Kenwood VR-510 as a pre-pro? (1 Viewer)

[David Susilo]

I'm thinking of using Kenwood VR-510 as a pre-pro and using its output to my Pioneer VSX-24TX MOSFET amp. Now my questions are:
1. Kenwood's Component switcher: are they HD compatible?
2. Kenwood's DTS/DD/THX process: are they at least as good as the Pioneer (it is also THX Select cerified)?
3. Kenwood's Remote: how easy it is to program?
4. Kenwood's DPL II: is it the full DPL II implementation?
or
5. Buy something else. Please note that my budget is extremely tight considering I have just purchased an HD, D8 camcorder, and a pair of PSB Alpha A/V... and a house too.

 

[David Susilo]

bump!

 

[Michael De Costa]

David,
I am considering purchasing the Kenwood 510 but have also left the Onkyo 595 in the picture. The Onkyo's have a great reputation but the Kenwood I am leery of. It took a while to find a store that had both, but as my luck would have it, they were installed in separate rooms which made it impossible to do a side by side compassion. When analyzing each at the store, it was no surprise to see that the Onkyo had a much better overall construction, but yet the Kenwood still intrigued me. I think it's the features and the remote of the Kenwood that keeps it in consideration. Have you compared the Kenwood to any other receivers? I would be interested to know why you decided to consider the 510. I have been searching for reviews on the 510 but because it's so new, I have yet to find any respectable ones. Possibly you have different results? Just my thoughts on the 510............

 

[David Susilo]

The reason for choosing Kenwood is because
1. It seems to be the only receiver that can be used as a pre-pro at that price. I don't believe that much about THX certification, but at least the unit will have a minimum requirement before they are certified right?.
2. Also that's the only unit that has component switching (I don't know about the HD compatibility on the inputs) at that price range.
3. It has enough ins and outs for all my equipments (my VSX 24TX is lacking one input for my video source and one input for my DAT recorder)
4. It has DPL II (I don't know whether it's the full implementation).

 

[David Susilo]

anybody else?
bump!

 

[Michael De Costa]

David,
As you can see, it can get very frustrating when posting over Kenwood equipment in this forum. There doesn't seem to be many Kenwood users here. If you are looking for info on Denon and Onkyo you will be flooded with responses but poor Kenwood, seems to have few followers. I wonder if others who subscribe feel Kenwood is to be considered a "low end" brand. For the price, it's hard to beat. The question is the quality there?
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At my singnal, unleash HELL.......

 

[Doug_H]

I will toss in a thumbs up for Kenwood. I have brought about every receiver I could find home under $1500 and Kenwood offers more for your money. I have never had a problem with them and they only get better every year.
There was a time that Kenwood went down the path of craptronics but have made a serious push into the market of quality equipment.
I think Onkyo is going the other direction at the moment but they still make a fine product.
The 510 does pass HD signals (1080i)
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The Mischievous Rogue Strikes Again! The Humble Hanson Theater

 

[David Susilo]

Doug H,
Thanx for the info on the 510. The other question is that if I feed multiple inputs (composite, component, and S), will they all be 'transformed' into component, (or S, or composite), or just the respective inputs (ie composite --> composite, S --> S, component --> component)?
I hope I made it clear.

 

[Jerome Grate]

The one thing I learned about Kenwood (having two one for psuedo ex and 209 that resides in the den for stereo listening) is the noise to distortion ratio makes the difference to me especially analog applications. When I listen to movies at reference levels 25 to 21 dbs, I hear the hissing sound the surrounds make when they are silent. At first I didn't think much of it but after a while, it's annoying. Test the 510 and have the sales man bring up the volume from 25 to about 19 dbs. I you hear the hiss then it's time to move on. My HK AVR 500 is so clean I can turn it up to 8 and not hear anything.
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If loving Home Theater is
wrong, I don't want to be
right!!!

 

[David Susilo]

Jerome,
Unfortunately, I won't be able to audition the 510. However, does the noise from the 209 emit the noise from the amp section or from the processor. If it is from the amp, then I won't care since I won't be using its amp section anyways.

 

[Michael De Costa]

David,
The WIZ is on my way home from work, and they have a 510 set up. I can try to stop by on the way home today to see if I can hear a hiss from the rear channels. I will keep you posted on this....
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At my singnal, unleash HELL.......

 

[Vin]

As you can see, it can get very frustrating when posting over Kenwood equipment in this forum. There doesn't seem to be many Kenwood users here. If you are looking for info on Denon and Onkyo you will be flooded with responses but poor Kenwood, seems to have few followers. I wonder if others who subscribe feel Kenwood is to be considered a "low end" brand. For the price, it's hard to beat. The question is the quality there?

