AV Receiver Reviews

The remote control is very unique and I've never seen this type of design before. There are buttons on both the front and rear of the controller. The rear buttons are recessed and hidden behind a door. These buttons are used primarily during set up and can be hidden from view during normal operation. The buttons on the front panel are for everyday operation, such as input selection, volume and muting.

Evaluation
I'm not one for a lot of processing so I left the AVR-888 in the Pure Direct mode for all my sources. Pure Direct offers the best reproduction because it plays any source in its original format without any additional EQ or signal processing.

The Blu-ray Disc of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, is a serious feast for the senses. Even if you are not a huge fan of this franchise, the video transfer and uncompressed audio soundtrack represent the best of what Blu-ray has to offer, at this point.

The Denon AVR-888, as I mentioned earlier, can accept multichannel PCM of audio over HDMI, for a far superior presentation than the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray’s ability to open the menu and make adjustments while the movie continues to play provides a terrific way to compare the two soundtracks. Its possible to go back and forth between the two options while in the menu mode and hear the difference. It’s quite remarkable. The collapsing of the soundfield is palpable when you move from uncompressed to compressed and you can detect a shift in the frequency response, particularly at the top end.

Overall, I found the sound quality of the AVR-888 to be quite good but when comparing it to my reference NAD separates and even the Sony STR-DA4300ES that I reviewed last month, I did notice some limited dynamic range particularly on high impact scenes with lots of information such as the final battle-at-sea sequence in the final Pirates film.

It’s unusual for reviewers to add video games to their evaluation. However, I recently purchased the Sony PS3 as my reference Blu-Ray player. I thought, what the heck, I’d like to see what a video game looks and sounds like in hi-def. Thus, I was completely blindsided by the driving game Burnout Paradise and have become totally hooked. Other than uncannily realistic HD graphics of exhilarating hi-speed races through the streets of the fictional Paradise City, the 5.1 audio provides cues that are enveloping and startling life-like. Each car that you win has its own unique sonic characteristics, such as high-pitched whines to deep low-end growls, making it possible to identify them by just by the sound. Crashes are totally immersive with tires, glass and pieces of metal flying around in a 360-degree environment. Don’t start because you’ll never stop and it’s even more immersive when you have an 80-inch wide (92" diag.) front projection screen like mine.

Going in a completely different direction I popped in the HD-DVD of Cream playing at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2005. Sure you notice the deficiencies of a three-piece band when it gets a little too freeform but you also witness the force that three great musicians can exert with only the basics. This disc takes you back to a simpler time, musically speaking, but the DTS 5.1 soundtrack is well reproduced on the AVR-888 for a robust, clean and pristine sound. I never had the pleasure of hearing Cream play back in the day but I suspect that Clapton's blues chops are far more refined now. Hearing him riff through these classic tracks is worth the price of the disc. Jack Bruce's bass is tight and punchy and Ginger Baker's drums are so life-like you think they are in the room with you. In fact, this is very much an intimate, right in your living room, kind of performance.

Normally, when I do an evaluation I start with two-channel music, as I believe such tests reveal the best and worst sonic traits in an AVR pretty quickly. With the Denon AVR-888 I ended up spending several hours listening to high definition movies and concerts as well as having those late-night PS3 sessions before playing any CDs. During that time I felt the AVR-888 was a very worthy performer but there was something missing. It was only after I started playing some two-channel material was I able to detect and articulate just want it was that I found lacking in the AVR-888’s general performance.

Ultimately, I didn’t find anything egregious of a tonal nature but it just lacked the air, spaciousness, depth and warmth that I get from my reference components. As these are audiophile-types of characteristics they may mean little to the budget- conscious or those who just don't sit down and listen for the fine nuances in music the way I do. Overall, imaging was good but there was no sense of presence, nothing popped. However, bass was solid and instruments were well defined. Basically, it just lacked its own character, feeling flat and well … ordinary. Sonic performance is good, just not special. Given how most people listen to music these days, it’s more than likely no one is going to even notice the qualities I found lacking.

Conclusion
Unfortunately, your rebate check from Congress won’t cover the cost of the Denon AVR-888 but this relatively inexpensive AVR has a lot going for it with plenty of power for a complete 7.1-channel surround system, dual-zone functionality, HDMI 1.3 inputs, and the ability to accept multichannel PCM over HDMI. It may not be the most vibrant-sounding AVR you will find but it certainly gets the job done, and done quite effectively. If you are on a budget and can get by with the limited two HDMI's, the AVR-888 may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.