Why so much negativity about Denon?

[woodman]

Denon is getting "bashed" at this forum because just as I predicted when the brand was sold nearly two years ago, their customer support and technical support have gone right into the ol' crapper! It's NOT a matter of "outsourcing" or building your product in some country with cheap labor - what it IS, is a matter of putting short term profitability at the very forefront of all the business decisions.

At one point in time, Denon was a topnotch company - Japanese owned, and looking at long term prosperity in the typical Japanese way. Today, the brand is owned by a group of N.Y. investment bankers, who don't operate in the same tradition as Nippon-Columbia (the original owners of the Denon brand).

If you want to insist that Denon's just as good as it ever was, go ahead - but don't say you weren't forewarned.

woodman

[grampi]

Ahh, I'm not claiming Denon's as good as they ever were, I'm saying they aren't any more guilty of having cheap-itis than any of the other audio companies, and they're less guilty than a lot of them. But for some reason, they are being singled out in this forum as though they're the only company on the slide. It just ain't so.

[Woochifer]

Ahh, I'm not claiming Denon's as good as they ever were, I'm saying they aren't any more guilty of having cheap-itis than any of the other audio companies, and they're less guilty than a lot of them. But for some reason, they are being singled out in this forum as though they're the only company on the slide. It just ain't so.

A lot of the gripes are based on expectations. With some of the lower tier brands, people on this board expect mediocrity (and often get mediocrity) and it's almost a surprise when something turns out to be a good product (like one of Kenwood's entry level models from a year ago -- was it as good as a lot of people said, or were they just surprised that it wasn't as bad as some of Kenwood's previous efforts?).

With Denon getting as frequently recommended as it is (just look at all the shortlists that people post on this board, Denon is almost always up there when people recommend entry to midlevel receivers), people expect more from them. And when they don't deliver up to the level of their reputation, or at least they are not perceived as delivering, then people lash out. Denon is probably the most frequently mentioned receiver maker on this board, so you'll get both positives and negatives. If anything, the level of Denon worship on this and other boards can get pretty ridiculous at times, and maybe you're just jumping onto this board when the tide turns a little. Stick with this board for a while, and you'll probably see things cycle back soon. Every receiver manufacturer has its share of detractors on this board, so I don't think there's a concerted effort to gang up on Denon.

[grampi]

woochifer, funny you should mention people talking about problems with Sony receivers. The reason I bought my Denon was to replace a Sony. I bought it new in '99, and it already crapped out on me. Little did I know Sony was already deep into this cheap thing by then. I bought the unit mainly based on Sony's name. I obviously don't know if the Denon will outlast the Sony yet, but I do know it has more power and sounds better. If it doesn't last, maybe I'll be in here bashing as well.

[Jim Clark]

Hiya Grampi, thought I'd throw in my 2 cents as a Denon owner. I'd like to share my experience and impressions on things. Denon is a fine company that makes some fine products in my opinion. I used to have a glorious 3300, that baby could sing and I proved it to myself and a few other in a blind, level matched, listening session. Well, that poor unit got cooked last year when my house was struck by lightning in July of 2002. I took it in for repair and it was in the shop for 3 months and still not functioning when I lobbied the insurance company to replace the thing rather than repair it. Part of the delay was the shop not knowing everything that got fried, the thing was dead as a door nail. The biggest problem though was getting parts through Denon. That took forever. Granted, if the shop knew straight away what was cooked and what was functioning it wouldn't have taken quite so long but the wait for parts was maddening. This is the type of problem you may encounter currently if something should go wrong with your unit. This has always been Woodman's biggest complaint as near as I can tell and it seems to me that he was correct. Of course the lightning wasn't Denon's fault and it was really a remarkable machine. I replaced it with a 3802 and didn't go through the same painstaking comparisons this time around. While it does have PL2 (whooptee doo) it just doesn't sound the same with music. I still enjoy my receiver but based on my unscientific impressions, it isn't as good playing my really bad music.

None of this is an indictment of any denon product, but when I needed service it was tough to come by. Hopefully you'll never need it.

Regards,
jc

[Tarheel_]

I've had a mixed bag of Denon experiences...bought a refurished AVR 2801 and it worked flawlessly for 2+ years, but I bought a DVD-1000 player and it had a lip-synch problem...returned it twice and came away with the same problem. BUT, it sounded awesome and the picture was/is fantastic so i posted here for help and someone named 'afterburn' directed me to avsforums.com and there is a Denon rep on their board...contacted him and he gave me a number in Cali...the guy was great and he instructed me to remove the audio chip and mail it in...week later i had it in and its been working like a charm. So you can get results, but must work hard for them.

[3db]

In my opinion, you worked way to hard and spent too much of your valubale time solving this problem. If Outlaw was to work like that, they would have never gotton off the ground. Thats whats wrong with Denon