Denon AVR-S970H 8K Ultra HD 7.2 Channel (90Watt X 7) AV Receiver - Built for Gaming, Music Streaming, 3D Audio & Video, Alexa + HEOS, Black

This review is for the Denon AVR-S770H. I was apprehensive about buying an AVR for my main TV. I've always used a soundbar and was happy with the results. I assumed that adding an AVR would make things finicky and complicated. I'm happy to say, that is not true. This Denon has been fabulous.My requirements for a home theater receiver were/are the following:1) Ease of use and NO additional remotes to our current set-up (family needs, I'm not a bachelor!)2) I need the ability to connect 2 zones: the TV room and I have a pair of outdoor speakers on the patioFirst, as to the remote situation, I use Directv and I use an Amazon Fire Stick 4k. My old set-up was super simple. I picked up the Directv remote and hit Power. That turned on the TV, the Directv box, and the soundbar (since it was connected to the TV ARC port). Simple. If I wanted to change over to the Fire Stick, I simply used the same Directv remote to change the input and then used the Fire Stick remote from there.I'm happy to say the Denon has made things even simpler. Not only does the Directv remote turn on/off the TV, Direct box, and the Denon receiver but now I don't even have to bother switching inputs. If I pick up the Fire Stick remote and hit the Home button, the Denon senses that and immediately switches over. Likewise, if I pick up the Directv remote and hit a button, the Denon will switch back over to Directv. So that is an actual improvement.By the way, in order to get the Directv remote to turn off the Denon, don't worry about trying to program the remote via the Directv menu (I tried all the codes and failed). Instead, go to the Denon setting menu. Choose Setup> Video> HDMI Setup. Change the "Power Off Control" to "Video" or "All". Now the Denon will turn on/off when the TV does (using the Directv remote).My second concern was operating a second set of speakers via Zone 2. That also works perfectly. Now when I step outside to sit on the patio, I simply hit the Zone 2 button on the front of the Denon. I can use my phone to play music via the Denon's built-in Bluetooth.Some users need to be aware: in order to operate Zone 2, the receiver needs to be switched from 7.2 channel to 5.1 + Zone 2. That's perfectly acceptable for me since my TV has only front L & R speakers and a subwoofer. So I'm not even using the full capabilities of the 5.1. If you need 7.2 and a second zone, you need to find a different AVR.In sum, I bought this Denon with some trepidation and thought maybe I'd have to return it. Instead, it does everything I want and then some. Of course, it sounds great too. I'm so glad I switched from the soundbar.

It's been years since I've had an AV receiver. My last one was stolen from a storage unit, and that was years ago. Since then tho, I've learned what I need, what I want, and what I don't want.I like all of the inputs this has. A couple of my top requirements was that it had to have a TV coax input, as I use over the air broadcasting via an amplified rooftop antenna along with my streaming services. Another is that is had to have a phono jack, as I'll be purchasing a Fluance turntable in the future. And, it had to have Dolby Atmos. This Denon AVR-S970H 8K Ultra HD 7.2 Channel fit the bill for me.Remember that a receiver is only as good as their speakers. I paired this with a Fluance SXHTB5 7.1 surround sound speaker setup, and, WOW, LOVE it! I'll be adding Fluance atmos speakers at some point in time.Are there better receivers out there? Yes, I'm sure there are. Are there worse ones out there? Yes, I 'know' there are. It all depends on your wants and needs, and I'm very happy with my choice here :).

I'm at an age where I need quite a bit of volume to hear the stereo and TV. I had a 12 year old Teac receiver that went out just before Christmas. I replaced it with this Denon. It worked great when using the speakers, but not so great when using Bluetooth for my wireless headset.To adjust the volume, you can't use the TV remote or the Denon remote. You have to go into setup in 2 different places to adjust the volume. The Bluetooth setup allows you to adjust the lip synch with the TV, except you can't listen or watch the TV while adjusting it, so you are just guessing how to set it. I could never get the sound to match the picture. I figured there had to be a better way.I bought a small Bluetooth adapter and a cable with a 1/4" plug that fit into the headset jack on the Denon. It had a mini plug on the other end that worked with the Bluetooth adapter. This allowed me to use either remote to control the volume and eliminated the lip synch problem at the same time. When using the Denon, the sound only goes to my headset so I'm not concerned about bothering anyone if I want to increase the volume. If I want to use the TV speakers, I just turn off the Denon and if I want to use my stereo speakers, I just unplug the headset jack. Everything works fine the way I have it set up now, but don't think I should have had all these problems when trying to use Denon's built in Bluetooth.

Even though this receiver is priced as a starter unit, the features and performance are outstanding. I am not an audiophile, but this receiver performs much better than the 10-year old Sony receiver I replaced it with. You can't go wrong for the price.

awesome; fixed everything when our old Denon finally died. Would buy again.

This thing kicks some power out.Buy good speakers and be suprised.

THIS IS MY THIRD DENON RECIEVER I HAVE OWNED IN THE PAST THIRTY YEARS. MY LAST WAS A AVR S920 WITHEVERY THING ON IT. THE NEW DENON IT LESS POWER I AM NOW IN MY LATE 70S ,DO NOT NEED BIG POWER ANYMORE. THIS IS AVR570 B WORKS GREAT.