I had a chance to use Denon receiver for about a month. I liked it. I think it had a lower crossover, say 80Hz, and I thought that soundstaging was probably better than my Namamichi reveiver.
When I was looking for a new receiver about a year ago, I read a lot of good things about the Kenwood VR6070. Lots of features, THX, pre-amp out for all speakers. Flexible tone controls, Circle Surround, ProLogic II, a pretty good remote. And more.
List was $600 then and I could have gotten one from an authorized mail order dealer who was selling it for about $425.
I was a little concerned because it only weighed about 22 pounds, and was rated for 100 X 6. I was highly sceptical that it could even come close to that kind of power. But when Sound&Vision tested it they got 92 watts with all 6 channels driven. That is pretty stellar performance.
I had already owned a Citation 7.0, capable of 425 watts per channel used in 2 channel mode. When I got the Kenwood I used the Citation for my mains. Later I had an opportunity to use the Kenwood for my mains. There wss very little difference.
I am not bad mouthing the Denon. What I can say is that you can probably get the Kenwood for less and it should serve you well.
If you are only running 5.1 why not get the 1603. Very close to the 1803 is 80 X5W and cheaper than 1803 since you don't need to spend the $ for the 6.1 ability
thanks guys, lots of good info. I'm still searching around for the best price and will let you know what I go with. I'm leaning towards the kenwood right now, but who knows
I have the Kenwood 6070 which is the same as the Kenwood you mentioned, just black instead of silver and a different remote.
I bought it about 5 months ago and Love it. Before I bought it I read a TON of reviews on it and many others. I did look at a few Denon receivers. I liked the Kenwood better then any of the other receivers that were in it's price range. The only drawback with the Kenwwod is it only has 10mhz of bandwidth for component switching. If use plan on using your receiver for this(I don't) you might want to look elsewhere. I would recommend the Kenwood and if you want to save a little cash look for the 6070 online(if you can still find one).
I'm thinking I would like the internals of the Denon better. The Kenwood has more features, like preamp outputs. But the componenet video bandwidth is pretty dismal.
I don't know if this will help you out with your decision or not but 6th Ave electronics has the kenwood brand new for only $317.77 + shipping, and their shipping prices are great. About $340 shipped for a THX certified reciever is an amazing deal. If you don't mind refurbished ecost has the 6070, last years model, for only $249 + shipping. Still THX certified and everything. Now that is rediculous. Hopefully this will help with your decision.