I have the VR-309 and I love it but I guess I'm in the minority. I don't get any hissing from the surrounds when playing at reference level BUT when I calibrated I did not have the receiver's volume control maxed out, which is -10 on the VR-309 (at the maximum setting I did hear some hiss). I calibrated to 75dB with the receiver's volume knob set to -20. This resulted in a level setting of ~0 on all five channels to achieve 75dB....the sub output level is -10 (lowest setting) and adjustment is made from the sub itself.
Michael, let's us know the results of your VR-510 audition...
Vin
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[David Susilo]

Michael Da Costa,
Thank you very much for taking your time to audition the 510. Please let us know of the result.

 

[Doug_H]

The 510 does have universal video conversion. I run everything into my receiver using the best available output and then run one Component cable to the TV. It works great with the exception of channels that have very poor reception. It can make them unwatchable. I have only found this on one channel though.
There is no hissing coming from the higher end (510+) receivers so this won't be a problem either.
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The Mischievous Rogue Strikes Again! The Humble Hanson Theater

 

[Vin]

The 510 does have universal video conversion. I run everything into my receiver using the best available output and then run one Component cable to the TV.

Doug, I wasn't aware of that.....thanks for clearing that up.
I think it's odd though that such a unique feature isn't mentioned at the Kenwood site or at any of the dealers sites where the VR-510 is sold......
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[Doug_H]

It is really odd,I am not 100% sure it has it now that I look at the site. I have the 4090 but I am sure I was told the 510 had it. They never mention that it decodes HDCD either. That seems a very big selling point to me as well.
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The Mischievous Rogue Strikes Again! The Humble Hanson Theater
[Edited last by Doug_H on July 10, 2001 at 02:07 PM]

 

[Evan A]

I just got a product brochure from kenwood. They have a picture of the 510 and below THX it refers to EX decoding. I think they may be replacing the 510 with another 510 that will have EX!!!!!!
yipe!
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Evan Adams
[email protected]
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[Michael De Costa]

As mentioned in my previous post, I would stop by a local AUDIO Shop (The WIZ) to audition the 510 on my way home from work. Let me say, this turned into an experience to say the least. I spent over 25 mintues wandering around before I could even find a salesperson! After searching for about 5 minutes, I did make the most of this downtime by examining the 510. Like most brands, it carried a spitting image of it's sister model the 410. The front of the unit doned a S-Video connection in the lower right front of the unit as well as the regular Audio-Video jacks. The overall construction of the unit was better than expected but still not as durable as Onkyo, Denon, or Yamaha. This lack of construction seems to be from a thinner casing and lighter weight. It brought me to think: Is this possibly due to inferior parts within? When turning the volume knob up and down, it did have a much better "quality" feel to it. The knob seemed to flow smoothly as it turned, not just
spinning around. For some reason, while only being a volume knob, this gave me a better feeling concerning the quality of it's build.
I then pulled the unit out of it's housing to make sure it was hooked up as well as the opportunity to see all of the feeds it provided in the rear. I was once again impressed. There seemed to be enough jacks to satisfy
the most advanced home theater enthusiasts! (For an exact listing see the units specs on the Kenwood Site)I didn't dwell too long before placing the unit properly back before a salesperson finally found me tinkering around with their system.
After what seemed to be an eternity, a salesperson finally arrived. To my dismay, he could not even get the unit to work. He had to call in the calvary and eventually the unit had to be rewired. The end result was only getting the CD to work.

All this waiting for this! I tried to salvage the trip by asking questions about various receivers, esp Kenwood. Unfortunately, of the 2 sales people I was working with, neither had anything good to say other than try to stay away from Kenwood. Great. I don't get to hear the unit and then they throw more mud on the situation. In my discussions, the salesperson who seemed to have the best knowledge kept pushing Yamaha. He was muttering that they use their own processors and chips, where most all other brands use Motorola. He said Yamaha uses the same chips as those found in their professional theater and audio equipment. Top notch in this price category.
Yet still, he even pushed Yamaha when I talked about purchasing my dream unit, the Denon 3801. For the same price he said the Yamaha was a better value! I was puzzled. Possibly they obtain greater commission rates from Yamaha or was it simply better? From previos experianced, I have always thought Denon was a superior choice to Yamaha. Well, to make a long story a bit shorter, I came back empty handed. Possibly the clowns at the WIZ can get things hooked up properly in the future to provide the Kenwood with a proper audition. I will try to look elsewhere to get an audition so keep your fingers crossed! Wish I had better news......
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At my singnal, unleash HELL.......

 

[Michael De Costa]

p.s. Sorry for the few typos

 

[Vin]

Mike,
The Wiz has a 30 day return policy. Why not take it home with you and see how you like it? Just a suggestion.....
Vin
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