buttons (labelled "Audio", "Video", and "TV") repeatedly until the source in question comes up. If you are used to hitting a convenient button marked "VCR" and another one marked "Laserdisc" you may find this annoying. But ultimately, you get used to it a lot more easily than you might think.
In summary, I would recommend this receiver for someone planning an initial foray into digital surround, or for someone who is looking to upgrade his Dolby Digital system to DTS. If you are primarily an AM radio listener, or have no plans to listen to surround-encoded material, there are less expensive models that are just as good.
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Epinions.com ID:
Godai-kun
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Kevin Barth
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland
Reviews written: 248
Trusted by: 55 members
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