Denon AVR-3806 7.1 Channel Home Theater A/V Surround Receiver-Black
Very hard to use
Apparently great sound and an excellent picture have a steep price. And that price is frustration.<br /><br />This is the most difficult receiver to use ever built. I'm a network engineer who loves reading operating manuals and home theater is my passion. Forget about the casual user (wife, baby sitter, etc) getting the hang of this thing. How to change an option when I'm looking right at it is a challenge. The whole interface is inconsistant. It's like each section was programmed by different engineers in different countries.<br /><br />Want more examples?<br /><br />The Remote: To control the reciever (the most common use) you have to click some hard button on the remote to get the soft buttons to light up. Then you have to click the \\"amp\\" soft button. But you better not click it twice because then you are in a different mode and then you have to click it three more times to cycle back to the regular amp control mode. How do you know you are in a different mode? Only by subtle differences in what buttons are enabled. Try telling your wife, \\"you've clicked the amp button too many times and accidently entered 'system call' mode and erased all of the programmed frequencies and macros\\". This is a very real possibility with this remote.<br /><br />I could go on and on with the speaker binding posts being way to close together (too close for even my standard banana plugs), to the labeling of the inputs on the back, to the way you change the soundfield. This thing is user hostile.<br /><br />God forbid I ever have to set this thing up again.